Ducati Monster Forum

Thinking about powder-coating your case covers?  Here are a few tips/instructions for removing the case covers that you might find helpful…

1) Drain the oil.  ;)

2) Drain coolant (water pumpers).

3) Remove coolant hoses from water pump (water pumpers).

4) Loosen the bolts holding the timing sensor (at the front of the cover), and pull out the sensor (put the sensor in a zip lock bag and hang it from the bike).

5) Remove bolts from alternator cover – there is one “hidden” behind the large washer for the clutch slave cylinder!  In an area separate from your work area, lay the bolts out in the pattern of the cover so you know which bolts go where for re-assembly.

6) Remove the crank shaft inspection cover.

7) Bolt on the case puller (I bought a steering wheel puller from Advanced Auto for $13) and remove case.

8)  For powdercoating, remove all spacers, bearings, oil seals, etc.  Take photos so you remember where they go (or use a shop manual).

9) I left the stator hooked to the bike and put it in a zip lock bag and hung it from the bike).

10) I had no luck finding less-expensive bearings on-line of exactly the same spec.  I ended up purchasing all seals and bearings from a Ducati dealer.  They’re not that expensive.  Here’s the inside of the alternator-side cover.  For water pumpers, like my desmoquattro, you’ll need to replace the two water pump bearings, and the alternator bearing.
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2249.jpg)
There’s a c-clip below the washer holding the water pump rotor in place.  Take care when removing this, its quite small.
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2252.jpg)

I ended up using the clutch-side cover from a testastretta motor I picked up off eBay.  The testastretta cover is shown on the right, and the OEM cover off my Monster on the left.
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2290.jpg)

Here is a pic of the inside of the desmoquattro cover and the oil seal from the testastretta cover beside that of the desmoquattro seal.  The seal from the testastretta cover has a larger o.d.  In addition, I had no luck pulling either the seal or the brass bushing from the oil pressure sensor recess on the desmoquattro cover.  The testastretta cover was easy.
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2254.jpg)

11) Purchase fiber gaskets from ca-cycleworks.com.  They are easy to use and triple bond is somewhat messy.  I also used Hylomar gasket dressing with the gaskets.

12) On the alternator side, be prepared to file down the shim for the timing sensor.  On a desmoquattro S4R, the air gap between the sensor and the gear is 0.6-0.8mm.  Since the gasket is thicker than a film of triple bond, you’ll need a thinner shim.  Ducati sells shims of 0.6, 0.8 and 1mm thickness, but I needed a 0.4mm thickness, so I filed mine and measured the thickness with a micrometer.  Also, don’t forget the o-ring in the recess for the timing sensor!!

13) On the clutch side, detach the oil pressure sensor, remove clutch cover (if you’re running one), dismantle the clutch and remove the case cover.  You might need to coax it with a rubber mallet.  Make sure the o-ring for the oil delivery hole remains in place.  The o-ring is the green type which is clearly visible at the bottom of the engine casing once the cover is removed.

14) You’ll need to remove the circlip which retains a washer and oil seal (garter spring type), and the oil pressure sensor and crush washer.  Also remove any oil plugs on the exterior of the cover.

15) Upon re-assembly, there is no need to use a seal driver to re-fit the oil sight glass!  I ended up using a small hobby brush and applying triple bond to the recess in the case, and pushed the sight glass into place with my thumbs.  I then turned the cover over and used the brush to even out a ring of triple bond between the sight glass and the inside of the case cover.  Be careful here.  On the inside of the cover, there’s a hemispherical stop against which the sight glass seats.  If you push unevenly, it will leak.    :-[
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2288.jpg)

16) When removing the large oil seal in the center of the clutch-side case cover, use a heat gun to expand the aluminum just a bit.  I used a 3.5” steel pipe as a drift, and it came out easily.  If you’re careful, you can re-use it.  Just make sure to note the depth and orientation prior to removal so that upon re-assembly you have the correct fit.  Also take care not to loose the garter spring on this seal.

All done:
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2258.jpg)
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d147/pompino/DSCN2263.jpg)

The bike looks good and thanks for the info. Is that a powder coat on the forks or an anodize

Thanks guys!


The forks were hard-anodized by Ducati Omaha.  They were a great shop with which to work.   [thumbsup]

did you use any special heat dissipating powder coat, or the standard?


Where did you get your hoses?  I like the look!

Regular powder coat.

The hoses are OEM, except for the AG Hammer piece from California Cycleworks, and the hose ends from anplumbing.com

Thanks!

Looks Great!!!

Messaged him regarding the oil seal and brass fitting and need to post my findings to complete this thread. My concern was if the oil seal would survive the powder coating process as similar to the original post. Short answer yes it does, at least around the 400*F range. I couldn't figure out how to get the seal and fitting out unless I machined it. A side note there is a small o ring that sits at the bottom of the oil delivery hole as mentioned it really doesn't snap into place or anything and just kind of rest where it is. I put a small amount of triple bond to hold it in place upon reassembly which is also what I used to seal the side cases. The stuff is legit and I got it from the local Honda dealer apparently its what they use.

My cases where awful previous owner dropped it and used JB weld to "fix" the case and I managed to do a good job on the clutch side. Got some lightly used cases and went to work. I tried everything I could get my hands on to remove the powder coat and nothing worked. I'm talking laquer thinner, gasket seal remover, scrub and sand blasting took way to long, and industrial strength paint stripper even soaked it in paint thinner for a few days. Ultimately what ever is in aircraft stripper works like a charm I cut up a bunch of plastic putty knives to scrap the powder coat off and I was a happy camper. Used Craftmans powdercoat system and Eastman powder they have a few small defects but overall I'm pleased with the result we'll see how they hold up over time.

Before
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Batman50/DMF%20Pictures/IMG_1324.jpg)
During (Used high temp tape to cover the important bits up)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Batman50/DMF%20Pictures/IMG_1247.jpg)
After
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Batman50/DMF%20Pictures/IMG_1255.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Batman50/DMF%20Pictures/IMG_1265.jpg)

Interesting "flow" point on the powder as I heated the cases up before I shot them the first time to aid the powder to stick. The powder goes on matte, flows to gloss, and after bake it turns back to matte.
The part is cold here I had to heat it in two stages because of my home brew oven setup (small oven)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Batman50/DMF%20Pictures/IMG_1249.jpg)

Here's my tip... after you put it all back together if your gear shifting seems off (especially downshifting) and you've bled your clutch properly take it for a good ride for about 30min and take it through all the gears. After the clutch pack sits with no oil and no clutch cover while the covers are away at the powder coaters they can tend to dry out and the clutch plates can stick together and  it takes a good run through to get them bathed in oil and moving again. Dont just take it around the block once and assume somethings wrong.

Just my 2 cents...when powder coating make sure you have a decent tap and die set.. clean all threads before putting everything back together. I learned this the hard way.