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The Dave Dodge Drill 'n tap Oil Mod procedure........


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'83 VF750F Road Test

My Dave Dodge (DRP) Drill'n'Tap Oil Mod Installation

-by Greg Terpin [used with permission]

There are many flavours of oil mods documented at http://www.sabmag.org/ such as the Tierney-Hollen Oil Mod Kit, Art Reitsma's T-H Style Mod, Dave Berkey's T-H Style Oil Kit, the Original Landry Oil Mod, Landry-Schoeb Oil Mod, Tony Donisi's Landry-Schoeb Oil Mod, Brian Sydness' L-S Oil Mod, L-S Oil Mod with Cam Bearing Oil Passage Enlargement, the Poor Man's Oil Mod and the 15 Minute Oil Mod. I have yet to see anything documenting the Drill'n'Tap oil mod kit offered by our V4 guru, Dave Dodge.

This page will be dedicated to my effort(s) in installing this oil mod kit. It should be noted that I am in no way getting compensated for my views. In addition to the parts supplied with the Drill'n'Tap oil mod kit, the following supplies will be necessary to complete the installation:

  • a 11/32" drill bit
  • a 1/8 NPT Tap (1/8 - 27)
  • teflon tape for all pipe thread fittings for proper sealing against leaks
  • a new clutch cover gasket and exhaust gaskets if damaged during removal


My installation began with the removal of the exhaust, radiator and carbs. Yes it's a lot of prep work, but my bike was due for a valve adjustment and carb cleaning anyway.

This picture to the left shows the right side clutch cover being removed. Removal of this cover is necessary in order to gain access to the oil gallery via removal of the plug shown in the middle of this pic. If you look carefully in the expanded picture, you'll see the SS oil line already connected to the tap. These pictures were taken after I had already completed the installation. A lot of the preliminary work has already been documented by previous folks as noted in their complete installation instructions/procedures again found at http://www.sabmag.org/.


This next picture to the right shows the plug being removed allowing access to the oil gallery. Pictured is the tap that I have already inserted.

Prior to installing this tap, I cleared out as much oil as I could and tightly packed in a greased rag to trap any metal shavings from the drilling and tapping operation. If one doesn't carefully clean out this area, your cams won't enjoy having metals bits circulating around them at higher pressure. So obviously, a poor clean-up job would defeat the purpose of installing this oil mod in the first place.


When you've mustered up the confidence to drill into your oil gallery, you'll then need to find the recommended spot to drill into. Note the arrow in the expanded picture. This little nub, located directly beneath the oil gallery, looks as if Honda intended for us to eventually figure out we had to drill'n'tap this spot in order to get filtered and higher pressure oil to flow to the heads.

It is highly recommended that the exhaust be removed for ease of drilling, tapping the hole and finally tightening down the fitting. Removal of the exhaust is also helpful when connecting the SS oil line to the fitting.


This next two pictures shows the SS oil line connected to the fitting and the routing coming from the underside of the engine

Tightening of the line was achieved from the side of the bike with an open ended wrench. Had the exhaust still been on the bike, I don't believe I would have had the room to tighten down the connector to the fitting.

The routing picture shows how the SS oil line is routed forward of the motor mount and behind the cross member frame tube and up towards the inside of the "V" in the V4 motor. The stiffness of the SS oil line allows one to route this SS oil line without using stand-offs.


 

 

 

These next few pictures show how the #4 SS oil line is routed from beneath the engine, to the middle of the "V" and then to a splitter which then routes two additional #3 SS oil lines. These lines replace the stock oil lines that were earlier removed from the bike. Again, the stiffness of the lines allow nice and clean routing. Not shown is the plug which replaces the banjo bolt from the transmission which used to provide the original source of oil to the heads.
The second picture from the left shows again the routing from the splitter to the cylinder heads this time from the left side of the bike.
The next picture shows how the #3 SS oil line is connected to the front two cylinders. New crush washers are included with DRP's Drill'n'Tap oil mod kit. Be sure to use them.
This last pic shows how the #3 SS oil line is connected to the rear two cylinders. Again, new (provided) crush washers were used.

This oil mod may not be for the faint of heart. I must admit I had serious reservations in drilling into my oil gallery. I've had several of these kits in my possession for several months and it was only now that I felt I was ready to tackle this project. It helped that I felt my bike was ready for preventative maintenance anyway so I scheduled my time accordingly. This will definitely not be a 15 minute oil mod. If you plan this around a carb cleaning and valve adjustment... allocate an entire weekend to finish this project. If you happen to break and/or tear your clutch or alternator gaskets... expect your bike to be down even longer while you order these parts. Speaking of parts, now would also be a good time to possibly replace your carb boots (which might be rock hard) with new ones. Having pliable rubber will greatly reduce the effort needed in R&R'ing your carbs.
My choice in choosing this mod as opposed to the adapter style mods was cost. Since I own several V65s (both Magnas and Sabres)... saving $100 USD per kit adds up to quite a bit for me. At some point I expect to perform this mod to all of my bikes.

Dave Dodge Oil mod by Greg Terpin VF/VFR Specific Links


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