Hi, just to put you in the picture, I'm a pretty novice rider and I'm carying out my first top end rebuild on my sh kx500af the motor has done around 40hrs and is still on stock bore and piston, there is no scoring or flaking on the barrel but she does look a bit thin around a few ports, Ive bought a wiseco piston rings and top end bearing along with new head and base gaskets, I've cleaned and decoked the main powervalve parts and I'm just waiting on the barrel to come back from the platers. The main reason I stripped it down was that I noticed I was losing water only when it ran and not through heat, basically the head gasket had failed and was allowing compression into the water jacket. It never leaked when stood so I don't believe water ever entered the bore.
Does anyone have any suggestions or handy tips on rebuilding it including power valves and gaskets (does anyone use any extra sealant on head gasket etc?)
Is there any prep work worth doing on the barrel pv or piston/ rings before I rebuild and what ring end gap do you guys suggest?
Thanks in advance!