1981 XC 430 Beginning rebuild

I just bought a 81 XC 430 this morning.
I intend to rebuild it. I am interested in any and all suggestions and observations as this is my first Husky rebuild. I have experience with Ktm/Penton and vintage Japanese bikes. The Husqvarna is a bike I have wanted for a very long time.
I paid $600.00 for it as it sits in the picture. I will upload more as I go.
I brought it home,washed the crap out of it. Pulled the seat,fender,airbox,and carb off. I don't think it has been started in 10 or 15 years. Lots of cleaning on carb, filled crank case with Marvel and oil, kicked it over 40-50 times(plug out of course.lol) Drained it and refilled with fresh and fired it up. So I am happy about that.
Carb needle is vary sloppy. I had to guide needle in from intake side with my fingers to get the slide to drop. So, i suspect a carb may be in my future,
The clutch lever at engine has a lot of free movement in it. I am not sure if this is normal. Clutch cable is shot and I don't want to crank on it with pliers. But ,I suspect the clutch has some issue with it. It seems to go through the gears ok, however it seems very notchy with a little too much free play to me.Is this normal?

Thanks in advance for any info or suggestions.

Gets better actually. I split the engine today and it is such a low hour engine I cant even find any discernible wear. Transmission gears,dogs and shift drum look new. So I don't think it has many hours, just years of sitting around rusting and drying out the seals. I am going to go ahead and replace the bearings while I have it apart. After splitting the case on this thing I never want to split it unnecessarily. By far the hardest case I have ever split.

I will definitely be interested in you guys suggestions on how to reassemble. I don't think I have ever seen such tight crank bearings.

My first real question is this; the lower rod bearing seems a little loose to me. Side to side seems like a normal amount but the bearing itself seems to have slack at the crank. Is this normal? And if not,do you guys press your own cranks or is there a recommended place to have that done?

You can see how little wear is on the clutch basket. Top end seems relatively new with minimal carbon build up. So I have high hopes for this bike, I should be able to get a lot of years out of it once it is rebuilt.

Just realized I probably should have started this in restoration section.Mods feel free to move it.

I am looking for a kickstand, and a good picture of the mounting bracket. My bracket is broken off, so I am going to fab up a new one and weld it on before coating/painting frame(still undecided on that.)

That will come up nice...download a parts manual and away you go!

I wouldnt replace any bearings unless they NEED to be replaced. It will be very difficult to find bearings today of the same quality that came in your bike.

Thanks Kartwheel. That is the same advice the guy at Vintage Husky gave me, which I thought was nice. Since he is in the parts selling business. So I am going to stick with the old bearings as they appear to be in perfect shape. Just new seals and gaskets.
One question regarding the bearings. Have you guys had any luck removing and refitting bearings to refurb the cases? I know the crank bearings are an extremely tight fit. I didn't want to ruin good bearings trying to pull them from the case so I can redo it, but have never tried reworking a case with bearings installed. Especially if I powder coat the cases.

I believe there is a small amount of up and down play allowable in the husky rod

Ok so the reason that it was hard to split the cases is because the main Bearings are pressed into the Main case's. Husky made a Tool that is used to both pull them apart and pull them back together. I got one of the Tools on e-bay. However other people have made there own, or used there own ways of doing the same thing. Others will chime in, or You can find it here on the sight if you use the search option. On the Husky the Rod Floats on the Crank and the Rod is centered by the Piston, where most all other bikes are just the opposite. I hope this answers your question about the crank.
On a Vintage Husqvarna there are 3 big things to look for when selecting a bike for restoration. If the Bike has been sitting a long time like Yours moisture in the bottom end rots out the Magnesium Cases. You have not mentioned this and or Crank Rust so You are probably OK. Then there is the Clutch Cover, it sits in harms way for Rocks etc, the bushing for the Kick Starter will get worn and then that area will Crack. Later Bikes used another Screw in this area to make them stronger. Anyway Clutch Covers are in demand, and there is even an aftermarket one available. The Gas Tank, to find an undamaged Aluminum 32 year old one dent free is a real perk. And when You do You may not want to use it for fear of damage on a rider bike. The picture of my bike is with a Clark Plastic Tank and Decals. Oh 3rd gear and its shifting fork is in a little more demand that the rest. The rest of the Bike is easy to get, Frames and Suspension Wheels are easy to come by. Husqvarna-Parts.com is a great source for new reproduction parts.
Probably the best part of restoring a Husky is this web sight. Pretty much every thing I have said above I learned here wile restoring my Husqvarna. I have since restored a couple other brand bikes, and miss this source of information, and have even resorted to cheating, asking a generic question or two and not mentioning what brand of bike it pertains to !

sorry for the crappy pics , but here is how I did mine . It had a crack on one of the front welds so that told me it needed reinforced . So now hopefully if I hit something it will be deflected off instead of tearing it off. You can see another pic of it on My bad 79 wr build under restorations.

that gona be sooo sweeeeetloved my 81 430xc

Thanks for the info and picture. Mine is broken/ground off about 1/8" from the frame. So I had the outline of it,but wasn't sure how far it extended down. Happen to know the width from frame to bottom?
Actually one of the things that drove my purchase of this bike is that the cases are in near perfect condition. I know I have had that problem with some of the KTM/Pentons I have messed with. Cases in good condition are almost impossible to source. Interior of this engine is in awesome shape. I was surprised at how little wear I found on the internals. I am pretty confident that it doesn't have many hours on it, just poor storage for a lot of years.Fortunately no water inside. I didn't get a ton of history on the bike. Person I bought it from got it from a buddy with intention of restoring and just never did. Supposedly it went in for top end around '97 ,was rode a few times and then stored. Piston condition supports this.

Troy, what sprocket count did you run on yours if you happen to remember? I intend to mostly trail ride the bike, so I would like some nice controllable low end.

As far as the tank, I agree. But I sure like the bikes with a nice restored tank on them. Is that a vinyl wrap and chrome decals on your plastic tank? Looks pretty good if so. I was thinking of going the 2 tank route. Keep my nice aluminum one just so i have it and run a plastic while riding.

every mikuni ive played with you have to fiddle the needle to get it back in the jet . specially if carb is not level .

also replace the bearing in the middle of the clutch backet with 2 shorter metal ones and do other research on preserving the kickstart gear train . its a common problem

if it was mine i would fit a decompressor while its apart too . plenty of info in that aswell

interesting how the paint is rubbed off the frame lots yet the clutch looks brand new .

the 500 cc workshop manual for engines says 0.1 mm which seems like a lot . i used to believe if u could "feel" any play it was shagged

keep us updated good luck

That has pretty much been my belief as well. But every single piece of info I have found indicates that it is perfectly normal. .1 is quite a lot to me, but if it works ,it works.


I thought the paint wear versus engine interior wear was odd to. But the frame is at the blasters as we speak,so no more rubbed paint.

its been 30 years but im thinkin 13/53 mite have been 12 i know i used 12s on my 250s i set the timing @ 2mm btdc and an old skool lectron carb 2 kicks cold mite need 1 full kick when hot ezest startin bike I EVER HAD dont ask me how or why im here 2 help

You are going the have a great time the 430 is such a great engine and just plain fun to ride.

Sounds like you have a great tranny. If the the third gear looks great and dogs look good. The third gear is the one to watch. It pretty easy to change bearings, just heat up cases in oven and bearing should drop out or with small tap. Freeze the new ones - re heat cases and drop in the new ones. ( purchased real small oven for garage - better than kitchen oven)

I would really look a using SKF for the mains. Talked to a lot of bearing engineers ZKL and a couple of others. Not a lot new
with bearings, but a lot of value engineering going on. SKF has maintained the quality of steel and has really upgraded some
of the engineering designs. I can really see and feel the difference. Old QC guy helps with insight here. ZKL for right main if on budget. Don't use any press for bearings. not needed. Not for Mag cases.

You will need a tool to press cases together. Husky made or custom made, see some here in past posts.

I would split the crank and inspect the connecting rod bearing. I have found a lot of pitting and metal decay on the lower crank pin on tearing down a few bikes , but not always.
Seems the bikes that set and not started for years can have problems.

Check and triple check the clutch ring small gear its the achilles heal. Inspect the idle gear mount bearing surface and kick gear. Keep new needle bearings on kick and idle.
Believe me - this area has to be watched. 83 case design is the ultimate upgrade if possible.

Like seattle cafe members input - you can add a sleeve to your clutch case on kick shaft to help with any play. Helps keep kick and idle
gears healthy. For your Ohlins check out Drew Smith here on this site.

Oh - you will get the greatest help from all these guys on this site. Best support ever, makes it fun.

Your bike, judging by the paint rubbed off the frame by boots, is probably NOT low hours. What you are seeing inside the engine is normal for Husky's, especially the big bores. Unless you run them without an air filter, or the transmission without any oil, they can be very high hour and look just like yours.