classic motorcycle forum

For someone with the same issues as Arthur Dent, I do seem to spend a lot of Thursdays in the workshop....

Decided yesterday to stop faffing and get on with some stuff.

First, I cleaned up the drive-side crank case where the main crank bearing liner was removed:
Before.


After a few minutes with a brass brush and a wipe down


I rigged up the hot-air blower in an articulated grabber (a digital tablet holder in fact), and took a preparatory reading


After only a few minutes I turned it over to get a good spread of heat:


Then I popped inside and retrieved the new liner from the freezer, where it had been hibernating for a few months....
That's the OLD bearing liner in the background of the photos.
When I got back, the temperature was even higher than this....


The inside was a little cooler after I took the heat off:


The new liner literally fell straight in, I was so surprised I didn't even remember to give it a tap, it didn't need it.
The little locating screw went straight in too.



Light at the end of the tunnel!

This is the "feed" for oil to the main crank bearing....

While it cooled off, I pondered what to do next..... then decided to go for it and dug out the new bearing cages and pins.
oh, and the grease.... LOTS of grease!

To be honest, I think I used more grease just on these bearings in ten minutes than I've used in any single year of working on bikes....

For some reason the original size roller pins aren't made any more so the accepted practise is to use 2 pins for each slot in the cage, and alternate the positioning - as you can see in the photo.

Almost as soon as I'd taken that pic and was pondering on the pins:  I realised: hang on: the old pins I took off are the OLD ones!  I actually have the proper old full-length bearing pins... a complete set!  But, given that I have no idea just HOW old they are, I decided to stick with the fresh ones.

So - the cases went together relatively easily for the dry-fitting, to see what the crank end-float is:
Crank pushed fully to the left:


Crank pushed fully to the right:


I measured the difference using a micrometer tail and it appears to be a movement of about 0.065" - I measured a few times, obvously, and I think the extremes were 0.078" down to 0.050" - so the consensus is about 0.065. 
I checked what I'd written down earlier and read "crank end float : 0.12" - 0.15" ".

Hang on.... (I thought).

How can my end float be LESS than the desired??   Did the Liner not go in properly??  Have I got to take the liner out again??  $%^&&sticks!!

So - I ended up having a quick call with the Guru, and while I was talking to him I took another look at the book....

which read:

Crank End Float : 0.012" - 0.015".

GAAAAH!!!!  what a muppet!!!  I apologised profusely to the Guru for wasting his time, he was very nice about it and we had a nice chat about things anyway, and I got on with it whilst kicking myself!!

In my defense - I'm a metric kid, I've no concept of what thousands of an inch "look" like!

I agreed with the Guru that all the crank needs is some gentle shimming (phnar) and dug out the collection of shims I've got : some new, (iirc supplied by the Guru) and some from the original build.
0.050, 0.040, 0.023(*2), 0.020, 0.010. 
So - with any luck - the 0.023 pairing should be exactly what I need!

Required thickness of shims: 0.065" - 0.015" = 0.05". 
Desired shim width if using 2 shims : 0.05" / 2 = 0.025"

I can also potentially use the 0.010 and 0.020 to get it a bit tighter if required.  but I'll have an afternoon of tinkering with that no doubt!.

I'm probably going to reassemble the cases again, dry, and double check that end-float, before deciding fully, but the crank looked pretty central so that should do the job.

This whole job was made MASSIVELY easier because I found a pair of legs for the engine last time I was in Dad's workshop:


While I as pondering things I also noticed that the cases have another set of numbers on the rear faces  :


I have no idea what these would be (they're not the engine numbers, those are on the front, on the rhs), and I'm tickled somewhat that they match, given that the cases are from totally different sources!

After I'd dissassembled the crank again to put it out of the way, I figured I'd make a start on the rocker box...
Measuring up the excess that needs to come off...

Answer: a lot.  These little shelves are supposed to be about 3mm high.....

Setting up the ersatz "single-axis-milling-machine" (dremel grindstone in the pillar drill!)


I used the grind stone first just to test the concept, and it worked well.
So I dug out a pot of cutting wheels.



I should state that there was a good long session of faffing with a bubble level to quadruple check that the everything was as flat as possible (the drill stand, the drill plate, the clamp, the workpiece, etc etc etc)

The main faff with it is replacing the cutting wheels every few minutes, but the rod that holds the wheel is chamfered about half-way down, so it's actually very easy to put it back into the drill in exactly the same place each time: with the chamfer butted up against the outer face of the drill-clamp jaws.

I got the first shelf (the exhaust side as it happens) cut down somewhat roughly and put the rocker arm together so I could check it against the shelf.  There was still a of interference, so I decided to have a go at the rocker arm as well :


This was filing down the sides of the arm, to help it clear the oil-gallery/shelf.  I also took it over to the grinder and shaved off quite a bit of the metal from around the bolthole where the ball-fitting is fitted.

I'll take more photos of the rocker arm next time I'm in there.  Still a lot to do, but some good progress made I think.

Decided to actually get into the workshop yesterday!  (other things have been happening, or putting me off), and figured I'd have a tinker with the timing chest because I was advised to check the cam-wheel/cam-follower end play before I assembled the crank.

Firstly it took we a while to find the studs, then I realised that none of the threads were very clean, so gave them a good brass-brushing.


But even then it seemed that none of the studs would cleanly go into the case, and some of the nuts refused to go down the studs easily.  So I ran taps and dies over everything (took me at least 20 minutes to actually figure out the thread form and find the right taps & dies, which I DID have amazingly: turns out it they're 1/4x26tpi BSF).





Eventually I managed to get everything spun down and tight.... then realised that one of the allen head cap bolts that are used inside the timing chain case was too long for it's hole!  I can only imagine that Dad never noticed this bolt was the wrong length (nothing surprises me anymore...) so I cut them both down by about 5-6mm (well - the thickness of a nut) :  I did both of them so I didn't have to faff with picking up the "correct" bolt for the shorter hole each bloody time.



So - eventually I got the case to tighten down on the timing chest.... and the camshaft is jammed.

:wtf:

The Cam-followers are rattling around on their shaft as well - there's at least a mm of movement, if not more.

:wtf:

But it's the camshaft being jammed that is confusing the hell out of me.  The bushes that it sits in are open ended so it's not like the saft is running up against the end of a closed hole.

The timing chest case DID have a paper gasket fitted when I stripped it down.... so I'm currently thinking that "maybe" the thickness of the paper gasket is what is providing the end-play gap offset for the cam-shaft itself.

Photos from the strip-down: you can see the paper gasket clearly.





So - the next job, I guess, is to make up a new gasket and see if that frees off the camshaft, and look for a proper shim for the cam-followers.  I did find a ~1.5mm thick washer that was exactly the right internal diamater (1/2") to fit the cam-follower shaft, but the cam-followers did get "tight" when fitted - so again - if the paper gasket provides the offset.... this might work...



Oh yeah - also - over the summer I got some repairs done on the rocker-box parts:








The oil-galleries need to be machined back down to approx 3mm high and a similar thickness.
See here :




TBH, I'm probably going to do this by just fitting a dremel-esque grinding tool into the piller drill and using it as an ersatz "single-axis machine-tool" and gently take the aluminium off flake by flake...

In addition the rocker arms themselves will be ground down to be narrower (and lighter), as previously mentioned.

Managed some time in the workshop yesterday.

Re-checked the valve springs.


Picked the two pairs that seemed to give the right spring weights and threw the into the ultrasonic.

Here's the shiny piston:



Next step is to get the valves lapped, so I prepped the seats with a Sharpie


Loaded the valves..


And did the Twist again!


After a coarse grinding...


Then cleaned off the coarse paste, and prepped the valves..


After a fine grinding.




Next job ideally would be to lap in the head to the barrel, to ensure the mating surfaces where the copper head gasket sits mate really well, but there's a complication I need to discuss with my guy.
Where the head gasket sits is in a depression in the barrel, and the head has a matching "protrusion", and where the studs run is in the"outer ring". I'm not sure if the faces on the  "outer rings" are supposed to meet or not.
Problem is that if the gasket is not in place, the "inner ring" faces don't meet when you sit the head on the barrel.
I'm not sure if I need to get some material machined off the top surface of the barrel or not.

Bit of progress tonight.

I got fed up of picking away at the carbon deposits with a dental pick (it worked, but t's bloody slow), so I thought $%^&& it, and banged the valve guide out so I had unhindered access.  And I could clean up the valve guide itself more easily.  Having seen it done, and knowing that it's literally a hammer job, made me far more confident to do it.

Valve guide in improvised "gentle" vice (I really need to make up some ally / wood chuck covers for the big vice.


Much improved exhaust manifold!




I'm very aware that "polishing" the manifolds isn't going to gain me much, the engine is such low compression any gains are going to be minimal, but I wanted to do a "good job" on Dad's bike, and be proud of the end result (if I ever get there!), knowing that I did everything I could.

When I re-inserted the guide (it went in pretty easily, much as I had seen happen on Saturday), the outer end had been slightly peened closed (it happens) and I needed to ream out the guide.  Luckily, I discovered that the 1 reamer I picked up from Dad's workshop was the right 11/32" size (funny that... :roll: ).  Unfortunately it's a tapered shank, so I had to bodge it a bit and rotate it by hand using mole grips... :roll:  But - it worked a treat and the valve is a nice snug fit in the guide.

I also polished up the valves (no photos, sorry), they're lovely now.

I then turned my attention to the valve springs.  I wanted to check they were all still serviceable.  The JAP guru I saw on Saturday had a lovely, expensive, american made tool for this - but he also described a manner of doing this using a drill press and a set of scales.  So, I'd bought myself a set of postal scales that are up to the job: the desired spring weight is 145lb so a cheap set of kitchen scales ain't gonna cut it.

Unfortunately using it in the drill press didn't really work out, so I improvised...






Might not be absolutely perfect to the micro-ounce.. but close enough for comparing the 4 different sets of valves that have against each other (at least).

I measured up all the springs I have - using a micrometer set to the correct length: 1.375"
The calculation is :
Desired spring length (compressed) : 1 5/16", Desired Spring weight at that length : 140-145 lb.

So - the cup and the plate within the cup that the springs sit in are 1/32" thickness each (where the springs bear) : added together that's 2/32" = 1/16"

So - add the cup & plate to the desired spring length and you get 1 6/16", or 1 3/8" = 1.375" (which is nice and easy to set on the micrometer, then lock off).

So - compress the springs, in the cups (with plates at each end), and measuring from the top of the outer spring (ignoring the top plate) to the flat sheet the cup is resting on.  (In the head, you measure from the top surface of the head to the top of the outer spring, so this is the same measurement).

Results: Weight measured at spring length of 1 3/8" (inc cup & plate)
Head 1 inlet  : 129 lb
Head 1 exhaust : 129 lb

Head 2 inlet : 151 lb
Head 2 exhaust: 145 lb.

So - the original springs are knackered. booo!
However - we have some nice springy springs from the "new" head.  (albeit maybe a little over-enthusastic...)

I started mixing and matching to get roughly the right spring weight, but so far have only tried one combo:
Head 2 inlet outer + Head 1 inlet inner : 149 lb.

I'm going to play about with mixing the springs and get 2 pairs as close to 140/145 lb as I can.  I think the measurement system is close "enough" for this.  I was told on Saturday that if the spring weights are over 155 or so then they're too strong and they'll cause undue wear to the head. Given that head 2 is badly pocketed already I'm not wanting to take chances. Although Head 1 does had replacement valve-seats, so it's in a better condition.


Oh yeah - I also put the rocker arms and their accompanying accessories through the ultrasonic.  Unfortunately I think I may have lost one of the frigging rollers though GAH!  (mind you - I know I have a couple of spares because there were one too many in 2 of the assemblies!)  Going to have to be a lot more careful with those little $%^&&ers.

Progress thus far: 

First, the dinosaurs came, but they got all fat and sick and died and turned into oil, then came Mercedes Benzes.... 

ahem.


The visit up to the JAP guru in Ipswich went very well indeed.  We got on very well and it was a fun morning of fettling.

I took up a few parts to get his opinion on their worthiness and discovered a few things.
Firstly - the 2nd head I bought is badly pocketed: the valves have been sunk into the head so far (by use and grinding in) that they're actually now "outside" the original hemisphere shape of the combustion chamber.  I also found out the other day that the original head has had the valve-seats replaced (I think I knew this), so it's actually in better condition than Head 2 (despite Head 2 being cleaner... ).

In addition we dicovered that the exhaust valve for Head 1 is bent.  That was a puzzler - because there's no evidence of it having hit anything within the chamber (the other valve, or the piston).  It's why it wasn't sealing.  Luckily he had a 2nd valve that slotted right in.

We also looked at the loose inlet guide, and he replaced it from his stock. I didn't know this... but the valve guides can just be hammered in and out!  :wtf: The original valve fits in the new guide perfectly, so Head 1 will be back in action once it's fully cleaned up and re-lapped in.   I'll probably by some flap wheels for my Dremel and have a go at the carbon build ups in the exhaust manifold myself, and then as a final resort take it to a media blaster of some sort. (walnut or vapour probably).

We also examined the rocker box : This is the best pic I could get of the issue :


What I thought was wear caused by too much endplay in the rocker arms, is actually caused by the fact that the rocker arms are the wrong arms for the box!  Well - not actually "wrong" - but they've not been fettled properly! The original forging patterns for the rocker arms make them too big for the rocker-box, and it's necessary to grind off a lot of the material.  When he's doing race-engines apparantly he takes off quite a lot of the material on the rocker arms, including drilling lightening holes and a hole down the ball-end! (sounds painful!).  So - I'm going to take off the material necessary from the rocker arms to ensure that there is clearance for the oil-gallery (shelf), and get that oil-shelf rebuilt up - that should ensure that the rocker-bearings get plenty of oil in the future.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to do that to a reasonable quality using hand-tools... we'll see.

He also explained a good trick for checking the valve-spring weights, which I'll take photos of as I do it. 

He checked the piston - it's fine (needs a clean), and the cam-shaft - which is a "standard", not a race item (which is fine), and also explained a few tricks for getting that aligned correctly should it need it. All stuff I'll be checking when I reassemble it.

Then we got onto the crank (and I remembered I had a camera.... )
Separating the big end shaft from the flywheel


https://youtu.be/poGPWyDRhGg





Big end rollers - all looked ok


The big end cage is just ally - but it looked ok.


Inner faces:



At this point there was a slight bit of confusion due to the distinct lack of balancing holes having been drilled in the inner faces, until I remembered it's a 350 crank (not a 500).   Obviously new cage and rollers were fitted.


Pressing the tapered big-end shaft back into the flywheel.


With some minor adjustments to get the outer diameter faces parallel :
(I now want a brass hammer!)



Things are much easier when you have the right kit....


More minor adjustments to the get the shafts aligned :


This was very much an iterative process: take a measurement, squeeze the wheels, take a measurement, squeeze again... etc. etc


The for the first few checks the nut wasn't even done up as tight as it could be ... just f-ing tight.  After getting it pretty damned close, he did the nut up even tighter (using a 4-foot breaker bar and a lot of bodyweight....) then spent another half-hour getting it just right: toed IN 3/4 of a thousandth of an inch on one side, and about 1 thou on the other side.  Apparently under heavy load the crank can toe "out" and pinch the con-rod, so he sets them up toed in slightly.

At the end of the session he declared that it was a "good set of wheels".  Which I'm very happy about!  They should now be good for quite a while, and with the use I'm expecting from the bike (pottering about locally annoying the purists ) they should outlast me.

As we were tidying up and nattering (another half hour at least... ) he realised that I didn't have a mag-platform steady bracket: it should look like this :






And this is how it's mounted : to the underside of the mag-platform, and to the crankcases.






The problem this fixes is engine vibration cracking the mag-platform supporting structure.  So, while I have no idea why the engine didn't have one, it looks like a good idea to have one fitted so I'll try to either source one (I really should have asked him about that - so I probably will), or make one up.  It needs to be good strong steel. (or whatever that fancy bronze-looking one is).

I now have all the parts ready, but still a lot of cleaning to do, and a few other optimisation jobs (eg lapping in the timing cogs to their shafts, and even lapping in the head to the barrel!).