classic motorcycle forum

Decided to do today's write up while it's all still fresh.
Lots done today.

Priority was finishing off the Timing chest, so the first thing was a dry-assembly of the Timing chest including all the bits and the gasket;


Which seemed to be going well, until I spun the engine over and realised there was as distinct "click-clak" noise coming from "somewhere"...

ffs.

https://youtu.be/Gza5SEe7pGM

thankfully it wasn't coming from the crankcase....

https://youtu.be/UYPMI_8R3kQ

Primary suspect is the new inlet cam follower possibly clashing against something.

https://youtu.be/qz900MeY3sI

Here's a comparison of the old and new cam followers:


Not much of a difference visible there.. however:
The new one, left is significantly thicker than the old one....


There's also a touch more meat around the pin that holds the metal wheel.



So I tried the old cam follower (which is very, very tired)


I'm still getting the click-clak noises... they're just a touch quieter...

I also reassembled the cam followers with the extra spacer shim at the inboard end of the spindle they sit on, and weirdly I think it's helped a little.

I "think" the new follower IS clashing with the boss cast into the cases that supports the camwheel.  But I think putting the shim at the end is moving it enough to clear the boss, and (weirdly) actually putting the follower more central on the cam "path".

We'll see - I need to play with it some more.  I had a nice chat with the Guru, who was quite puzzled although he has had a similar experience in the past (at least it's not just me!)

We chatted about a few other things including the push rods and stuff.

Then I got on with the other thing on my mind: the Concentric carb.

I split it down for a clean:


BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT



While that was threatening the fuses I fitted the two lower casing covers.
This is the oil "outlet" fitting being prepped.
The Threebond is a nightmare, the tube has now got several holes in, and it's still runny as hell.



Messy


In the end I just poured the Threebond onto the newspaper and spread it thinkly with my finger!



Next, I pulled down an old G-clamp I'd liberated from Dad's workshop, I want it for a specific job and it needs some modifying...



THIS is what I want the clamp for:


To fit the push-rod tubes you have to hoik the push rods out from under the rocker arms, but there's not enough clearance, even with the adjuster wound right off.
With the clamp I can pull the arm up against the valve spring resistance and pull out the push rods.

So, happy with that.

I then progressed to the carb again.

Murky waters....


I messed around for a while fitting the carb top to the control cables: the springs on it are seriously strong, and this nerve issue I currently have has weakened my left hand enough to make things like that problematic. (I'm actually having trouble typing this...)

It's a good thing I had a cathartic session of ordering bits yesterday....


Chrome is for trailer-queens.

I bet the guy sold the carb because he couldn't get it to stop leaking.... Oh well - no matter, new Premier style float-chamber is en route already, along with a few more AMAL goodies.


So - next session will be trying to get to the bottom of the click-clak!

Spheerol.

Need to be careful here.
Castrol makes quite a range of Spheerol greases.
Only the OO version is the semi-fluid stuff.

Spheerol. Cheap and cheerful, and works well on old 'boxes.

Interesting. I don 't know that I'd be too keen to mix up oil and grease myself but I think I'll look more kindly on that stuff they recommend for vintage car steering boxes and the like. Can't remember what Penrite call it. Thick like grease when cold but quickly liquefies when stirred up. Thixotropic?

Albion introduced their first “Featherweight “ 4 speed box intended for up to 150cc machines in January 1933. Unfortunately the majority of the motorcycle industry were reluctant to take it on for their bottom of the range lightweights as it was dearer than the EJ 3 speed.
Some did but the general attitude seemed to be that they were building cheap’n’nasties and building an optional cheap and interesting version wasn’t going to happen.
I can see why Albion wasn’t interested in making a close ratio 3 speeder when they had difficulty selling their much better 4 speed box intended for the same purpose.

Curiously I’ve never seen any Albion literature advocating a thin grease. Where did you get that?