New And In Need Of Help

Hi I live in Wiltshire and ride a 2003 T100 ( With Golden Jubilee kit ), as per my post somewhere on the forum, I decided to do the 1200 miles service ( I had several bikes and rode the BSa's more than the Triumph hence the low mileage) the valve clearances were outside the tolerances so when I lifted the exhaust camshaft a locating dowel fell into the engine, tried a magnet, also removed the sump and tried to blow it through with compressed air, no luck, so where do I go next? will the crankcase split without removing the clutch? how easy is it to remove the engine and is it going to be too heavy to tip upside down to try and shake the dowel loose?

 

it has gone down the cam chain but cannot see it so presume it has gone further into the engine

 

I do not think that will work, fixing the tube to a large hose may be a problem

 

????? what do I do with duct tape?

 

I have decided to remove the screen, mirrors and side panels along with the battery, and after removing the valve caps (marking the position on a compartment box) and with the help of a couple of friends turning the bike upside down to see if offending item drops out, will keep you posted

 

Sorry not black, so dull, prefer the shine of Chrome and alloy. not keen on photos, at nearly 69 it gets difficult for me to work out how to do technical computer stuff,

 

Sorry not black, so dull, prefer the shine of Chrome and alloy. not keen on photos, at nearly 69 it gets difficult for me to work out how to do technical computer stuff,

 

Well after removing the screen mirrors and side panels, putting a blanket down and two foam dog beds and a clean sheet, a friend and myself turned the bike upside down, nothing dropped out, using the back wheel we turned the engine backwards then forward to the original position, still nothing dropped out. I begin to wonder if it did drop into the engine, another search of the area even sweeping with a large magnet revealed nothing,so I just cannot take a chance on ignoring the situation and wrecking the engine, a question was asked to me , how many dowels are there 12 or 11 and should there be one missing to aid oil drainage?. Has anyone taken a bonneville engine out? is it an easy job? I think providing that Blade in Swindon will take on the job, I may take the engine or even the whole bike with all the removed bits for them to strip it down inspect it and rebuild the bike, after all I should be able to save enough from my pension in 12 months to pay the bill, or should I try this new crowd funding lark?

 

The dowel dropped into the engine, I had only lifted the camshaft up about an inch, two cam out of one cap and both dropped into the engine casing next to the cam chain, I managed to get one out but not the other, yes I have now turned the engine over several times nothing has jammed or dropped out, but the bike is still upside down, I am waiting for help to turn it back up, then I will turn it over again and see if anything drops. As an extra measure I did sweep the area with a magnet, however I had a clean blue tarpaulin on the ground so really would have no problem seeing anything I dropped.

 

Well having spent two days making the dumping ground that used to be my BSA workshop into a workshop again, the Triumph has pride of place with the engine now out and on the bench for reassembly. Once I had the engine out of the frame and on the floor, I tipped it onto its rear engine mounts and shook the engine, I then turned it upside down and Bingo out dropped the missing locating dowel, so once I have worked out what shims I require for the valve clearances I will order all the shims, gaskets, o rings and copper washers I need and reassemble it, so should be good to ride in a week or so.