Thanks very much, that’s exactly the sort of info I need. I will remove the piston rings and measure the gap in the bore at several points and see if the wear is even, there doesn’t appear to be any blow-by past the rings and there is still evidence of a recent hone on the bores-they look ok to me but I will measure and check! I am taking it completely to pieces and checking bearings etc, I have already bought a new sludge trap cap with a hex head on it, hopefully the old one will come out.... I must say that I am really enjoying owning and restoring this old bike, it’s so much fun and I will get enormous pleasure riding it after spending so much time and effort getting it back on the road, knowing that I have had my hands deep in the bowels of the engine and gearbox! I have never attempted this before but it’s a labour of love and this is one bike that I intend to keep
Ray, good on you. Keep up with the photos and progress I'm enjoying watching it come along. We'll help where we can.
Great work used toilet roll centers make good rod protectors and they squeeze down in the crank webs when splitting cases.
Yes I must have been lucky, I locked up the primary with a bit of wood and the nut came off ok. I used a puller I bought to get the clutch off and it worked a treat, so all good so far, very enjoyable. Probably never run again though!
Ok but of a delay but back to it today and now the cases are split. All good so far, just wondering if the marks around the main bearing positions is machined in the factory or a sign of the crank catching the cases? No sign of anything on the crank itself so any advice gratefully received. Cheers.
Despite being what I thought was careful with covering my con rods I have found small marks on them-is this a problem?
I always remove and small nicks with fine emery and re polish if i have to but i normally like to fit new rods.
As I am extremely tight I will polish it out, as new rods are a bit costly-or is that a false economy? I don’t want to keep going into the bottom end so maybe I should bite the bullet while I am in there? I will only use the bike for general road use so do you think it would be ok?
I always fit new if building a motor for my self but have used old rods cleaned up and polished when a customer has said that's what they want without any problems, very rare for a rod to let go if its not over revved.
Well I am definitely not planning on going mad on it, so I think I will use these ones once I have them looking nice. The big ends look good and are standard size so that’s good news
Enjoying watching you dive in deep..... To my unprofessional eye it looks surprisingly good inside the cases! I opted for a Morini project last year, nice bike and great to work on but my itch for a Brit project hasn't gone away and seeing what you are up to has got me thinking hard. Maybe it's time to sell the Morini and find a bike like yours. Thanks for the inspiration - I think!
You are welcome! I may have been lucky so far but it’s been very enjoyable and there is loads of stuff available for these bikes which makes things easier and a very helpful bunch of owners to point me in the right direction, which I definitely need as I have never done anything like this before !
Rods should be fine with a bit of spit and polish. Shells are really cheap though, so get them renewed just as a matter of course. You can't stop there, the sludge trap plug really needs to be taken out. Then the sleeve and a clean of all oilways. Assuming sleeve is ok then just a new Allen key plug and centre punched.
Oh yes Sludge Trap Fans, it’s nearly time to whip out the plug, simply remove and clean the trap and pop it back together with a shiny new hex type. That’s the plan! Reality may bite hard here, I have read horror stories about getting these out involving broken bits, nuts being welded on and all sorts of woes. I have everything crossed, wish me luck! Thanks for the advice, I will fit some new shells while I am at it and replace all the bearings. Sounds easy enough
