Arsebiscuits!!!

[Jon_W]

Oh lala... that's not good.

Best cure is to keep the bike in the heated house...... :P

[Scotty]

I've been busy in the garage today, most of the jobs were dead easy, just a couple of tasks that were harder than they should have been... The inlet manifold rubbers are mounted in pairs with three M6 screws in each - one of them was so reluctant to come out it managed to destroy a T30 Torx bit on an impact driver, I had to cut a slot into it with a dremel and use a large straight bit to shift it in the end... > The only other difficulty was getting the valve spring seats out - stepped washers that sit beneath the valve springs - the surface tension from the remaining oil film beneath them was enough to make them very reluctant to come out, a magnet wouldn't shift them and fine-nosed pliers could barely grip the step... I managed it in the end by dribbling petrol onto them to break down the oil film and they eventually all came out. :



Any thoughts that the original head may have been repairable were dismissed by finding a second crack on the left hand side (behind an engine mount, not visible until the head was off the engine) and this one below that straddles the valve spring areas for Nos 2 & 3 cylinders...


Fortunately I've acquired another head and the original one is fully stripped bare now, so it's time to start building up the new one... 8-)

[Harry87]

Wondered where you were today. Looks like you've made good progress on this now. It's really helpful to see this kind of thing, as haven't seen damage caused by freezing water before.

[Scotty]

Bit of an update - after buying a head that I found needed the valve seats cutting and all the guides reaming out, I sent it back for MSS' engine guy to do it but he didn't manage to get a reamer despite waiting ages for his Snap-On rep to get one so he pulled the head off an engine of his own and Star and I drove to Colchester on Good Friday to collect it - rebuilt the engine and installed it this week, finished off connecting everything this afternoon, filled up the cooling system with water and left the sump drain plug out - nothing came out which was encouraging, so I put the drain plug back in and filled the engine with cheap oil to flush it through, started it and ran it for a couple of minutes and then drained it out - and go what looked like several litres of tea :'( :'( :'( Bollocks! Looks like it wasn't just the head that had cracked, the cylinder block had too, and unfortunately on this engine, the block is integral with the upper crankcase, so it needs new cases, or I buy a second hand engine... a quick look on ebay shows that even damaged engines are going for the best part of a grand So.... the engine's back out and on Friday I'm driving back to MSS in Colchester once again with it in the back of the car - they have a set of fresh crankcases and John the engine guy is going to build it for me - it won't be cheap, but I'll have pretty much a fresh engine so at least I'll get peace of mind with it, unlike a second hand one bought on faith...
I'll be riding Star's wee 400 at Odiham on Monday, unless anyone has a track bike that they could lend me..... :

[Gerry]

Bummer Simon :-/

But at least, as you say, you know the engine and most of it will have been re-built.

Your'e welcome to a nice little yellow SV, but I fear you would notice a little difference in performance

Cheers
Gerry

[Bornagain]

Bit of an update - after buying a head that I found needed the valve seats cutting and all the guides reaming out, I sent it back for MSS' engine guy to do it but he didn't manage to get a reamer despite waiting ages for his Snap-On rep to get one so he pulled the head off an engine of his own and Star and I drove to Colchester on Good Friday to collect it - rebuilt the engine and installed it this week, finished off connecting everything this afternoon, filled up the cooling system with water and left the sump drain plug out - nothing came out which was encouraging, so I put the drain plug back in and filled the engine with cheap oil to flush it through, started it and ran it for a couple of minutes and then drained it out - and go what looked like several litres of tea :'( :'( :'( Bollocks! Looks like it wasn't just the head that had cracked, the cylinder block had too, and unfortunately on this engine, the block is integral with the upper crankcase, so it needs new cases, or I buy a second hand engine... a quick look on ebay shows that even damaged engines are going for the best part of a grand So.... the engine's back out and on Friday I'm driving back to MSS in Colchester once again with it in the back of the car - they have a set of fresh crankcases and John the engine guy is going to build it for me - it won't be cheap, but I'll have pretty much a fresh engine so at least I'll get peace of mind with it, unlike a second hand one bought on faith...
I'll be riding Star's wee 400 at Odiham on Monday, unless anyone has a track bike that they could lend me..... :

Take the Steely, come and collect when you can and i may even pop over on the road bike and see it in action at Odiham.
My tow bar's not being fitted 'til next Saturday so you'll have to collect it. She's all serviced, checked and tightened (curtessy of Colin) so she's good to go

[Scotty]

Thanks for the offers guys, of the two yellow perils I'll choose Basil's Steelie, it's proper track prepped and it isn't his only bike (far from it...) 8-) 8-) 8-)
I got to MSS an hour before the engine guy showed up! I could have done with that hour in bed, I'm knackered now... :

[Scotty]

Final update on this saga.... after collecting the rebuilt engine a couple of weeks ago and putting it back in, I had a bit of a scare when, after filling it with the appropriate fluids and firing it up, the oil pressure light wouldn't go out. Another call to John at MSS was enlightening... "Did you just let it idle?" yes "Worst thing you could do, you have to hold it at a steady 3000rpm until the light extinguishes, it's necessary to run it that fast to get the oil pressure and flow up sufficiently to displace all the air from the oil galleries..." OK then... I must admit that I really didn't enjoy holding the engine at a steady 3000rpm with the red oil light glaring at me defiantly and the oil level in the sight window not dropping at all After what seemed like an eternity, the light suddenly went out and the engine note changed slightly and all was indeed good... until I noticed two water leaks, this time from outside the engine; a couple of pin-holes in the radiator and from the water pump... Jumping ****ing Jesus, will this never end? A quick raid on ebay secured a second hand radiator, which needed the fins straightening a fair bit (several hours patient work), but it was watertight, and a second-hand water pump which unfortunately wasn't (annoyingly there are no serviceable parts within the pump, the pump itself is the service level - the breaker will refund me for it though) so I had to order a brand new one (£179.90 incl. VAT) and fitted it just as Basil arrived to help me load up the van for Llandow.
It was more than a blessed relief to finally get the bike back together, running and fluid-tight at last... It ran beautifully at Llandow and the engine was sweet as anything and made plenty of power. I'll call John at MSS tomorrow to let him know 8-) 8-) 8-) Now I just have to get this bloody knee fixed... :'(

[Squashed_Fly]

Glad to hear it's up and running mate.

Sounds like it was a proper mare

[Jon_W]

Chriiissst. Never heard of having to run a "dry" engine so hard.... I'd have had my heart in my mouth the whole time doing that!!!

Glad it worked though!