'Diamond in the rough'

[NobleHops]

Butter. The finish looks amazing. I would love to use that gear on my H2 engines.

I think we all died a little through Aris' travails last year. And I had something happen when I was WAY more careless than either of you, years ago, with walnut shells. No disrespect for your care, skills or experience Mike. I just have the willies after all that.

Your project will get us through the winter, along with the final firing-up of Mike's black beauty. Thanks for sharing it.

N.

[bikeymikey748]

As usual ( ?? ) let's get the bad news out of the way first: I had a look at my other cam chain tensioner ( 'B' ). Yup, it hasn't got any life left in it ( DAMN ). Don't know why it didn't jump out at me at first glance...maybe since the other ( 'A' ) was soooo bad, it missed sending up a flag. Like the other, it had small cracks running radially out towards the face of it. Unlike the other tensioner, the face was worn a bit irregularly, and was lifting off the 'frame'. Here's my new shop mascot ( no warm, fuzzy animals for this guy) holding it. You can see the wear/damage on the LH side.:



Good news: I got all the motor bits in the oven for a 'bake' session the other night, my wife was not amused. But it will make my life easier by speeding the hardening process of the paint in service.The valves are lapped into their seats, installed in the head, and passed the 'varsol' test ( spark plugs in, head turned over, combustion chambers filled with varsol....wait 5 minutes & check in the ports for leaks past the valves). Two of the exhausts showed a slight amount of sweating. I anticipate that they will improve with use as they create a better interface with their, respective, seats.
I'm going to set my ring end-gaps when I get done with this post...Man, the shop does great work! I had them mill the deck slightly to get a perfect head gasket mating surface, the bores look fantastic. In the end, Julien went with ( my apologies to Mike) ).0016". The pistons are cast, and in his experience, this was a good clearance. I have to follow a strict break-in proceedure, but should be able to count on an acceptably long service life.
I just had to sit the bits together to see how they looked. Under the heading of, " The Devil is in the Details", here's your first peek:





Lastly, the motor came apart well enough with the tools I had, but as I need to torque everything back together, I needed two more special tools. The wrench for the primary shaft nut got fabbed from a shopping cart frame support ( in my defence...I don't know how the cart ended up in front of my house...but, as long as it was there, it seemed a shame to let it go to waste...that's my story, and I'm sticking to it), the socket for the clutch nut is a composite of an old socket and a, modded, brake caliper piston ( Suzuki, I think) ;

[NobleHops]

OMG the motor looks fantastic. You have crazy mad skilz with the toolmaking...

N.

[bikeymikey748]

Details, Details.
I took a break from the motor today. Seems every time I even look at it lately, it costs me more money

I decided to play around with some, small ( smoked lens ), turn signals I picked up. I didn't like the screws securing the lenses, but didn't have any appropriate Allen heads. But...I had some that almost fit. A bit of time with the drill press and some files + a die and...



From the left: The original screws, the Allen heads I modded,'blanks' turned out from the Allen heads I had on hand, the finished bolts after a trip through the die. I, carefully, cut the new recesses into the lenses (the bolts I cut have slightly larger heads) with a very sharp bit. I like the new bolts versus the screws...decide for yourself;



And, I decided to mount the front signals off the motor bracket ( I figure it will keep my forks looking a bit 'cleaner'). I didn't want to compromise my spark plug access though. I found a solution in my 'scraps' box. Seems I had an old floor lamp hanging around. The upright sections screw together with nifty adaptors. I tapped the brackets to accept an adaptor ( pic #1), cut the tube to length, and slid on the turn signal ( it mounts with a pinch bolt). Now I can easily remove the turn signal for , unrestricted spark plug access.







Added bonus? Since I'm using Allen heads to secure the brackets to the head ( as opposed to the stock hex heads), I no longer have to remove the plugs on cylinders 1 & 6 to remover the brackets.

[EMS]

Added bonus? Since I'm using Allen heads to secure the brackets to the head ( as opposed to the stock hex heads), I no longer have to remove the plugs on cylinders 1 & 6 to remover the brackets.

Interesting! Please elaborate, Mike! How does access to the allen head bolts differ to that of the hexhead bolts. I would use a hex socket or an allen socket with a short extension to get to these. In either case, access would be blocked by the spark plug

[kbart1]

I like the allen bolt for the motor mounts. Are they stainless? I would like to change to allen head but i was told they were not the proper "strength" or "grade"??? Anybody have any thoughts?

Thanks!
kent

[Rick Pope]

I used to offer stainless allen head bolts for the motor mounts, but stopped when I found out they are harder, and more brittle, than the stockers. That said, I have had them on my '79 for many years.

If you decide to use stainless, good luck find them. I had to buy longer bolts and have them cut/re-threaded to the proper length. Not cheap.

[bikeymikey748]

Interesting! Please elaborate, Mike!

'Morning , Mike.
I'm using 10x1.25x40 A2 stainless Cap head bolts. . Admittedly, I am low on them and may use the galavanised for the six I need ( these have their own issues). I have these in fair numbers. The socket needed to remove hex heads, is too large to pass by the plug.The allen head wrench just passes over the spark plug head. The bolt is a very close fit to remove past the plug, the washers will not pass. But, you can loosen it completely from the plate, leave it in place in the head, and remove the plate.
The problem is that 10x1.25 cap heads are, as Rick stated, very hard to locate, and expensive when you do. Some suppliers will not 'break' a box of 50-100 so the price adds up quickly. Funny thing is, 10x1.5 are readily available, and at very fair prices. When's the last time any of use ever saw one of them on a bike or car ?

I like the allen bolt for the motor mounts. Are they stainless? I would like to change to allen head but i was told they were not the proper "strength" or "grade"??? Anybody have any thoughts?

Kent, I've read/heard a lot regarding proper utilisation of stainless fasteners. I've used them, in large numbers, on every bike I've owned ( there have been a bunch). My 'acid test' was sprinkling them, liberally, on my SR500 Thumper. If any bike was going to subject a fastener to failure, that 'shaker' would. I never experienced any problems, even on the motor supports.For my money, a project bike is made or broken ( no pun intened) by details. You could lay on a million dollar paint job, but peoples' eyes will be attracted to your rusty/discolored fasteners. Not an issue with stainless.Besides, they polish up soooo nicely!

[bikeymikey748]

Sometimes, I cuss at the size of my, small, garage. Except, that is , when I have a motor to do. Then its just the right size. Everything is close at hand. Hot coffee is but a few steps away, the world is my oyster.
I saw my surgeon at the beginning of the week, I've one more month off. Better get a move on.



Don't you just love buckets of parts?
Best part about doing a complete rebuild? You get to drop the pistons in from the top, and don't have to mess around trying to drop a cylinder block over six pistons



Now we're getting somewhere. The primary chain tensioner was a bit hard ( the rubber bit), but otherwise fine. Also the tool I fabbed to hold the primary shaft in place while I torqued the ring nut down , had to be modified. I did weld the splined section to the nut, as well as trimming off the flange to extend no further than the nut. Seems feeding 65 ft/lbs of torque into the tool was making it slip against the cases.I fit a large socket on a long 1/2" rachet to lock it up. My spanner for the primary shaft nut was THE BOMB, can't imagine being able to do the job without it.
Gotta love little things like the lower pin for the front cam chain guide, or the (equally small, but important) wave washer for the starter idler gear Pay attention Cadets ! From past 'multi' experience, I verified my starter drive gear. Their position high in the cases makes them prone to oxidation where the rollers of the one-way clutch interface on their machined surface, especially when the motors sit idle for extended periods. Mine was ok, just a slight amount of rusting. A quick buff with a polishing cloth brought it back.





The upper cam chain adjuster is inbound, but I am placing the head today. I'll get held up a bit by that, but all else will be done on the motor in the next day or two.
Hey, I even finally got my 'O' rings to finish the carbs...Man what a story. If I was a different sort of person, I'de name the, inept, e-Bay company I was dealing with. I the end, I sourced the parts from another outfit. looking forward to fitting the Dynojet bits and signing-off on that aspect.
Last bit of news...My buddy told me, yesterday, that he can't do the frame welding for me
I appreciate his honesty. He said his lack of experience, and the fact that he hasn't been doing too much welding of late was making him have doubts regarding his confidance. He didn't want to put me at risk.
Still, that puts me in a bit of a bind. Now I have to track down someone I trust, at a fair price. I hadn't planned on, another, setback. I gues you just have to roll with the punches.
Ciao....The kettle just 'popped' ,I'm off to the garage.

[EMS]

Great continuation of both your progress and the report of it, Mike! Thanks a lot for the heads up on the starter gear. Never thought of that!

Hey, I even finally got my 'O' rings to finish the carbs...Man what a story. If I was a different sort of person, I'de name the, inept, e-Bay company I was dealing with. .

I bet, quite a few here know who you are talking about

[bikeymikey748]

Today was a good day. In fact, between keystrokes, I am sipping on a celebratory single-malt
Short days ago, I was gutted to learn that my buddy, Roland, wouldn't be doing my welding. But the lad redeemed himself, big time , earlier today. He was so upset, thinking that he'd let me down, that he made arrangements for his welding instructor to have a look at my frame. Rollie, among other talents, builds his own bicycles and takes welding classes because he's dissatisfied with the quality offered by local welders.Roger, the instructor, looked it over and.....everything was left in his, capable, hands. I should be able to collect it later this week !!
There I was instaling my clutch cover & ignition pickups, when I had a second look at the pickups/spark advancer. They all had a fair amount of rust on them. I recalled having to, carefully, pry the advancer off the shaft when disassembling the motor. It was rusted in place. Curious, there was no venting to atmosphere for the cavity. I recall another of my bikes stalling, from, time to time, owing to an accumalation of condensation in a similar situation.
Which brings us to today's 'McGyver Moment', and a salute to the humble tire valve:
Few seem aware of how versatile these unsung , mechanical heros are. For instance, who knew that under that meek,rubber exterior, lurked a brass bit just waiting to be transformed? All you need is a valve. Remove the inner Schraeder section ( which might come in handy for other jobs) ,take a propane torch & burn off the rubber to expose the brass section. A quick chuck in the drill press, polishing paper later you have what you see on the top of the photo. Longer valves, longer brass sections.



I've used them in lots of applications, such as adaptors for carb synchronizers,fittings for air suspension or for our purposes today, a hose fitting for a vent.
Drilling in the correct location on the clutch cover ( at an angle, the brass will be supported by more material this way), you drill a slightly undersized hole.



The brass will be an interference fit in the case afterward ( at 12 o'clock in the photo above). Cut the brass to the required length, coat the tip with Loctite red & drive it ( carefully) into position. Add a length of hose, and you're done. Your ignition pickups/spark advancer , vented as they now are to atmosphere, should be free from the ravages of condensation.
Here's the repainted bits, and (indescreet hose) in place:

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Take a bow, Brother.
It also sounds like you better save some of that single malt for the welding team.

[bikeymikey748]

Ola, fellow Six-maniacs!
It's the little things , really. Remember the top clamp I'm using ( check out the pics on pages 2 & 3 of this thread), the one with the Suzuki badge on it? Well we couldn't leave that alone could we? Turns out, that badges are readily available on the net. Problem is, the one I got was a different size than the Suzi one I removed. There is a recess in the casting for it. No prob. I filled the recess with body filler. Sanded it down,by dragging coarse sand paper in the same direction as the finish on the casting. That was followed up with a quick application of flat black paint. Then, I bonded on the, slightly shorter, Honda badge and two other tiny bits to fill the area....well?



Then the fitting for the crankcase breather hose was annoying me. It made fitting up the carbs a bother, owing to its upward angle putting it too close to the carbs . Its press fit in. I knocked it out with a, soft, alloy bar. Not content to just reposition it and punch it back in, and seeing as rubber hoses are so 'yesterday' I headed off to the local hardware store. Which brings us to today's 'McGyver' moment and a salute to plumbing sections in hardware stores, everywhere. Seems these places hold a bounty of useable bits. For our purposes today we'll look at dishwasher hoses/fittings.



The hoses are stainless, can handle the heat, are inexpensive,and have a (relatively) flexible interior rubber hose.
I found a, short, length of steel tube that fit into the Honda fitting. I cut one threaded section off the brass hose adaptor and soldered the remainding section to the end of the steel tube. The tube was then pressed into the Honda fitting and a stake was added to lock it in place ( I drilled across the center of the fitting/tube, and pressed in a thin alloy rod). A short section of shrink wrap hides the stake. Now just screw on the hose.....easy peasy

[CopperCollar]

Dayuuum She sure is looking good.

Mike

[bikeymikey748]

Dayuuum She sure is looking good.

Not much done today, spent most of it at Gordie's working on his 996.
Did get a call from Roger ( pronounced; row-jay. This is Quebec, after all. 90% of the folks speak French). I can collect my frame tomorrow. He said it went well, with a few issues He didn't elaborate, he's a man of few words, Roger. Fingers crossed.
I did look at a small item though. With the carbs, finally, done, I had a go at seeing how the home-brew carb-synch. tool ( upper in the photo), I've been using for years, fit . Not too well !! Forget about getting to the #2 & 5 adjusters!! Soooo, I came up with this;
I sectioned a 8mm. socket and brazed it to the tip of an old t-handle allen-head wrench (bottom of photo)....voila...fits like a dream, I laugh at the adjuster lock nuts!



p.s. Does anyone else notice how progressively more dog-eared that shop manual is looking? I can almost recite it verbatime about now