Sludge trap hack: a hole in the crankcase

[AnthonyA]

Hi fellas,
First, I wanted the title to be as explicit as possible. So you probably guessed it, I want to know if it's feasible to drill a hole in the crankcase, possibly threaded to keep it filled during use, and aligned to the crankpin, and therefore to the sludge trap.

Thus, one could clean it "regularly", without the need to dissemble the engine.
(Said hole would be larger than the crankpin, allowing to scoop while putting something to protect the area,...)
By analyzing templates, the left crankcase would be ideal.

Credit to my uncle.
I don't get how no-one ever thought of this. Seems tricky to pull off though... I want the experts advice, so here I come.
What do you think of this ?

[berger]

go to the pub mate 

[muskrat]

G'day Ant. Thinking outside the square.
This may be feasible for the small journal cranks but the large journal cranks have a removable tube that comes out the timing side and a locating bolt through the flywheel.
It's a job that should be done on an engine rebuild say once every 100,000 or anytime the cases are apart. I factor in a rebuild with any bike I get as you never know it's full history.
Cleaning in situ could be hazardous if some of the crud blocks a journal oil hole and destroys a bigend.
Cheers

[berger]

  I agree musky I wouldn't even clean one out without shells removed, so I stick with go to the pub

[Triton Thrasher]

A daft idea. You absolutely will send dirt through the big ends.

Kick your uncle up the idiot and forget about this.

[a10 gf]

hmmm, do i sense a somewhat faint lack of enthusiasm :O)

Even if it was possible (big question...) to gain outside practical access, as muskrat wrote, crud can be hard\petrified, moving that around next to the oil holes is no good idea, zero guarantee to know what one has done or achieved ...until > experiencing what happens after starting up and driving 3 miles.

But hey, ideas and needs drives the world, anything should be evaluated and maybe tried.

[Greybeard]

Apart from the other replies. Stripping these engines is not really a massive task. It's not worth carrying out your suggestion.

[duTch]

 Great idea , but as probably often I'm with bergs on this one, but don't stay too long lest the idea manifester (ryhmes with Manchester- hey ), and take a  vehicle large enough to return with ample supplies for a engine strip.... and redress

[terryg]

For the reasons quoted above you would need to strip and clean the engine for starters, even if you were arranging 'in situ' access to the sludge trap.
Therefore you might as well fit one of the tried and tested in-line oil filters to your freshly cleaned and rebuilt motor. In which case the need to access the sludge trap frequently would disappear, or at least be significantly reduced.
As GB says, these engines are not so difficult to strip and reassemble. And like most jobs, the more often you do it the quicker it gets.
Perhaps it's time to find a problem that definitely needs a solution.

[paulmbsa]

Also do not forget that these screws are not the easiest to remove when the crank is out would imagine a pig to do through a hole

[BSA_54A10]

Also do not forget that these screws are not the easiest to remove when the crank is out would imagine a pig to do through a hole

And to add a little more negativity
You have to drill out the center punch swages that prevent the plug from unscrewing .
Next to impossible to do through a hole as you need to come in at an angle so you are only removing metal from the plug & not the crank
Thus you will be putting swarf into the engine.
Even if you did this then you will need to punch the new plug, again not the best through a hole.

And on top of this is the effect on the structural integrity of the crank case.
All of the holes in the cases have been designed & where necessary strengthened.
Making random holes is not a good idea.

[Swarfcut]

Seem to recall somewhere that one maker made provision for this in their original design...I reckon it was AJS.

 On ye olde A10, it's a hiding to nothing, don't mess about drilling holes on cases. Like Paul and '54 note, these plugs can be real stubborn to shift... bad ones need heat and considerable violence to shift. Not recommended or easy wielding big hammers in close confines to fragile crankcases.

 Dismantle, clean, fit filter, change oil regularly, sleep easy.

Swarfy.

[Greybeard]

Are you persuaded yet?

Another mod that has been done before is to create a trap door in the top of rocker box to make locating the push rods easier, (one of the more fiddly jobs!) The Ariel Huntmaster, which used the A10 engine with some minor changes, had a screw in plug for this reason. On an early A it might be feasible to open the rocker box, but on later models an engine steady mounts on top of the rocker box, so weakening it may not be advisable.

[AnthonyA]

Thanks my friends. I apologize to the purists, I'm always seeking improvements and modifications. I don't want to denature the machine though, and I intend to respect it.

Anyway, off to the pub now...

[Triton Thrasher]

Thanks my friends. I apologize to the purists, I'm always seeking improvements and modifications. I don't want to denature the machine though, and I intend to respect it.

Anyway, off to the pub now...

Purists?

Your proposed modification would not be an improvement.