Well after 12 months of collecting parts and some semblance of knowing what I’m doing, it’s time to start getting into it.
So far, I’ve had the cylinders bored to 0.060 over with new JP piston set. I have, on advice received on the forum here, discarded the JP rings and replaced them with Hamilton’s.
Next up, got the cases, crank and cam back from the machinist’s who’ve done a pretty good job of line-boring all the new bushes. So, big shout out to Wynnum Engine Reconditioner’s here in Brisbane. While they were at it, the crank was ground to 0.20” under, so still a bit of life left in it yet.
The head has had a bit of a tickle up with new valves, guides, springs and hardware. All lapped in and ready to go. This time I even managed to get the right valves in the right holes….didn’t know about the magnetic inlet valve thing…so again, much knowledge learnt via the forum here. Amazingly, the rocker box and all the internals were in pretty good nick, so just a cleanup required.
Today I set the end float on the crank. The method used might be a bit primitive, but I’m hoping the result is more or less in line with what you’d expect using a dial gauge etc. All I did was hose clamp a small angle onto the cush spline. Through the angle is a bolt and 2 nuts. Push crank all the way over to the timing side. Offer up the bolt to touch the inside of the primary case and lock it. Then push the crank back over to the drive side and measure the gap between primary case and bolt with feeler gauge. The gap I got was 0.00787”. So by my reckoning, a 0.005” shim ought to get me into the zone…..yes?
While I was busy congratulating myself, I had a thought about a fairly long thread here discussing the joys of balancing cranks, rods and pistons etc. So out of mild interest, I chucked the rods onto the wife’s kitchen scales, and discovered that the RH rod is 7g heavier than the LH one. Given I won’t be racing the old girl, or even going for long meandering rides through the outback, is this difference likely to be a major drama further down the line?
I guess depending on opinions, thoughts, and warnings received, I’ll hold off attaching the rods to the crank.
One other thing that has been bugging me….what’s the best cement or similar to seal in the oil pick up pipe that goes to the sump?
Will post pictures once I sort my stupid camera out…
Cheers,