Early to Late valve cover mod, blame the Mailman......

[gggGary]

Kinda surprised no one's done this before. I'll let the pics tell the story.

Just a dome nut stuck in there so the point of the live center didn't poke a dent in the cover.


Went slick and easy

Things didn't go quite as well in the 4 jaw


Good thing I tried it on a "plain" 4 hole cover first.
Will need to set up a holding jig for these, might be better to do the decompression cover with a boring bar on the mill. Maybe a clamping jig for any other 3 hole covers I might do..


So mailman I have three covers ready to go. Want to do this exchange?
And this was my last three gggGary's O-rings, time to order another batch.

 

[Beags64]

Was gonna suggest soft jaws bored to size but I noticed your chuck has solid jaws … shoots that idea in the ass.

 

[Beags64]

Got an idea, back in a bit.

 

[Mailman]

Ha! Gary, I wandered what you were up to. For those of you wandering what this is about, I had contacted Gary to see if he had a set of later model valve covers that had that machined groove for an o ring. I wanted them for my XS2.
Gary you surprised me, I appreciate your efforts. Actually I want to hang on to my originals, my thoughts were to buy a four cover set just to mess around with. I’m thinking of even trying to take my compression release and cable off and just running a plain cover on there, since I do not use the compression release anyways.
There are several sets available on EBay , but naturally I’d rather do business with you if possible.

So here’s where I’m at. I am still interested in a four cover set and that set of red o rings. If you want to sell the ones you machined or something else entirely that’s fine. Can the scratches on that square one be removed?

 

[gggGary]

I have some aluminum blanks I use to make rotor spacers. I can turn a recess in them to accept the three hole covers. The 4 hole are a bit trickier 'specially the decompression ones.

 

[gggGary]

Oh that 4holer is toast, but I have others. Don'tcha know?

 

[Mailman]

Haha! Ok buddy. I’m in no rush, wait until after the holidays and let me know what’s up. Thanks Gary

 

[Beags64]

Here ya go...

...just enough spring, with the slit, to open and close a few thou to make up for minor casting differences. Thinkin' four holer could be done quite similar.
Gonna have to box this up and send it off to the land of cheese & sausage after the holiday.

 

[gggGary]

Very cool Beags!

 

[Beags64]

I'll mess around today and see if four hole covers can be done the same way. Not too sure about decompression ones, don't have one to figure out how much different they are.
Do I just send them to City Hall - ATTN: Baron of Baraboo?

 

[Superjet]

Oh that 4holer is toast

porthole candidate? JC

*edit* probably wouldnt work cause of the domed shape....

 

[Paul Sutton]

That 4 holer may not be toast??? I recently did a repair to something similar on the Virago using that 300 Celsius Aluminum solder that Peanut introduced me too.

 

[Beags64]

4-hole worked out 'bout the same

Kinda hard to maintain good concentricity grabbing the outside of a cast part, but still close enough for what it is. One three holer had to be packed out a bit with some card stock, to get a good bite and center it up a bit better.
Get 'em packed up and headed across the lake in the AM.

 

[gggGary]

Cool! Couple thoughts, I can center the parts with the 4 jaw. A couple tapped holes with screws and washers would lock in the covers.

 

[Beags64]

Certainly could. Rotating the cover in the ring and/or the ring in the chuck I was able to stay within 4 or 5 thou, YMMV. Dialing in each individual on would just be more time, hence the attempt to make the ring clamp and center (more or less) in one shot in the 3-jaw. Guess it boils down to how precise you want to get.

 

[Mailman]

You guys with lathes are awesome. I need a barn!

 

[gggGary]

Looking through ones Yamaha made their groove isn't always concentric to the center lip either
Hey Bob I got a great deal on a (currently) air conditioned barn, conveniently prefilled with a lifetime supply of XS projects.

 

[Mailman]

Looking through ones Yamaha made their groove isn't always concentric to the center lip either
Hey Bob I got a great deal on a (currently) air conditioned barn, conveniently prefilled with a lifetime supply of XS projects.

Haha! I don’t think I’m built for Wisconsin winters! I’m a desert lizard.

 

[gggGary]

Hey Beags: I just happen to have a complete set of "early" covers with the plain 4 hole, all polished up and waiting for o-ring grooves!
If truth be told, I think I had em in a bin, polished them to use on a motor I was working on and THEN realized they weren't late model.
Been sitting out there all wrapped up ever since.

 

[Paul Sutton]

Beags64, great idea making those special collets.





For the less adventurous with good eyesight, I used the Oring version valve covers with paper gaskets and they sealed nicely.