One of those days where everything is fighting you
But we got there in the end!
First challenge of the day - the cam chain tensioner. The formed steel plate that bolts it to the barrels was quite clearly made by a blind yetti with a four pound hammer. So, that had to be re-fashioned properly and made square! The new chain, whilst lovely was endless. Initially I thought, oh good, one less thing to do at the top end and I’ll just drop a cam bearing, pop the chain on and pop the bearing on. Unfortunately the cam tensioner plate has a little bar that runs across it meaning the chain has to be split. It’s pressed and riveted in, so the chain was the logical choice. Especially as I ordered a new link any way.
I then found the bolts that secure the plate were ever so slightly over size. I initially thought the threaded holes were the culprit....perhaps some crap in there. I ran a tap through to be sure and then found the over size bolts. No problem... a quick run on the die and they’re perfect.
Just as I thought I’d solved that issue, I dropped one of the bolts into the casing
Popped the sump plate off and found the magnet doing its thing.
Next up, pistons on! How easy is that.... errr no. Normally the little clips are the fiddliest part but I have a knack and a little hooked tool I use now. Both pistons on, pins in place and clips installed but something didnt feel right. Looking at the clips, they weren’t seating properly, at all in their groove. I tried the usual - jiggling, pins in, pins out and came to the conclusion, the pins were just too long to allow the clips to fully seat in their groove. So... 0.10mm machined off the end, a new chamfer too.... spot on. The below pics are before and after.. bit tricky to see though.
Barrels on and head on ok. Made an interesting ring compressor from a couple of jubilee clips and an old plastic bottle cut into 1” sections and then split. Forgot to take a pic
I actually thought the cam chain was too short, however it only looked a half tooth out. I know they are pressure filled with grease from the factory, making them tight at the best of times. So, I took it in the house, wrapped it in a cloth and laid it in the airing cupboard for an hour - fit like glove
Cam cover on and bolted down for now. Will recheck and start on the ancillaries after this.
As it stands today...