Has anyone got a tip for holding the crankcase breather assembly, on the end of the cam shaft, while trying to close the crankcases?
Also any tips on how to fiddle the drive side connecting rod passed the casting strenghtening bar while the cam shaft is present.?
I didn't dismantle this unit, but was just handed a box of bits.
Assembly Antics
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Hello Philip, as you say I…
Hello Philip, as you say I have difficulty understanding the reason for the cast stretcher bar, and you are correct, the hand book does say that there is one on the drive and timing sides.
In my case there is only the one on the drive side, and no indication that there was ever one on the timing side.
Considering the ample fixings when the barrel is pulled down on the closed crankcase, there should be more than enough rigidity strength afforded to the crankcases by this assembly alone. I start to wonder whether this bar was in fact a foundry aid to the gravity die casting to prevent hot distortion to the piece after removal from the die assembly ?
Not having dismantled this engine, I have not the experience to see how the connecting rod was fiddled past the bar with the camshaft presant.
I am heading towards cutting the bar out, but would welcome some more input on the subject.
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The cynical answer would be to to grow 2 more hands. The strengthening bar makes assembly of these engines quite a challenge. Also the early Model 7 diagrams show 1 bar for each crankcase half though I am sure that is not correct. Many engineers just cut the bar off to make re-assembly of these engines easier..
Assuming both main bearings are in respective case halves and the camshaft is held in the timing cover, I would feed the crankshaft vertically downwards into the a drive-side case. Add the breather disc and spring along with a large dollop of sticky grease and then paste the drive case flange with sealant goo. Next warm the timing bearing inner race a little to help expand it before placing it over the crankshaft end while feeding the camshaft into the drive case camshaft bush. A little turning of the camshaft will help the breather disc dogs engage the camshaft slots and the two case halves should the close together.
If all the timing gears and sprockets are not inside the cover then the camshaft and breather disc/spring can be inserted as stage 2 after the crankshaft.