ES2 torque settings ?

Paul, TW’s only became part of the mechanics toolkit when fastenings became engineered to a critical tolerance. Your machine has its roots in the steam age. Clamping pressure and “pull out” are what are critical for you.  Take a look at the recommended torque for the size of fixings involved and materials employed.  Fit, lubrication and finish are all factors on the capacity of a fixing 

The usual thing for these machines involves feel and rechecking after heat cycling.  By all means check your “feeling” with a TW and record. Studs in alloy with worn or damaged threads may not  hold max load for that type of fixing  go easy and go evenly across a joint.   

Jon

Spanners were all made (and still are) in different lengths for different size bolt diameters to give different torques.

This gives the user roughly the correct torque if used with 'feel'.  This 'feel' only comes with experience and early on one can expent to snap the odd bolt or strip a few threads due to overtightening. Due dilligence will be required when tightening studs that are threaded into aluminium castings.

You can always re-tighten a stud or nut, but once it's stretched, stripped or snapped - it's fubar!

As bolt strengths become higher, their ductility (the amount they can stretch permanently before they break) becomes lower. So a relatively low strength bolt stretches a comparatively long way after it first begins to stretch.  That's the mechanic's 'feel' point, and its why torque wrenches weren't needed in earlier designs (especially when they were were expected to be taken apart in the street for regular decoking).  High strength bolts give much less warning between the points when they start to stretch and then snap, so careful control is much more important.  Modern critical bolts are likely not to be re-usable.

Paul, the singles DVD by Mike Pemberton in the NOC shop is a worthwhile investment. I also have a 62 ES2.

Mike advises cyl head bolts at 32ft lb taken in stages from 24, 28 to 32.  Rocker box bolts are 12 ft lb.    Oh, and I mostly make my own gaskets from a batch of asst gasket papers(ebay).

hope this helps

John.

Hi Paul it is quite easy to get your bike oiltight, my 1960 M 50 is completely oil tight,

One of the  best thing I did was to put a reed valve breather on the original breather pipe, to obtain negative pressure in the crankcase,I also machined a grove in the rocker box to enable two 'O' rings to be fitted above the pushrods tubes. 

I got fed up trying to seal the chaincase, so fitted a belt drive conversion from the late great Mick Hemings. And after about 10,000 hard miles,no noticeable oil leaks.

Also I don't know why, but it hardly seems to wet sump, even if not ridden for a few months, unlike my Velo, that I had to fit a oil tap (with a switch) 

Regards John O

because your built-in anti-sumping valve actually works.  I had a '61 ES2 that sat for 5 years in a friend's possession, and it had all its oil where it belonged. I suspect that the problematic valves need some attention and they would work just fine.  Nice to have the valve downstream from the pump.   These are not my comments in the attached photo.

Paul,

I put a 3/8 ball type check valve on the timed breather on my 1956 ES2, like you are proposing. 

It worked so well that I now have to lube the timing chain every few months!

True!

Very annoyed to find Norton put an anti wet sumping device on the ES2 the following year.

My M20 BSA had one that needed the tap with a drift treatment early on. But it never wetsumped again after that. Even after 12 months.