Hello again.
More through luck than judgement I have acquired the major parts of a 1962 650ss engine, including the case, crank, pistons, camshaft (X2) barrels and head. I've also got a few of the timing side gears and pinions. I was actually just looking for a barrel but got very lucky.
The new 650ss barrel seems to be still in standard bore and shows very little wear. In fact all the components all look to be in really good order and have clearly been worked on previously so I'm going to use them as the basis for a 'new' engine.
Lots of the 'minor' components are missing - valves, oil pumps, cam chains etc, and so the plan is to swap over bits from my existing engine over the winter. The aim is to get this 'new' engine in the bike so it can be used for 'making progress' and some fun road riding in 2026. The old engine will be cleaned out and will go into reserve. It's run well for the last few months but it had been sitting for 30 years and needs a bit of TLC.
At the moment I'm looking at my options and working out what I've got to do.
The question of the moment revolves around the existing con-rods and the changes I'll need to make to run these. These are the later Mk 2 Conrods with oil spray holes. Service notes are clear that if using these then you have to use a 6 start gearing on the oil pump.
My current oil pump is a 3 start item (see picture) so I'm assuming I'll need a new pump and that the three start won't work efficiently even if I change the gearing. I can't see the S which is supposed to be stamped on the upgraded version so assume my existing pump won't be up to the task even though it's working well at the moment.
What else on the bike needs to be upgraded or changed now I have to use a 6 start pump?
I think I'll need plain rocker spindles - 06.7924 as recommended in the Service Notes. Won't I need to worry about crankcase breathing? Currently this is not a huge issue with my current set up. What other issues do I need to consider or prepare for?
I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on the above.
Cheers
