Strip down procedure

George........Take photos of everything you touch, undo or remove. Place each large chunk and its associated fixings into separate containers or bags. If you clean each part that you remove it will save cross-contamination when you later begin to reassemble the beast.

You could always send it to Mike P, that's really easy!

I've just sent him my es2 head to have valve seats fitted, but It's a really easy engine to work on. The hardest bit is probably getting it out of the frame? Take care with the exhaust collar, best to undo it when it's hot, unless it's already falling off!

Mike is an easy guy to talk to , give him a ring? I,m paying £140 for two valve seats, the head will come back with the valves lapped and ready to drop ion the barrel. Which I think is ok, there aren't any to begin with in an iron skull head. Plus he's going to grind the rocker heads flat so they hit the valve square. The PO did mine on an angle grinder!

The head and rocker box weighed 7 kg. no idea how much the rest weighs! Hermes charged £14 to send it but they have an insurance limit that might not be enough for an engine.

I expect A complete rebuild with with regrind, balance etc is going to cost about £3,000 that's what a mate paid for his Matchless that let a bit of the crank go (racing)

Dan

Plus he's going to grind the rocker heads flat so they hit the valve square.

How does this help? Once the rocker begins moving surely a flat will tilt and the edge start to scrape across the valve head and in doing so push it sideways. Is MP actually going to shape the face so that the contact point rolls evenly on the valve end?

Flat - as in not bumpy! Yes of course they'll be rounded! The PO did it with a bench grinder and a pair of mole grips I think!

Previously Dan Field wrote:

Flat - as in not bumpy! Yes of course they'll be rounded! The PO did it with a bench grinder and a pair of mole grips I think!

Let's compromise and call it a smooth radius.

Hello George, I must firstly apologise to youfor what I am about to paste here, (I do know better )...BUT,..... I'm still smiling after reading your enquiry.

"eliminate (!) the various drips/leaks/oil mists etc from my ES2"

yeah, right ..............LOL?

Paul.

OK George, first identify exactly where the oil is coming from. Sometimes if you have several leaks/weeps they can come from areas least expected, due to the air turbulence. I remember my first leek was from the decomp shaft in the front rocker box. I had been thinking it was the box to head joint, till I washed it all and went for a short ride observing the very start of oil wetting the box. Easy fix with a groove turned in shaft to accommodate an 'O' ring. I forget whichyear you have, but the rocker box can be flattened off with a flat millsaw file (or, wet 'n dry paper on flat glass) to remove any burrs or bumps, then after washing, re-assembled on an iron head with Loctite 515 Master Gasket(my favourite for keeping in the oil), not forgetting to put some on the front and rear bolts threads as they aren't blind holes. No paper gasket reqd. The oil feed banjo bolt washers can have a smear of Loctite as well. A head gasket weep can initially fool you into thinking it is the rocker box joint. A smear of Loctite high temp 510 Master Gasket fixes leaky head joints. Use methylated spirit to wash clean parts to sealed with Loctite. (cheaper than the recommended aerosol cleaner). Preparation is the key to success with oil weeps, I find, on Brit.iron.

Paul

Hi George,

My method for stripping an unknown engine would be as follows.. First remove petrol tank, exhaust system, carburettor and all the primary drive and the inner primary drive cover. Refit the engine sprocket and nut loosely so you can turn the engine with a spanner or socket.You can't remove the rocker box with the engine in the frame because of the studs fitted in the head. I prefer to strip the top half of the engine before removing from the frame so I check how tight the pushrod tubes are in case you need to make good the seals then lift the rocker box, checking the joint faces for signs of leakage,and support it by tying to the top tube so you can then undo the head nuts and then remove the 2 parts together, again checking the joint for leaks, both oil and gas seal. You may want to label nuts/bolts etc so they go back in their original positions. Turn the piston to TDC and fit a timing disc at zero degrees. Now you can check the ignition timing and also the valve timing measured at the tappets and making notes as the measurement at this point may not equate to the book. Next remove the mag chain cover, sprockets and chain. Check the end float of the inlet cam and any play in the bush. Lift the barrel just out of the crankcases and pack a clean cloth in the mouth of the cases before lifting the barrel from the piston. Check how the rings have worn and the condition of the bore and for any little end wear. Remove the piston (you may have to heat it with a hot air gun) so you can then check the big end wear and central measurement of the con-rod in the crankcase mouth. There is always a lot of side movement of the con-rod so don't confuse this with up and down movement in the bearing. Next check the end float of the crankshaft and record all details. You can now start removing the bottom half from the frame so remove the transmission side and front engine plates and mag-dyno and oil pipes union. You can then strip the bottom end on the bench, checking the cam wheel markings and the key position if you have a 3 key half time pinion and all possible wear areas and the condition of the oil pump. Check the size and location of the crankshaft shims in case you need to make any adjustments.You can alternatively take the engine out as a whole unit but you will need a robust engine stand if the head bolts are tight. Keep us up to date on your progress, unless you find 3 grand down the back of the sofa!

Regards, Richard.

Hi George,

No one has mentioned it so far, so I will.

Make or buy an engine stand for your bench. Doesn't have to look fantastic (I make out of angle iron and pieces of 1"x1/8" steel bar, but even speed frame will do). It saves tons of grief when removing and fitting parts, let alone when doing the timing.

Regards,

George.

Hi All Have been following this thread and no one has mentioned the excellent video from NOC shop, Pushrod singles engine rebuild, by Mike Pemberton, well worth getting as a starting point!

Laurence

Hi All Have been following this thread and no one has mentioned the excellent video from NOC shop, Pushrod singles engine rebuild, by Mike Pemberton, well worth getting as a starting point!

Laurence

A simple engine stand that takes a few minutes to make: