Yeah there is a ball bearing on the end of the shaft between the clutch push rod and the adjuster on the outer clutch plate, the adjuster is the 10mm headed nut and the adjuster is a JIS screw. You loosen the nut, turn the screw in till it just get's firm, then back it out a quarter turn and hold it while you do up the locknut. I just checked my spare engine, and the clutch arm can turn 360° if the clutch isn't on the end of the gearbox.
Ah that explains it. It was turning 360 degrees before I took all the plates and the pressure plate out, but I did find the ball bearing. I wonder what is going on in there. May have to dig a little deeper to check all that.
Well I decided after seeing a few youtube videos and photos to test a theory on my rusted parts bike tank. So I proceeded to coles and bought $1.20 worth of cheap white vinegar (2L to start with). I then sealed up the base of the tank with some bits of various tapes so it wouldn't leak (but I put it over a plastic container anyway in case it did: I then dumped in all the vinegar last night and left it overnight until I got home around 5pm today. I grabbed the longest screw driver I could find and put it through the fuel inlet to scrape the bottom of the tank... Didn't even need much force at all. Amazing, it certainly exceeded my expectations. I reckon a few more litres are on the cards to fill the tank up (it hasn't leaked yet!) to give it a good soak before I fill it with nuts and bolts and shake the crap out of it... I reckon I'll have all the surface rust out ready for re-lining. Smart buy afterall I guess haha
So I extended this test to carburetor parts... an overnight soak a brief (and light) scrub with a soft scourer in hot water and... Good as new. Why didn't I know about this before... what a ridiculously cheap way of parts cleaning. I've even got the carby bowls soaking in vinegar now and the stains/residue is rubbing off with my finger... can't get over it!
exercise caution with the carb body in vinegar - the plug below the pilot jet orifice in the float bowl is a strange crumbly aluminium prone to disintegration
You just have to read the right threads http://2fiftycc.com/index.php?threads/my-fizzer.872/page-3#post-6279
lol probably. Any experience with chinese head gaskets/kits guys? Can get a set for like US$20 which doesn't sound too bad...
Test fit chinese gaskets when we did the pistons & rings on the blue virgin fizzer. Base gasket made from asbestos and did not seal. Head gasket did not fit around the locating dowels on the head. Personally I'd only use genuine head/base gaskets. For eveything else on the bike, the generic ones are probably good enough.
Geez getting throttled on NBN is a pain, could hardly do anything... Thanks Linkin, good info. Was considering taking a gamble if I needed to but will think twice now. I spoke to a few people who had done engines who suggest if the gaskets are metal they can simply be re-used... I wonder what the risk is, especially if you're changing bottoms/bores/heads around. They seem to have a film of some sort in places that probably acts as a sealing agent (mostly peeling off in places now) and I don't really want to go throwing goop around to replace that (with that said I'm sure if you're good with the goop it must work OK because that's essentially what it's for). Few more photos. First one, have seen this idea before for the 3LN3+ "longer shaft". It's a JT sprocket with a washer behind it. For my original fizzer I just bought two lock washers and pounded one flat, works fine - as obviously the case here too. I was having a look at the shaft, @Linkin @GreyImport @Grasshopper did you guys actually measure the length of the shaft end to end or did you just measure the protrusion out the side of the engine? The reason I ask is because I noticed that inside the engine cover is a little raised bit which "pushes" the shaft from the clutch side through to the gear lever side. Obviously the height of that raised piece determines how far it protrudes out, so I wondered if the reason the shaft is "longer" outside the engine is not because the shaft is physically longer but it is just "pushed" further by the engine cover? I'm sure you've probably looked at that and have an answer, I don't have a 3LN1 to compare to so just thought I'd ask. Anyway so you guys may recall the engine casing had some damage to it. Using the "high heat" JBweld epoxy putty I started the repair in two sections. I supported it with some metal tape from the inside and used a screwdriver/scraper to provide a bit of support for something to "push against" then with the putty in place I pulled out the metal tape and gently caressed the inside of the casing making sure it wasn't protruding or was going to hit anything. First wave fully cured... Second wave. Hard as a rock, looks pretty good now I think. The below was prior to full cure hence the colour. Next step is to measure up the bores and pistons to see if there needs to be any work before re-use. They look pretty good to me but I don't have precision instrumentation nor am I a machinist so am going to seek some professional advice. Last thing I want when I put it back together is blowby, low compression or oil pouring out of the engine joins.
That repair with the JB Weld looks pretty good... Once fully cured and a little sanding.. smoothing and some paint and you would never know... I wouldn't be trying to re-use head gaskets... the "goop" is designed to provide a liquid seal and the metal (generally several sheets) crush down to the correct height when the head is torqued down... A used gasket will crush further if re-used and potentially lead to failure.. coolant leakage etc. You could possible get away with it as an emergency use with some Copper head gasket sealant but I wouldn't risk it...
I'm also wondering what I could "wash" the bottom end in. I'm eyeing off a bath in kerosine only because that's what I did back in high school before rebuilding an engine. Not sure if that would do anything to seals etc, everything I read says it should be OK. Good way to flush out whatever's left inside and get the outside all shiny too I guess.
Kero or even white spirits will do the job... I used to use that back when I did my apprenticeship, stripping aircraft hydraulics and cleaning them down for refurbishing... long before any real safety concerns so gloves etc were not something we used. These days... I would certainly wear gloves if your hands are going to be in contact with the cleaning liquid...
+1 for kerosene shellite is also a great non-polar (non destructive) solvent, both kerosene and shellite form the majority of a product called seafoam, which we can't get here. Diesel is also a great cleaning liquid and cheaper than kero
So worked with a very experienced machinist to see where the bores were at today, measured both sets. All bores were round and all measured 48.01mm which is the most precise we could get but is "in spec" still as not at service limit. Probably means it's somewhere between 48.000 and 48.01 if we could measure it a bit more precisely. Some staining but no major wear in any areas that we can see so should be good to go with new standard rings, no other work needed which is good. Have a spare now so that's good to know. Still trying to decide on the most cost effective way to get some kerosine. I'm considering just filling a 5L drum with Diesel and giving that a go as well, especially considering it's readily available. First line is cylinder head expansion Second line cylinder expansion Third line is the cylinder bore opening Fourth line is the service limit for the bore opening
Diesel would be fine. Kerosene is very expensive if bought from supermarket/Bunnings. If near an airport you may be able to get some jet A1 drainings (once fuel has been in an aeroplane then drained out for maintance etc it cannot be put back in again, must be discarded) which is Kerosene with some fire retard additives if you take your own drum and ask nicely.
diesel is brilliant for cleaning, i use a diesel/kerosene mix for unseizing stuck bolts and whatnot, its absolutely magic
Yeh I do live near the airport, but with the hassle of melbourne airport I am thinking I might give diesel a go first...
So having a good look at these existing gaskets (between bottom end and bore and between bore and top end) I’m pretty confident it’s a single sheet of metal - not to be confused with graphite gaskets which are multiple layers and are compressible. So I believe they aren’t compressible (certainly not with the torque we would put on them by tightening engine bolts) and are definitely reusable in that sense. Even if they were somehow made thinner under compression it would just mean re-tightening the engine bolts to suit, the clearances you’d be dealing with would be so small and insignificant but may be enough for a very tiny/slow leak if care isn’t taken (seepage, warpage etc). What I don’t know is what the sealing/film material is that was on them, and how you would replicate/replace that as I assume that is what forms the oil/ air seal. The manual says to use a new one, which I will do for the head gasket but the bottom gasket I am toying with a very small layer of high-heat silicone (designed for head gaskets). Given the area is just above the sump and outside of the piston chamber (and away from coolant) I think it’s probably low risk. Just “thinking out loud” a bit though, anyone else have any experience/advice? I could be going down the completely wrong direction (but I hope not!) Half the sellers from China don’t even know if one of their gaskets (normally the lower one) is asbestos or not, I’m starting to question if they even know what asbestos is – so they must just be resellers. I think going OEM for the head gasket is a safe best but wow… expensive! Got to get a set of rings too, Chinese rings will minimise spend and I think they should be OK. I am not keen on doing all the crank bearings because they seem fine and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?