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Random stuff from the Phreak shed.

97K views 1K replies 38 participants last post by  Sidecar Bob 
#1 ·
Thought I'd start a thread so that I can show you this motor I'm about to resurrect .... and some of the general CX stuff that doesn't go into build threads.

This motor

Auto part
Auto part Engine Automotive engine part Vehicle
Motor vehicle Engine Auto part Vehicle Automotive engine part


came as spare when I bought my 500C about 11 years ago. It's been sitting on a shelf ever since. It is a 78 block, which has the same 2045 first four digits of the engine number like every other 78 block or frame have here regardless of source. {I have parts from several different job lots}

Anyhow .... though the crank turns smoothly and there is no evidence of bearing failure I'm hoping that the crank and bearings are good as this is to be a cheapskate build, replacing only those things that really need it - and replacing all of the missing parts from the parts stash.

It will get new rings and chains, but likely good used OEM tensioner parts.Unfortunately, it came with my 500C. I say unfortunately because this individual was a ....... mechanical ...... butcher .... This motor shows evidence of his attempts to something something or something else this motor. My 500C had many horrors when purchased and I couldn't believe he'd actually been riding it.

Anyhow, the first thing I noticed when cleanup started was this.

Auto part Muffler Exhaust system
Auto part Metal


Why would anyone do this much damage? Presumably just to remove a collar .... with a cold chisel. And mangled the O ring face. I can fix that, with a dremel, JB weld and maybe a thicker O ring.

Moving on, I then found this

Auto part Water Wheel Tire Automotive wheel system


How does that happen? Subhuman intervention? I'll look at it when I pull it off tomorrow and make a judgement call whether it's usable. If not, I have another and I've a 50/50 chance it has the same sized bearing hole so I can transfer the bearing. I do have bearings, but I'm as tight as the fishes proverbial with them.

Pulled the gearbox and am dismantling, cleaning and checking it now.

And .... back to that. I note it's not cleaning itself.

Gear Gear shaper Auto part Hardware accessory Crankshaft
Auto part Gear Engine Automotive engine part Metal
Metal
 
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9
#3 ·
A challenge!
 
#5 · (Edited)
Phreak,

As for the "O" ring surface my only thoughts are people on meth (or maybe cocaine or acid) should not work on bikes??? :D

That is simply beyond words...:vs_party2:

Looking forward to this build, thanks for chronicling it! :vs_popcorn:
 
#6 · (Edited)
That's actually nothing compared to what he'd done to my 500C to avoid replacing the mech seal.

Flex drive cable welded to the back of the camshaft, no coolant pump or impeller on the motor. Hoses from hammered in copper spigots and flex drive running a drill powered pump sitting unsecured in place of the airbox. It failed, the cable broke off of the cam.

And that's just one aspect.

I don't know about his inebriation habits but he's the sort f feller that when you speak with him you seem to hear the guitars from deliverance.

Here's a few pics. I lost most of the pics of this bike, but I had these on the Oz CX forum.

Product Engine Auto part Font
Engine Auto part Motor vehicle Vehicle Automotive engine part


And now.



And as of early 2021...

207864
 

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#11 ·
That's actually nothing compared to what he'd done to my 500C to avoid replacing the mech seal.

Flex drive cable welded to the back of the camshaft, no coolant pump or impeller on the motor. Hoses from hammered in copper spigots and flex drive running a drill powered pump sitting unsecured in place of the airbox. It failed, the cable broke off of the cam.
I remember that atrocity. That was about the time you came to this forum, I think.

Good job redeeming the lost.


R
 
#12 ·
I've always had a thing about resurrecting dung.

It's how many of us could afford our vehicles.

Did you see what the thingy and the Ozdeluxe started out as?

And I have yet more dung to resurrect. More dungy, more incomplete. Frames to start on. Random parts to assemble. Bliss.

I'm set for years. ;)
 
#13 ·
I agree, there is definitely a sense of satisfaction one gets from "resurrecting" something from the "dead" or saving something from the scrap heap and making it useful again. Cheers to all that succeeded in this endeavor.
 
#15 ·
When I was much younger I had cab dispatcher who put a piece of electrical tape over the check engine light after I complained about it.
 
#16 ·
""I agree, there is definitely a sense of satisfaction one gets from "resurrecting" something from the "dead" or saving something from the scrap heap and making it useful again. Cheers to all that succeeded in this endeavor."

my wife says there is therapy for this and that i need to go to some ?

i keep telling her im busy i have to go pick some bikes up or another boat
 
#18 ·
my wife says there is therapy for this and that i need to go to some ?

i keep telling her im busy i have to go pick some bikes up or another boat
I thought this was the therapy?


R
 
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#22 ·
Yes!
 
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#24 ·
Looking for Mr. Goodbore. A novellette by Judith Phreak.

I put the ball hone through this block today, the surface corrosion has bitten a little deep so I won't be using this one. I even resorted to stone honing it - no dice.

Auto part Wheel Circle Machine Metal
Auto part Automotive wheel system Wheel Circle Metal


Took a punt on one I pretty much knew was no good. I wasn't disappointed. Ditto on the stone hone.

Eye Circle Drain Auto part Metal
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Third time's the charm. I think this is a block I bought from Ray some time back. After ball honing a little surface rust off the bores prove to be beautiful.

Auto part Circle Wheel
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So, having a block with really good bores that will require new main bearings {or at least the front one} to assemble I think I'll upgrade this build to better parts than I'd have used in the other block.

New rod bearings are needed. The old ones haven't failed but show hints of copper on the surface.

I'll be clearcoating the thingys bits tomorrow so I don't know when I'll get back to this motor, but likely Sunday.
 
#25 ·
I have always tried to keep my summer machines in decent condition and to do things right on them but I learned early that it is a loosing battle to keep everything up on the winter ones so I have done some stuff that is probably as bad as what your C's PO did, especially in pre-internet times when I had to figure out how to keep them running on my own with almost zero budget. I drove my first GoldWing for 5 winters and about 2 years in the rims of 2 of the carb slides broke away from the slides. I didn't know new ones were available (even if I could afford them) and I needed to drive it to get to work so I drilled a few tiny holes and tied them together with steel wire - not ideal but it kept it running.

As for your PO's water pump, I have contemplated doing something similar to Eccles a few times over the years :rolleyes:

BTW RE Check Engine Light: Those things are a very poor indicator of whether a vehicle is safe or about to have a problem because they light up for stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the engine or chassis lot of the time. A few years ago I installed an HID headlight kit in Kay's CR-V and shortly after the CEL came on. The mechanic said the code he read meant a headlight was out (which made sense because the kit plugged into just one of the car's headlight sockets) so he re-set it and all was fine until the light came on again a few weeks later. After a while black tape over the light started to sound like a good idea.
One wonders, if reading an open circuit where the computer expected to see a lamp filament is important enough to tell you to take the car for repairs, why would it take up to a couple of months to notice it?
 
#26 ·
Nah Bob, this feller was a butcher. The crack in the rear main bearing carrier? Screwdriver marks under it. I'll be binning that carrier. It appears looking at where it is that it may cause an oil gallery to leak and drop oil pressure. I have others and need to fit new bearings anyway.

I came to an impasse earlier tonight with the three viable cranks I have here being BB BB And a few sets of #2 rods. This combo wants a green bearing. Though Silvers sells these I currently have none.

But if I use the set of lightened NOS rods I have these are #1s and I can then use yellow bearings which I have a full set of.

So that, with good bores, good crank and lightened rods means I think I'll build for a little performance, maybe with an eye to another set of Murrays miks for the thingummy - son of thingy. :)

I'm polishing the milling marks out of the rods now.
 
#27 ·
Before I learned about the arrow in the caps that hold the axle to the forks I broke one of that 'Wing's caps. I really needed to go somewhere the next day so I cut a piece of aluminum the size of the bottom of the cap, drilled 4 holes for the studs and bolted it together.
And then there was the rear master cylinder that I had apart to clean & make work again so many times that the groove would no longer hold the circlip so once again I drilled little holes and used steel wire to hold it together. I did eventually replace it with a good used one (that is still in use on Mr.H a couple of proper rebuilds later).
And I still have little drawers in the shop with old rubber brake parts to use in emergencies, although it has been a long time since I used any of them.
 
#28 ·
This feller continued to ride with a bung master cylinder. He just didn't care if the brake didn't work.. When his pump failed he rode without coolant.

Both fork seals were totally blown. The engine leaked oil from every orifice. He'd blind holed some bolts, stripped others. The rear cover was cracked around the inspection housing. Probably because the cover gasket was corrugated cardboard. Check out the silicon 'repair'.

My memory presently fails me, but there were numerous other issues. .... He was riding it with an unsecured standard tank.

This bloke took it to the next level.
 
#30 ·
Glad I found this thread. Some wonderful money saving ideas. No telling how much money I could have saved
had I found this sooner. Ha, Ha, Ha
 
#31 ·
I spent much of today preparing these rods for use. Aside from cleaning up the rough state they were left in I have corrected a 4.5 gram weight difference and got the balance factor to within .2 of a gram. I will now polish them and then reweigh and make any necessary revisions after.

I sold a hillman hunter engine today to a feller that has been buying odd Hillman bits from me for a while. He happens to own an engineering shop. He has taken three CX blocks and will swao some of the bore liners around so 2 good bores appear in one of the blocks at least. Though he thinks he has a source for the bore material Have to wait and see what he comes up with.

He has an early volkswagen with a 2 cylinder radial engine of his own design and manufacture. Not only does it go, it is on the road and registered. Interesting thing. It might have less cylinders, but it still sounds like a WW1 fighter.



In the meanwhile I dragged out another block which the hone showed to have good bores. So that's 2 I currently have ready to use.
 

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#34 ·
About one poofteenth {technical term} of a horsepower due to reduced drag through oil mist

And I've removed the stress risers and generally smoothed them out.

Final polishing is as much about entertainment value from there on, but most of the work is already done anyway.
 
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