Bacon Slicer project

[SED]

Thanks for all the ideas!  Wonder if that Matchy mechanic smacked his left thumb?!  Hairpin springs can really sproing.




Jerry on the Google slicer group says he can do it with pliers!
 
"Put the spring holder on the valve.  Hook the loop of the spring under it.  The coil part is then pointing straight up.  Take a pair of channel locks and grab one tine.  Then twist it down onto the plate on top of the head.  The other tine will want to go somewhere, like into the fins maybe.  Keep it outside of the fins and you'll have to twist it to do that.  Easier to do than to explain.  You won't hurt the spring by twisting it.  Levers and clamps are a waste of time.  If it takes you longer than 5 minutes to put on all 4 springs, you are wasting time.......  Oh, do the spring with the narrow tines first then the one with the wide tines."

After thinking about it a couple days I decided to try it.  Did it in under an hour so only wasted 54 minutes or so.

1. Intake side has a little more clearance so do it first. 
2. Install valve, stuff a rag into the combustion chamber (to hold valve up) and clamp head to bench. 
3. Install base plate and keepers on valve.  Hold keepers on valve by wrapping the stem with tape. 
4. Start by installing old, weakened spring - easier to install and will hold keepers in place while installing the new spring.  Jerry says to do the narrow spring first, but I was able to do the wider one first (forgot what Jerry wrote  ). All the factory pictures I could find show the wider springs on the rockerbox side of the head and the narrow springs on the spark plug side.
5. Put on insulated leather gloves (lots of padding), clamp vicegrip firmly to one tine and hook top of spring under keeper and do what Jerry said - lever the tine up to the base-plate - the spring twists, but it works.  Then go to the other tine. 
6. Put on opposite spring the same way.
7. Swap out old spring for new one. 
Note: The exhaust side was impossible to get on without compressing the old spring in a vice and holding it with channellocs to install.  Used the vice on the second spring too, but the last spring (replacing the used one) could be done with just the vicegrips.   

          


I probably made the installation more difficult by lubing everything before trying to install the springs.  The springs wear into the keepers and baseplate enough that they have to be replaced periodically.  I was hoping to minimize the wear by coating them with moly grease.

Now time to install the head!





LOW compression!  The piston is at TDC, copper head gasket on top - no squish band here.  Torque 4 head bolts to 25-30 foot-pounds.

      


Next is the worn rockerbox and its new bushings.

[Chuck in Indiana]

  A little lathe work?

[SED]

A little lathe work?

They're split repop bushings that fit in a worn clamshell case with no detents or locating pins.  And I don't have the right reamer... 15mm.   So more like worrying them 'til they fit.      

 

 

[SED]

The rockerbox is a simple clamshell that carries 2 bronze bushings.  When I first got the bike, the exhaust rocker was so sloppy that moving it could open and close the valve clearance more than 1/8".  The clearances and resulting pounding was bad enough to cause the upper bushings to wear into the aluminum cover that is supposed to hold them.  The combined wear of the rocker box and cam rollers required that the valve adjusters be extended until the lock-nuts would not fit above the rockers and had to be re-positioned UNDER the rocker arm.  This bike ran!

The rockerbox suffers from inadequate lubrication and the dirt that finds its way into the exposed valve gear.  The only oil in the rocker box is what is splashed off the crankshaft that makes it's way up the pushrod tube - aided by a little suction from the intake valve port.   

The valve gear was a new design in 1934 and must have relied on hand fitting or lapping the parts to make them fit.  There are no dowel-pins or keys to align the bushings or the clamshell that holds them.  Amazingly the only thing keeping the upper half of the bushing from rotating is the lower bushing (which is secured by a bolt from below).  Only the shape of the rocker shaft keeps the upper half from moving back and forth.

Test fitting the bushings and rocker shafts.  I had temporarily repaired the cover with JBWeld (it held for 200 miles) that had to be partially cleaned out to fit over the new bushings.  The intake bushings were not a matched set, but they fit fine.  Perversely the exhaust bushings (the longer ones) appeared to be a matched set, but were not.  The rocker would bind when bolted into the cover.

   


After lots of fussing around the light bulb went on and I finally realized the exhaust bushing halves were not machined parallel - one was askew.      Shimming the upper bushing with tape brought them into tolerable alignment (see patches of green tape).  I decided to re-do the JBWeld repair so that the new bushings would be positively located in the cover: clean thoroughly, apply thin coat of JBWeld and let harden until stiff, coat with grease and bolt the halves together.  (There is a passage between the intake rocker and the mounting stud visible inside the RH mounting hole in the 3rd photo below.  This passage connects to the intake valve guide and must be kept clean.)

      


Once the JBWeld sets, take it apart and clean everything.  The exhaust rocker still wanted to drag depending on which way the wind was blowing on Lake Como so I busied myself with polishing off witness marks and test fitting it 200-300 more times     This has been called worrying the part 'til it fits.  I've learned its alternative meaning is worry the part until you don't worry about it any more. 

      
 

Finally it's all cleaned up and ready to assemble for real.  Smear assembly lube on lower bushings.  Then lay the rocker in with its seal and washer.  The seals are felt rings retained behind steel washers.  The felt rides on a boss on the rocker and steel washer fits in a groove in the upper and lower halves of the clam - and it all goes together at the same time. Use a thin tool to tuck the felt between the washer and bushing.  Then apply assembly lube to the upper bushings and install them.  Make sure no assembly lube gets on the joint between the clamshell halves. Then coat the upper clamshell with thin smear of sealer and assemble.

             


Exhaust rocker still drags a little, but it will be alright after a little break in.   

[SED]

Decided to paint the spring boxes before installing the motore.  It may have been painted by the same brush at the factory, but all the pictures online show black spring boxes:




So, wash with soap and water, scuff with scotchbrite pads and spray with semi-gloss....

       

Soon enough they will be covered with dirt and oil so not too worried about imperfections.   

Next will be to toss the correct mainspring in the fork before installing the motore.   

[canuck750]

Looks fantastic 

This is a great resource for anyone contemplating ownership of one of these beautiful machines, myself included.

[SED]

Thanks Canuck - your work is really much nicer than mine.  You are much more patient.  I'm just trying to turn the bike into a rider. It's all new to me so this thread is my memory bank for the next time I dive into it. 

'spose I could make it look nicer, but then it would get scratched up and I'd stress about it...

So, needed to put the correct mainspring in the fork before putting the engine in the frame.  (The complete fork rebuild will have to wait).  To do it requires that the top link be disconnected and the steering head (top triple clamp on tele forks) be removed.

I'm documenting the parallelogram fork work because I've been unable to find a workshop manual or exploded parts diagram of the GTV fork - it is different for the previous models (sport 15 etc) and different than the Alce.

Jack weight off front wheel.  Loosen nuts on left side, remove nuts on right side.  Shafts are threaded into right-hand link - unthread them by turning the square pegs.  Pegs are just long enough to clear the threads.  Then shafts and left-hand link can be removed together - there should be a 1mm thick bronze spacer at each end of the shaft.  Note- this was with a weak spring - with a better spring you may need to tie the fork up with tie-down straps (see assembly) or raise the steering head.

   


The top nut with washer under it on the steering head adjusts the bearing play, the pinch bolt on the back of the steering head locks head to the upper bearing race.

Loosen spring top nut and loosen steering head and lift just enough to remove top of spring.  The ball bearings of the lower race may try to drop out when the steering head is raised.  Un-twist spring from lower mount - using a punch on the lower end of the spring can get it started.




The top bolt for the spring has a taper and two different sizes of threads.  It had to be swapped between springs.  Then twist the spring into its lower mount - long block of wood and a hammer can help seat it.  Then insert the top of the spring into the steering head and tighten the nut to secure it.  Tighten the steering top nut to adjust the head bearings, then tighten the pinch bolt to lock the steering head to the steering shaft.




Their was some play between the shaft and the bushings in the top of the girder.  I found that one of the shafts from my other fork took up almost all the play.  Eventually I'll tear down both forks and build a god one from the best pieces.

Once the spring is in, it will tend to push the top of the girder away from the steering head making it impossible to reinsert the left link and shafts.  The trick is to use a couple of tie-down to work against the spring.  Loop them under the lower spring pivot and over the top of the girder and the steering head.  Once the distance is close the shafts can be inserted from the left - LH bronze washers, LH link then shaft.  Once the shafts are through, put on the RH bronze thrust washers and thread the shafts through the right-hand link.  I used bronze washers from the local comprehensive hardware store that I drilled out to fit the shafts.




With both side links on, the shaft play can be adjusted.  Thread the nuts on the left-link down by hand to take up slop without locking the shafts.  Thread the shafts in and out of the right-hand link until their play is very slight (working the two shafts together keeps the links aligned.  Once they are both close you can finalize one shaft at a time. Tighten the lock nut on the left, then the one on the right.  The shaft should pivot in the girder or steering head without slop. Rotate one of the bronze washers to confirm that it is not over tightened.  Only one of the 2 washers on each shaft has to move. Then adjust then next shaft.

   
   

Lubricate with your favorite grease confirming that grease squeezes out at both ends of the shaft. Grab the front brake and confirm you have suspension movement. 

I pronounce it ready for the engine!!! 

[Unkept]

I've been following along, great work bringing back to life such a cool bike!

[SED]

I've been following along, great work bringing back to life such a cool bike!

Thanks!  Your work on that V11 LeMans was topnotch. This thread seems a little weird - both broadcasting that I am a rank amateur and bragging about it.   Oh well, hopefully it is helpful to someone besides me!

Getting the engine ready to put in the frame - test fitting the rocker box and pushrod tube.




Original magneto key was too small and sloppy so made a new one by filing down a larger key.  Felt seal is pinned to the back of the magneto gear.  Old felt seal is worn - new seal is much thicker.  Felt runs against the aluminum case wearing into it.  Case with cam and cam followers installed.  Cam and magneto timed.  (this is where disassembly photos are really helpful)

            


Made a gasket for the base of the pushrod tube then installed pushrods and rockerbox.    Lubed the cam, followers and gears with assembly lube.  A thin layer of sealer on the timing cover - install with new cover bolts.  Install hardened valve caps and adjust valves to 0.002" intake and 0.012" exhaust.

          


Ready to install!

[Chuck in Indiana]

  Attaboy..

[canuck750]

The engine looks great and I bet it will run like a watch.

[SED]

It's heavy, and you've got to wiggle the valve springs between the frame tubes, but it just lays in there; easy to bolt in place.

   



Inject oil into the crankshaft and put extra oil in the bottom of the timing and crank cases (only pressure oil feed is to rod bearing - the rest is splash).  Make gasket for the oil pump and inject oil into the pump.  Install.
 
       
 


Install oil tank and intake manifold (easier to install intake manifold bolts at the same time).  Install oil lines and decompressor lever.  Put oil in tank.

   

[pehayes]

Inject oil into the crankshaft and put extra oil in the bottom of the timing and crank cases (only pressure oil feed is to rod bearing - the rest is splash).

Actually, there isn't any pressurized oil.  The oil pump sends out a stream of oil via a long tube.  That tube aligns into the center of the hollow crankshaft.  There is plenty of space between the oil injection tube and the crankshaft inner wall so no real pressure develops.  The injected oil just fills the hollow crankshaft and then immediately gets flung away by the spinning rod journal.  Even the rollers on the rod big end are just lubricated by the oil oozing out as it flings.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[SED]

Actually, there isn't any pressurized oil.  The oil pump sends out a stream of oil via a long tube.  That tube aligns into the center of the hollow crankshaft.  There is plenty of space between the oil injection tube and the crankshaft inner wall so no real pressure develops.  The injected oil just fills the hollow crankshaft and then immediately gets flung away by the spinning rod journal.  Even the rollers on the rod big end are just lubricated by the oil oozing out as it flings.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

True, there's no seal between the quill and the crank shaft.  The Ariel's the same, except it has gears running an a bath of grease and oil.

[Muzz]

True, there's no seal between the quill and the crank shaft. 

My bro's Vincent Comet is supposed to have a seal there. A mechanic who fixed it after the first owner got wiped out by a car and smashed the engine case didn't know about it and omitted it. The big end did over 50,000 miles but it regularly shred the cams and followers. It was only after he stripped it to do the big end he found out about it.

Very basic, just a spring loaded seal that seals the quill and the crank. You would wonder why Guzzi didn't do something similar.

[SED]

My bro's Vincent Comet is supposed to have a seal there. A mechanic who fixed it after the first owner got wiped out by a car and smashed the engine case didn't know about it and omitted it. The big end did over 50,000 miles but it regularly shred the cams and followers. It was only after he stripped it to do the big end he found out about it.

Very basic, just a spring loaded seal that seals the quill and the crank. You would wonder why Guzzi didn't do something similar.

Guzzi doesn't need to because it's got a roller cam that needs very little oil.  Anyway the oil that squeezes out between the pump and crank spills into the cam box lubing the cam.  The valve rockers don't need a separate feed because they are at the same level as the crank and oil blows down the pushrod tube - horizontal engine!

Ariel is/was like the Comet, but the "seal" is between the pump and the crank.  Prior to 1940 it was an externally adjustable restriction in the crank feed. (the more you restricted oil to the crank the higher your reading on the oil pressure gauge!  )  It was replaced by a spring loaded ball valve that oil from the pump pushed open.  The pressure from the spring diverts oil up to the rockers where it drains down and lubes the cam.  The problem was that both the crank and rockers were lubed off the "pressure" side of the pump.  About 1953 Ariel finally got smart and diverted oil from the scavenge side of the pump (which always has a higher volume) to lube the rockers and return oil to the tank.  Guzzi got smarter and made a wet sump V-twin engine!

[SED]

More shop time!

Install sprocket and chain. Install kickstart mechanism. NEW(!) clutch and primary gear.  Install clutch springs which pull on clutch "pushrod".  Thread clutch rod so threads protrude no more than 1mm beyond pressure plate, then install springs. (knurled nut is left-hand thread. It is tightened until springs are compressed to 27mm.). 

              


The very nice throw-out bearing the Patrick Hayes made. Cover and clutch lever installed.  Shifter ratchet and lever installed. Test fitting the crank (NEW!) and generator gears.

           


If you've been following from the beginning you may recognize that generator gear as the cracked one that was repaired, but then dropped off the generator shaft due to a lack of Locktite.    I then bought another, identical, generator gear to replace it.  Only now have I found that the old gear had been modified by machining down the diameter of its hub to pass through the crankcase - the new one is too large.  No doubt the machining weakened the hub causing the crack.

The parts book shows the original gear was phenolic with a steel hub to fit the generator shaft.  The aluminum gear must be for a later version of the bike (Falcone?) that a previous owner modified.

Fitting the flywheel so that the crank can be kicked over and clutch engagement and decompressor adjusted. 

[Muzz]

Guzzi doesn't need to because it's got a roller cam that needs very little oil.

The Vin has a convex shaped siding follower that sits high up in the case. Roller cam follower in a horizontal engine makes sense in the Guzzi.

[SED]

Flywheel engages with the crank gear and the slot had worn badly.  I'd welded it up once earlier, but there was still some slop.  Marks indicate where to weld.  Filed to fit.




Had to weld the worn foot peg tabs too. 





Remember to locktite the generator drive gear!  Then tighten primary cover screws evenly as it presses down against the cush drive spring.  Then install flywheel.

   


Footpegs and controls, time magneto, hang exhaust.  (the new 8mm exhaust flange studs or much more secure)  Connect electrical....

           


Almost ready!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yummy..

[Rick4003]

It looks magnificent! Good job!

[canuck750]

This is my favorite thread, your ingenuity and attention to detail is fantastic, I tip my hat to your skill and for resurrecting this beauty! :1:

[Sheepdog]

A looker! Now...off the stand and on the street!

[SED]

Looks better in photos! 

Forgot to tickle the carb so needed 6 kicks and full choke. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuClehTTeXk

1st kick starter after that.  Rode around the block a couple times then 6 miles or so down the road.  Engine and gears are quiet, clutch works great, charging system works.  Need to adjust gear engagement:




title says 50 years between these two Guzzis!

[jas67]

 

[smdl]

Well done!! 

[injundave]

Awesome!!! Congratulations and very well done.

[Rick4003]

Briliant! Now we just need a video of you riding it around!

-Ulrik

[Chuck in Indiana]

Very nice indeed. That first startup after going through a machine is a great feeling.  Ready to do the Cannonball? 

[Unkept]

Very nice! :) Congratulations on your project.