Next (personal) project - Moto Morini 3 1/2 Strada

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Crazy on the call bearing, lucky nothing else got chewed up. Looks like maybe more than one ball is missing. Was the cage the metal type or nylon?

I think once they're all spaced correctly only one ball will be. Metal cage. Edit: 9 ball bearing, eight present, only one missing.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Finished tearing the engine down this evening. Found bits of the cage scattered around in the bottom of the engine cases. Lifters all look excellent. Rod bearings have a groove worn in the center, so while the crankshaft initially looked good, after a little measuring, I find that it will need to be ground.  Now if I could only find the dimensions somewhere - none listed in the factory Service Manual. 

[huub]

pretty typical failure on a early 350 engine , i had two of those failures , one on a engine with just over 10.000 km.
usually due to the sleeve on the crankshaft seizing, putting axial load on the ball bearing.
probably the reason they fitted a plain bearing on later engines.
I had good results with roller bearings on this application.
you might as well check the gear selector forks , on early engines they were anodised alloy , and prone to wear.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

pretty typical failure on a early 350 engine , i had two of those failures , one on a engine with just over 10.000 km.
usually due to the sleeve on the crankshaft seizing, putting axial load on the ball bearing.
probably the reason they fitted a plain bearing on later engines.
I had good results with roller bearings on this application.
you might as well check the gear selector forks , on early engines they were anodised alloy , and prone to wear.

Yes, pretty much what I figure caused the failure. On the 3 1/2 Sport engine I rebuilt two years ago, I used an NU206ECJ/C3 roller bearing on the timing side and that's what the second 3 1/2 Sport and my Strada will both have as well.

Gear selector forks are steel.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Finished removing bits from the cases, giving them a good cleaning in the "dirty tank" first, then "clean tank" afterwards. Into the oven after that to warm the cases for easier bearing removal. My friend Mark (3 1/2 Sport owner) has offered to vapor blast the cases for me, so they'll go off to him. The cylinders and heads will be done at my local machine shop.

[Groover]

I need to make more friends with cool tools 

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

So, rather than have the stripped threads in the front head repaired, I bought another good used head on ebay. Cheaper than having the original repaired for sure. At some point, I'll have the original repaired to keep as a spare.





Really glad I contacted the previous-previous owner, Roger. In addition to the bad news ("a ball came rolling out"), he found a box of what he had assumed was Guzzi parts, but turned out to be a bunch of missing parts from the Strada! The original side covers, airbox, headlight, Verlicchi throttle with cables, gauges, petcocks, speedo cable, headlight mount, horn and brake lever. Super happy to have all of it, but especially the sidecovers - they're a bit hard to find and expensive when you do. The headlight has been dented in the very back and pounded back out, but is usable as-is.



 

 

[czakky82]

Such a cool project. I don’t know much about them but they are on a short list of “some day bikes”...

[canuck750]

Great haul!  Really looking forward to seeing the resurrection.

Why do most of the Moto Morini gauges seem to have the 'melted' needles? I haven't seen that on other Veglia gauges, did the Guzzi Veglia gauges use a better (stiffer or thicker) needle?

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Great haul!  Really looking forward to seeing the resurrection.

Why do most of the Moto Morini gauges seem to have the 'melted' needles? I haven't seen that on other Veglia gauges, did the Guzzi Veglia gauges use a better (stiffer or thicker) needle?

Never really thought about it. I think the needles are wider/thicker on Guzzi gauges? 

[danomar]

Really glad I contacted the previous-previous owner, Roger. In addition to the bad news ("a ball came rolling out"), he found a box of what he had assumed was Guzzi parts, but turned out to be a bunch of missing parts from the Strada!

Sweet! It is nice that you got some of those spare bits.

It looks like you might have a very nice Strada sooner than later!

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

The rebuild kit for the caliper I got from canuck750 arrived from Storz Performance on Monday. Two anodized alloy pistons and three o-rings. 




My order arrived from Quality Bearings in the UK today. Enough bearings for two engines - my Strada and Mark's second 3 1/2 Sport.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Another order arrived, this one from Startgomma. Rubber bits: fork dust boots, battery strap and clasp, sidecover holders, clutch arm cover, kickstart lever rubber and passenger footpegs.





My order from Mdina Italia is due to arrive tomorrow. 

[canuck750]

Another order arrived, this one from Startgomma. Rubber bits: fork dust boots, battery strap and clasp, sidecover holders, clutch arm cover, kickstart lever rubber and passenger footpegs.





My order from Mdina Italia is due to arrive tomorrow. 

Do you have a link for this supplier? I need some of those rubber side cover bits.

Thanks

Jim

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Do you have a link for this supplier? I need some of those rubber side cover bits.

Thanks

Jim

Here you go: https://www.startgomma.com/moto-morini

[canuck750]

Here you go: https://www.startgomma.com/moto-morini

Thanks!

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

The order from Mdina Italia arrived this morning. Seven days after I placed my order, very good service.




Gauge mounting rubbers:




Headlight mounting brackets:




Air filters:




Engine bits: rings, valve guides, bearing shells, oil seal set, kickstart shaft o-ring, lock washer for the clutch hub nut.




Footpeg rubbers and rear turn signal vibration dampers:




Venhill throttle cables:




All the bits for customer Mark's 3 1/2 Sport as well:




Great folks to deal with! I had some trouble completing the transaction on their website (my card kept getting flagged for a suspected fraudulent transaction) so Andrew called me and we got it sorted over the phone. They sent me the Ducati key fob for free. 

[radguzzi]

Nice to have reliable resources on the Morini…  Good deal.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Nice to have reliable resources on the Morini…  Good deal.

Just about the only source previously was North Leicester Motors. They closed up a year ago and sold all of their parts stock to Mdina. They're much easier to deal with - nice website with photos, it shows how many of each part is in stock, add it to your cart and pay with a credit card. No 10 % "US surcharge".

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Chassis teardown this evening. First, photos of the wiring so I have a reference for how it was originally run. 





Baggin' and taggin'






Mostly apart:












Pieces to be sent to the zinc plater - still more to go into this bin.




Came apart easier than I expected. Some bad news though: the steering stop on the frame is mangled and will need to be repaired, one fork tube has a kink in it that I can't see, only feel. It's also the one with the damage up at the top - I'm guessing it was bent and straightened.  Fork tubes cost considerably more than Guzzi tubes.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

More disassembly, separating, etc.

The chassis bin is full to overflowing.




This is about all of the chrome that needs to be redone - maybe. It all cleans up pretty nice with a bit of "elbow grease".




Along with the frame, this all of the bits to be powdercoated.




And this is all of the zinc part. May not have the passenger pegs done since I have new ones.




Peeled the old tires off the rims. On a whim, I cleaned a spot on each to see how they look under all of that grime.








They look great, so I won't be painting them after all.

[Groover]

Rims do look great! 

[canuck750]

Love it  

It's like following an archaeological dig, the recording, cataloging and figuring out how it was originally assembled, this is going to be a beautiful Morini!
Nice to see the wheels turn out so nice, must have been a protective layer of grime preserving the original paint.

If your wire harness components needs rebuilding the black hard plastic wire terminal covers are available from Bevel Heaven, the soft plastic clear new type do not fit well into the CEV fuse box or terminal block.

https://store.bevelheaven.com/Electrical-Battery-Ignition/Spade-Terminal-Sleeve-Rigid/

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

If your wire harness components needs rebuilding the black hard plastic wire terminal covers are available from Bevel Heaven, the soft plastic clear new type do not fit well into the CEV fuse box or terminal block.

https://store.bevelheaven.com/Electrical-Battery-Ignition/Spade-Terminal-Sleeve-Rigid/

As I dropped off to sleep last night, I was thinking about those black terminal covers. I've harvested a bunch from old harnesses, but it's always nice to have a source for new ones.

[Pescatore]

I like your disciplined sorting.  I need to learn that.
What are you going to do about the exhaust headers?  New ones or have them re-cromed?

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I like your disciplined sorting.  I need to learn that.
What are you going to do about the exhaust headers?  New ones or have them re-cromed?

New headpipes (and exhaust nuts) are enroute from Italy now. The old ones would have cost a fortune to replate - lots of deep rust pits.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I decide to have the shop that does all of my Guzzi engine cases, HVLP (high volume, low pressure) glass bead the Morini parts too. Picked them up today and as usual they look fantastic.












Comparison to the customer's vapor blasted parts: vapor blasted on the left.






They are virtually indistinguishable from one another - same "color", just as smooth.

Last night I put the front brake disk in a cake pan and soaked it in EvapoRust. Morini brake disks are (hard) chrome plated, this one was pretty rusted in the center. Came out nice, but to keep it from rusting again, I'll paint the center and edge.






Put a few more pieces in to soak.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Picked up the crank from the machine shop today.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Cleaned up the rods, stuck the rod shells into them and checked the clearance with Plastigage. Falls right in the middle of the allowable range, so I'm good to go. Just need to buy new plugs for the oil galleries and install them, then I can begin engine reassembly. The old plugs were very reluctant to come out, so had to be drilled through and then removed with an easy-out.







Need to get all of the parts to be powdercoated  done soon, but before that can happen, the steering stop needs to be repaired or replaced and the sidestand straightened or replaced. The steering stop was mangled, then a bolt inserted as a (poor) "fix". I'm hoping it can be heated and formed back into shape, rather than cut off, a new one made and welded on.

[canuck750]

Frame steering stop looks to be repairable, Oxy/Acet wrench will do wonders!

Merry X-Mas

Jim