72 Eldo engine overhaul

[cwiseman]

Well my 72 Eldo decided to start leaking oil and once taken apart the front trans seal is definitely the main cause. I also had the R/H sparkplug oil fouled last year so something is up in that area too.
I just so happen to have sold a coupe of dirtbikes  so I have the cash to throw at the bike.
Well the former owner said He installed factory 950cc cylinder/piston set supplied by a shop out in Cal..

(Frank the fella I got the bike from is a damned cool old fella that bought the bike in 1980 from the original owner. It had been in a very light garage fire and he repainted the bike himself. He took good care of her over the years. And has about 35,000 original miles)

I'm going to look in the front chest and see how things are, and at this point I'm thinking of taking her all the way down. Rebalance the motor, loose a few pounds off the flywheel and ring gear, or find a 850T/T-3 flywheel. I think I would loose about 3 pounds there and be a happy medium on weight. So now the question is weather a new cam might be nice.
Any thoughts/suggestions for making her a smooth, reliable, and a bit more powerful  but without loosing that loop charm?
Oh and new carbs might be a idea if in the budget

[Perazzimx14]

Well my 72 Eldo decided to start leaking oil and once taken apart the front trans seal is definitely the main cause. I also had the R/H sparkplug oil fouled last year so something is up in that area too.
I just so happen to have sold a coupe of dirtbikes  so I have the cash to throw at the bike.
Well the former owner said He installed factory 950cc cylinder/piston set supplied by a shop out in Cal..

(Frank the fella I got the bike from is a damned cool old fella that bought the bike in 1980 from the original owner. It had been in a very light garage fire and he repainted the bike himself. He took good care of her over the years. And has about 35,000 original miles)

I'm going to look in the front chest and see how things are, and at this point I'm thinking of taking her all the way down. Rebalance the motor, loose a few pounds off the flywheel and ring gear, or find a 850T/T-3 flywheel. I think I would loose about 3 pounds there and be a happy medium on weight. So now the question is weather a new cam might be nice.
Any thoughts/suggestions for making her a smooth, reliable, and a bit more powerful  but without loosing that loop charm?
Oh and new carbs might be a idea if in the budget

I've often though about how a Loop would perform with a bit of head work and a nicely paired set of FCR carbs. So for selfish reasons that is what you should do .

[Chuck in Indiana]

I'd say if there's anything a loop doesn't need, it's more power.. 

[twhitaker]

I'd say if there's anything a loop doesn't need, it's more power.. 

 :1:

It's like putting French flames and racing stripes on a station wagon.
Like I should talk. I was at one time considering putting a Centauro motor in a Loop. :roll

[Triple Jim]

Cool Craig, that's a great bike worth maintaining.  Personally, I'd leave the flywheel alone too if it were mine, for the reasons already stated, including the "loop charm" you mentioned.

[JoeW]

probably the best bang for the buck to get a smooth powerful engine is balancing. Lightening the flywheel is great for faster revving but, you'll loose some engine braking as well. With drum brakes, you need all the help you can get when it comes to stopping. I rebuilt an Eldo motor last summer, the previous owner had machined the block to accept 88mm cylinders so, I installed new Gilardoni 88mm kits. The bike had come with a hot cam and 32mm round slides but, the new owner wanted it stock. So, stock cam, square slide carbs went back on. I had the crank, flywheel (stock), rods and pistons balance and put the bike back together. This bike runs like a scalded dog. After a short break in, I was riding with 2 other stock Eldos and blew their doors off. I have all my engine rebuilds balanced, they start easier, idle smoother and at speed they hum.

[cwiseman]

I finally found my puller so I was able to get the front cover off.
To my suprise I found steel gears in great shape. I think balancing, freshen up the heads, figure out why the sparkplug was fouling will be the way to go!
More power and loss of engine braking makes a lot of sense on the old gal with two drum brakes.

I'm still interested in hearing about some good carb idea's, something is up with the ones on the bike that I can't seam to figure out.

Another thought is modifying the engine to accept an oil filter, or at least some kind of strong magnet to keep debris isolated to the pan.

[canuck750]

Be sure and measure the crank and the bearings. I have rebuilt three and am on my fourth non filter motors (Eldorado and V7 Sport's) and every one of the damn things needed a crank grind and oversize bearings. Non oil filter bikes + chrome cylinders destroy cranks and bearings, not to mention the oil pump shafts as well. The crank to bearing tolerances are very tight, there should be almost no play between the crank and the bearings. If you want a smooth motor you need the crank, bearings, rods, pistons etc... to be within factory tolerance. Once you have that taken care of then have all reciprocating parts balanced by a pro.

As a comparison the crank and bearings on the 750S3 I just finished were all within factory spec, I believe the fact that the S3 has an oil filter made the difference as the S3 uses the same chrome cylinders as the V7 Sport.

I had an Eldo crank reground but did not have the rods or flywheel balanced, compared to my V7 Sport which is fully balanced, I can say without a doubt the V7 Sport is much, much smoother.