Engine Rebuild Cont'd Cont'd

 

Well it turned into a bit of an ordeal. Ran into trouble when installing the new left side crank bearing, the outer race was spinning in the bearing housing, not good. So I bought another engine case on ebay, only to find it had the same issue, what are the chances. I’m certain its not the wrong sized bearing – the old OEM bearing was also spinning in the housing. The housing had just been worn out and widened over time. So anyway, rather than continue tracking down more engine cases I decided to try this old mechanics trick of punching small divots into the housing with a center punch. Seems to be a good bit of debate about the efficacy of this on various forums – some swear by it, others say its not a proper fix. Well I don’t feel like paying a machine shop more than this engine is worth to have the housing bored out and shimming the bearing for a proper fit, I went with the bodge. I also installed it with some Loctite 620, we’ll see if it holds up, I’ve got a good feeling about it.

So I got both crank bearings + new seals + new crankshaft installed, closed up the case, thought I was home free, then noticed the crank seemed a little stiff – still easy to turn by hand just not as easy as before. I was afraid the bearings weren’t seated correctly so opened it back up to investigate. I think it may just be that the new (non OEM) seals, especially the right side seal, are a little too tight around the crankshaft and not allowing it spin effortlessly like I am accustomed to seeing. Of course, I’ve only had experience with 2k+ mile engines at this point, with 40 year old original seals, so perhaps a little stiffness with brand new seals is to be expected. I ordered OEM seals anyway to see if this makes a difference. Perhaps the stiffness relaxes overtime as the seals are broken in. On a side note I invested in a case splitter and crank puller tool, which is what I shouldve done before I started this rebuild. I don’t ever want to have to strike a case or crank with a mallet again if I can avoid it.

In other news I’ve repainted all the little black parts (satin black + satin clear) and am really pleased with the results. The front wheel is kind of rough so I may look into repainting that too. Continuing to clean/touch up the frame but I don’t want to repaint that, I want to keep the patina and imperfections there, it’s a survivor. After wrapping the engine up I need to repaint the forks and replace fork fluid. Then we can begin the reassembly process.