More Velocette engine cases, oil pumps, side stands and tail lights

After digging into MSS cases we found  a previous mechanic had used  a sheet cork gasket between the case joint in place of sealant. A bit of back history on this engine;  it had sad in a basement for about 26 years.  The piston had been removed (rag on connecting rod and the barrel was well worn out.

 Generally it seems that the joint would only need some type of liquid sealant like Wellseal or Yamabond. Due to the main bearings being taper rollers setup the preload clearance is somewhat critical ( 0.002 in ?).  A cork gasket would be difficult at best for setting up the preload needed as it could compress.  A couple of theories come to mind as to why they chose this route;  they could have used the cork to be both a seal and the gap for preload, or possibly  the cases had been machined for either gouges or warpage. 

 I've added detail pictures of both case halves milled marks. Whether these mill marks are from Veloce I'm not certain.  Time will tell, though it seems that when both cases are put together without bolts that there is a slight gap across the very bottom. Next step will be to heat it up and knock out the race to do a more proper measurement of the preload and case gaps.

NOTE: To magnify the pictures, right click mouse over the picture and select 'open link in new tab' a new window will open and allow you to view the original picture in high magnification. 

 While on the subject of putting pretty pictures onto the blog, I thought to put two Veloce oil pumps side by side.  In the four pictures, the taller oil pump has been removed from MSS10675.  The other oil pump was removed from the scrambler engine.  Ed G. did the reassembly of scrambler engine for me, which he noted that the oil pump was not quite right; that it had been replaced with an alloy MAC pump.  The Alloy pump is shorter than the MSS case pump. The shorter pump would have a different drilling for oil passages and would have cut the flow of oil down. You can see in the pictures that the lower oil pump hole on the right side pump has significant etching where the case sat. Just a thing to keep an eye on when swapping old parts on your Velos, cases and pumps can vary.

In the spring I had some intentions towards riding the scrambler on the street for a spell.  This hasn't worked out yet, I still need to fabricate a battery tray to reside on the right side engine plate. The tail lamp/ plate carrier assembly is detachable by using the rear most number plate bolt. 

Another addition of convenience was a side stand. This took a bit longer to work out. Eventually this old WEW clamp on stand fit the bill. It has a pleasant solid clank when swung into its riding position. A very tight up out of the way install, doesn't look to interfere with any ground clearance. The skid plate need to be relieved for the lower clamp bolt and body. 

A little more Scrambling

  After a few days of doom and gloom weather reports, New England was still is on the map.  Fighting off the blahs and some depression, I got back into the scrambler.  The magneto was bolted on a few weeks ago, but getting into timing the engine , I feel is one of those events that must be experienced than got through. Timing is the moment that you know where the spark will build the flame wall. its the heart of all you ride on.

In the case of the 67 Scrambler, it has a manual advance unit on the Lucas Magneto.  The first step was to disassemble the old mechanism.  Most everything was wiped down with WD-40 then greased lightly.  The old cable end was formed to fit within the plunger.  I've kept it aside so as to make a replica at a later time. This type of cable end will mean the cable will need to be made with the adjuster housing in place.

The adjuster housing looked to have a fiber washer at the base. Not having the old one or one the right size, I came up with a simple method of wrapping 220 grit sand paper around a socket, then twisting a close fitting fiber washer onto the sand paper. With a little bit of effort the size was a perfect fit.

 It takes a bit of time, to set the timing. I'm always double checking each movement and adjustment.   The first bit was remember which way the engine spins.  Having made the mistake to timing a Velo on the exhaust stroke before, Its a good idea to removed the rocker box and check the rise and fall of both the Intake and Exhaust push rods to find which stroke the engine is on either the exhaust stoke or the power stroke; the power stroke is the one you want for timing.  Most of the Velos I have are happy with 38 to 36 degrees before TDC  (Top Dead Center) even with ethanol. After I'm comfortable with which direction the engine is spinning At that point I'll setup a degree wheel on using the positive stop method.

Not pictured, is the wire indicator pointing to the degree wheel. In this case, I used a coat hanger filed to a point. the Back end was bent into a 'U' shape then clamped down under one of the engine bolt nuts on the right hand side.  After the degree wheel is set, the magneto points are set to open at 36 degrees (full advance: advance lever in its resting position, or closed). I'll test this several times; both with the  advance lever in different positions. When the cigarette paper lightly slides out of the points, it should coincide with the pointer on the timing wheel.

While the cover is off I'll give the rocker adjusters a gap check.

Next step will be to begin cable making for the rest of the controls.

Tinkering with the Scrambler

Stealing away some time, I've gotten small things done on the scrambler.  The oil tank has been cleaned and re-filtered.  However, the paint washed off in a small section on the face of the tank.  There is evidence that it might have been re sprayed with aerosol cans in the past.  I've tried my hand at brush painting it with moderate success.  

There were a few observations to note while preparing the oil delivery and return.  On the feed line was a brass shut off which didn't make much sense to me. I've found that most of the time the ball check valve works just fine.  And on those occasions when it wet sumps,when the oil is cold and heavy, it might not be a bad thing.  Just drain it out.   

When Floyd had parked his MAC in the basement for several years it had wet sumped. I wonder if having the crankcase full of oil helped preserve it while being dormant for so long.  Anyways, in the case of the scrambler, the ball valve was missing both the spring and ball. That would explain the brass valve!  The ball seat was quite beveled and and I recalled that when working on the MSS years ago that Ed G mention that the seat needs to have a somewhat sharp face to work properly.  So to the lathe for a quick refacing.

Refaced ball seat

While pulling the old lines from the fittings, I noticed that the clamps were stamped 'CHENEY 00 made in England'  could this be an original clamp?

1967 Velocette Scrambler Project Continued

Trying to fight off the winter blahs I got back into the Scrambler's reassembly.  With a bit of motivation and positive forward progress maybe we'll hear it this spring. All of the major bits have been serviced (Forks, Engine, gearbox, magneto). So it should be a simple put together?

 While getting back into the dry build, one chore will be making new cables for all of the controls. It was apparent pretty quickly upon mounting the carb that the routing for the throttle and choke cable

have an issue.  The previous carb was a concentric with no choke and the original was a 10TT9. The Monobloc seemed to be a good compromise between the two, other than the routing of the cables.

However both the cruxiform rubber support block and the rear tank tabs interfere with giving the cables a clear shot out of the carb; the choke having the worst of it.  The initial thought is to modify a new support block and dremel off a corner of the tank support.  Hmm, we'll see how it goes.  What would you do?

Velo Scrambler progress

After a brief phone call with Ed G, I got enough energy to dig back into the scrambler project. That, and the Norton project has come to a short holding pattern.  the last few things to get into on the scrambler are the broken screws on the oil pump, check the main bearings condition and open the gear box for inspection.  with all of theses the engine needed to be pulled.  I needed to gather thoughts as far as approaching the oil lines which snake around and behind the frame. As simple as two oil lines and a vent tube are; they were well convoluted.

Once the oil lines were well documented, I could get onto removing the primary drive case and clutch unit.

Here is a detail of the output/input of the transmission including the 'frying pan' throw out minus the bearing that rides within the gate. I rather like the design, its very simple and works well when all the bits are in good nick.

  Here lies all the mystery of the Velocette clutch;  the top section with the four large holes threads onto the input shaft the the transmission and the large threaded ring on the bottom will thread into the clutch/chain wheel unit at the cover plate.  the top unit should be nipped up tight against the springs and the bottom is where the clutch unit is adjusted.   The threaded ring rides on three pins. these pins slide through the chain wheel body and rest on the throw out bearing in the 'frying pan'. The threaded ring is threaded into the cover plate until it touches the pins. If it is threaded in further while on the pins, the cover plate is moved away from the friction material causing slipping as there is no way to force metal into metal.

When adjusting up a Velo clutch, disconnect the cable and thread the ring at the clutch in until you feel a slight slip on compression while operation of the starter lever and only just slip. At that point you can re connect the clutch cable; there should be an adjuster inline of the cable housing, wind this adjuster to make sure you have extra slack to start the whole adjustment of the cable housing before connecting the cable

Connect the cable to the hand lever, then using the inline adjuster, remove any extra slack in the cable housing. The more time spent feeling the proper adjustment of no free play without over doing it,the better. Make sure to move the cable about and double check that you've remove any slackness that was added while the cable was disconnected. Do not wind the adjuster so tight that you need wrenches.

Now the final adjustment is carried out at the clutch;  the threaded ring is wound out and as this is done you should feel free play coming back to the hand lever (with light pressure) remember the three pins, as the ring is wound out they now gain room to move. The adjustment is complete when there is about 1/8 inch gap of free play at the lever. The whole reason for this 'process' is that Veloce had gone to great lenghts toward making such a thin clutch operate in such a small space;  the adjustment is right on the edge of motion for a slipping action. It is a refined engineered device with almost pinpoint accuracy.

  I had to take a few attempts at removing the oil pump.  Lots of heat is needed, its quite an interference fit.

More snow. more time for motorcycles

Kept on procrastinating this past week even though there was time to play with the machines. Each time I'd get into the workshop there would be some other small detail that needed to be address first.  Papers needed sorting, a rack need to be setup and hold parts and just about anything that could get in and break the focus - did.    

The head got sent out to Ed G. for  evaluation on the guides and seats. The mag followed suit for a re-gauss. The mag bearings cleaned up very well, so that was a good thing.  But a better examination of the forks found that the upper triple clamp has a half inch crack directly in the middle.  Not sure whether I can find a set of good triples or come up with a different front end.  Prior to my pulling it apart the previous owner said it was fitted with a Ceriani front end. Could be the Ceriani was a replacement due to the crack....   The triples had been chrome plated in the past, maybe hydrogen embrittlement? who knows.. 

With a little more dancing that was expected due to a non- standard chain case bolt fouling the frame  upon removal, the Chain case open easy enough.  The gasket was quite dry and the felt o-ring that rides over the clutch unit was missing.  All the engine bolts except the upper rear most one have been removed.  After the oil tank lines are documented for routing the tank will come off and the engine can then come out.  Gotta get my act together if its to be ready for this spring.

On New Years Day the Norton was dropped off.   With it now in the shop I can give it a better going over.  A few small things here and there; missing timing cover bolt, battery is not very happy and the shifter needs to be address.  Mike S. will be coming by to give me a few pointers and I've called out to other Norton fellows as well.  More learning curves to go and get onto.