Triumphrat

sangalfie · 11-06-2009, 11:48 AM

So after many frustating rides of my engine dying out, I have finally made the decision to strip down and clean/repair anything I see that comes in the way...

This is my first bike / rebuild, so hopefully this will give confidence in anyone that is thinking of stripping down their bike, cuz up to now it really has been very simple and easy. And of course thanks to Plewsy for his easy reference videos!

I don't know how far I will go, but we will see. If you veteran members can give me any advice or see any issues, pls let me know.

http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...view=slideshow

Few questions...

1. My right cylinder has been leaking a lot of "sludge" (that silverish goo by my head gaskets)...what is all this sludge?

2. What is a descent homemade solution to dunk the parts to dilute all the crud and oil? Will gasoline work? If not, what are some products that I can use...

3. Deciding whether to rewire the whole bike w/ new terminals as I cannot find the source of my short. Can anyone advise if this a hard task, compared to what I'm doing at the moment...

Thanks and I will keep you posted on this first rebuild!

GrandPaulZ · 11-06-2009, 09:41 PM

Oil mixed with carbon and silver paint is probably what you are seeing.

gasoline will work, kerosene is safer.

One wire at a time is easy; unwiring and starting ver is not as easy. If you have a manual, just check that everything is correct.

C'mon, get after it!

shrugger · 11-06-2009, 11:41 PM

Please make your Photobucket "Public" -or- tell everyone on Earth
what your password is.

sangalfie · 11-07-2009, 11:12 AM

I believe its been made public now. Pls let me know if otherwise...

shrugger · 11-07-2009, 12:20 PM

Right On!

From the pix it looks like you might have one or more worn valve guides.
Blows carbon into the rocker on compression. Sucks oil
into the cylinder on intake. Could be Rings as well.

sangalfie · 11-08-2009, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrugger

From the pix it looks like you might have one or more worn valve guides.
Blows carbon into the rocker on compression.

shrugger, you mind explaining which are the valve guides and rockers so I know what to look for. All this is very new to me and trying to learn the parts and how it works as I go along. A nice adventure awaits!

GrandPaulZ · 11-08-2009, 10:33 AM

You need a parts book, and study the illustrations and parts listings!

The guides are the thin tubes that the valves slide up and down in. They press into the cylinder head (by a competent machinist).

The rockers translate the upward movement of the pushrods into the downward push on the tips of the valves to open them against spring pressure.

shrugger · 11-08-2009, 07:33 PM

Sorry, meant to say Rocker Boxes. You have a pic of them.

As old and tired as these motors tend to be. It's most often too
late to just lap in some new valves and go. Best to let the Pro's
do it. Could run as little as $150. Or if it's as worn as mine was
it could go to $750

I'm sure Grandpaulz Knows a guy that knows a guy.

I sent mine to Hutch and he swore he returned the same head back
to me. I'm a bit dubious! I think he swaped it for a brand new one.

http://www.triumphman.com/

GrandPaulZ · 11-09-2009, 10:03 AM

I've used the same machinist for 25 years, since my Jap bike / dirt bike days.

I've never had a Triumph head run over $500 for a "worst case" rebuild with ALL new parts but the head itself.

shrugger · 11-09-2009, 11:13 AM

yeh, probly paid too much. But thats ok. With the exception of the
exhaust spigots, every single part needed replaced. It had been
worked over more than once, not only did the valve seats need
enlarged but the valve guide bores as well. I attribute at least some
of the extra cost to the machine work it needed.