Triumphrat

dazco · 11-21-2005

How much trouble is it and how long does it take? Thinking of getting a chrome cover but i'm not into torturing myself. looks pretty simple but i just wanna know if there are any pitfalls to look out for and whether it takes much time.

RedBird · 11-21-2005

I would recommend one purchase a new gasket for the new valve cover. The one on your valve cover is likely held in place with a grey silicone based adhesive (looks like 3 bond adhesive to me)--mine was. The old one can be removed and reused if you are patient. More important, IMHO, is new seals for the four cover bolts--my old ones didn't want to come out, and they didn't look too good when I finally got them removed. I would also recommend using an adhesive to hold the new or old gasket in the new valve cover. Being patient enough to let it set long enough to hold the gasket in place is a virtue for this job IMHO. On the T-100 and Std bonny, the valve cover comes off and goes on from one side only--right, I believe, but that's a very old memory talking here.

The actual job is simple enough and doesn't take very long, especially if you use a new gasket and cover bolt seals, and set the gasket in the new cover with adhesive ahead of time. On the T-100, I removed the seat, tank, and then the valve cover--took maybe thirty minutes. I took a little time to figure the best way to "loosen" the valve cover from the head since the adhesive used at the factory was doing a good job of holding the valve cover in place without the cover bolts. Putting the new cover took me less time--maybe 15 minutes.

Larry

[ This message was edited by: RedBird on 2005-11-21 21:48 ]

dazco · 11-21-2005

Quote:

I took a little time to figure the best way to "loosen" the valve cover from the head since the adhesive used at the factory was doing a good job of holding the valve cover in place without the cover bolts

Thanks Larry. What did you finally find to be the best way to pop off the cover? Tapping it with a plastic mallet or such? Also, i assume the gasket cannot be put in the cylider head to refit the cover, eh? So what did you use for adhesive? Seems pretty simple, but then i've seen some real simple things become sorta complicated if you know what i mean. :-D I'll probably go for it soon. they should have included it on the SM since it's the highest $ twin. Guess they just wanted it to be totally blacked out.

dazco · 11-21-2005

Oh, also i was wondering......you said "when i got them out" reffering to the bolt seals. Is there a reason they need to be removed instead of just removing the bolts?

Bryan · 11-22-2005

Dazco the seals come out of the cover after you have removed it from the head. Try spraying them with lubricant and work it in a bit that should loosen them up so you can pop them out if you wish to reuse them. When I replaced my cover I put oil on the old seal and placed it onto the head. Then I placed the cover over it and worked it all the way around until it seated into the cover { the cover has a groove in it]. It took a little while to get it just right. After I had installed it I noticed the manual stated not to lubricate the seal when installing. Darn! I thought I knew everything about seals. I'm sure it would have been easier to install had I read the manual. It didn't leak but when it came back from the 500 mile check up the dealer had replaced the seal when they adjusted the valves and it wasn't lubricated it was dry. I think your going to like that chrome cover.

[ This message was edited by: Bryan on 2005-11-22 23:03 ]

dazco · 11-22-2005

Thanks. I still don't get that seal thing tho. You say "pop them out if you wish to remove them". But why pop them out if you intend to resuse them? Guess i'm just not picturing this and am missing something. And unfortunatly my $80 triumph manual is apparently too inexpensive and they couldn't afford and good pics.

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Neducati · 11-22-2005

Quote:

I still don't get that seal thing tho. You say "pop them out if you wish to remove them". But why pop them out if you intend to resuse them?

dazco-

There are rubber washers (metal on top, rubber on the bottom) under the bolts and inside the four recesses through which the four mounting bolts attach the cam cover to the head. The washers need to be carefully pried out with a small flat screwdriver so they can be reused in your chrome cam cover.

When I did this, they came right out, and the large gasket under the existing cam cover came right off too (after I removed the cam cover with a gentle tap or two with a rubber mallet).

There are a couple of tricks to keep that gasket on the new chrome cam cover so when you turn it upside down to mount it the gasket doesn't simply fall off. One of the tricks is to put weather strip adhesive onto the gasket and let it set up before installing the cover. Another trick (from ssjones) is to put masking tape over the gasket and wrap that around the outside of the cam cover to temporarily hold the gasket in place. When you install the cam cover, you then gently pull out the masking tape (being careful not to move the gasket) before tightening the bolts. This is how I did it and it worked very well. (Thanks Al).

Does this make sense now?

Ned

dazco · 11-22-2005

Quote:

On 2005-11-22 12:37, Neducati wrote:

Quote:

I still don't get that seal thing tho. You say "pop them out if you wish to remove them". But why pop them out if you intend to resuse them?

dazco-

There are rubber washers (metal on top, rubber on the bottom) under the bolts and inside the four recesses through which the four mounting bolts attach the cam cover to the head. The washers need to be carefully pried out with a small flat screwdriver so they can be reused in your chrome cam cover.

When I did this, they came right out, and the large gasket under the existing cam cover came right off too (after I removed the cam cover with a gentle tap or two with a rubber mallet).

There are a couple of tricks to keep that gasket on the new chrome cam cover so when you turn it upside down to mount it the gasket doesn't simply fall off. One of the tricks is to put weather strip adhesive onto the gasket and let it set up before installing the cover. Another trick (from ssjones) is to put masking tape over the gasket and wrap that around the outside of the cam cover to temporarily hold the gasket in place. When you install the cam cover, you then gently pull out the masking tape (being careful not to move the gasket) before tightening the bolts. This is how I did it and it worked very well. (Thanks Al).

Does this make sense now?

Ned

Duh!!!!! Got to be the stupidest thing I've ever asked ! (the seal question) i was picturing putting the OLD cam cover on! Worse case of spacing ever. :-D Thanks for putting my mind straight. As to the gasket, i guess many adhesive products would work so that shouldn't be a problem. I'll know better how i'll do it once i have it off and see exactly what it all looks like. Thanks again. No wonder no one answered my question about the seals.....they were probably all wondering *** i meant ! :brk:

ssjones · 11-22-2005

Looks like you have plenty of tips here. It's really not that hard, but be patient, it doesn't exactly slip into place. My gasket and rubber seals came right off, but it did take a rubber mallet to break the seal loose.
I zip-tied all of my cables/wires tight to the top frame rail to gain some valuable additional clearance. From memory, I believe it slips in place better from the left.
I love the subtle look of the chrome cover and feel it was worth the cost and time.

dazco · 11-22-2005

Quote:

I love the subtle look of the chrome cover and feel it was worth the cost and time.

Yea, i was looking at my bike the other day and it just hit me how a chrome cover would balance out the lines real well from the chrome pipes below to the chrome headers at the middle and the cover up top. Just sorta surrounding the black engine with chrome. The black cover at times looks unfinished. And at $99 at hermys i think it will make a huge difference in the overall look to the good. At this point i'm in the process of trying to weed out all the tiny details that when combined hold the bike back from looking very high end. hence my other post about where to find chrome bolts and nuts. One thing about the blacked out speedy tho is thats it's much harder to know what will look good in chrome than a non black engined bike. On those you can chrome pretty much anything with nice results. with the black engine there are things that if chromed look bad. I've seen pics that have proven this to me. The tough part is trying to visulaize it before you buy, and some things i just can't visualize.

I also noticed hermys has a chrome version of the rear fender mount that the licence plate and turn signals mount to. Never seen that anywhere else, so thats on the agenda too along with a chrome brake res cover. I should be at about $2500-3000k in accessories by the time i do those things including helmets. I'da laughed at you had to told me i would spend that much when i bough the bike !