Stuff you have fixed today

[dobbslc]

R1150GS all back together, quick ride on Saturday and it was picked up same day.

RD250 came in with excessive smoke from exhaust.

Drained oil out of geabox and took exhausts off. Ran it for 10 minutes and smoke cleared up..

Found the smoking gun but technically it is a crankcase split to fit a new seal, a lot of labour.

Said I would try and work a way out to press a modified seal in but no guarantee it will work (got 3 seals on the way).

View attachment 464398View attachment 464399View attachment 464400View attachment 464401

I thought the Rd's had a ridge on the outside diameter of the seals that prevented them being pulled out without a split???
Edit: am I thinking of the air cooled ones?

Clutch change on my son's Peugeot 108. Release bearing was getting a bit grumbly and the pedal bite point was very high.
Although this is a small car with a relatively light gearbox it's still an awkward brute to wrestle back up into place on your back on the floor.
I really do need to get a twin post ramp, that and a transmission jack would have made this job so much easier. View attachment 464438

It'll be interesting to know if the biting point is any lower with the new clutch as I thought it was normal on these cars (Peugeot 108, Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo) to have a very high biting point.

View attachment 464439

 

[Keithmac]

@dobbslc the seal has a centre raised lip, so technically it is a crankcase split to remove and refit.

I did managed to press similar style seal onto an old CB900F by taking half the lip off and making a press, plus chamfering the cases to guide it in. That would have been an uneconomical repair otherwise.

Looking at the RD it was never fitted right from the off.

Will see what happens on Tuesday!.

 

[Melvyn Best]

A bit like the rear main oil seal on the old Vauxhall Chevette, held in by a raised lip on the block and the main bearing housing turning what should have been a five minute job into the engine out, sump off and crank lifted to replace the seal

 

[dobbslc]

Looking at the RD it was never fitted right from the off.

AHH I thought that was you with it half way out!

 

[Bobupndown]

Clutch change on my son's Peugeot 108. Release bearing was getting a bit grumbly and the pedal bite point was very high.
Although this is a small car with a relatively light gearbox it's still an awkward brute to wrestle back up into place on your back on the floor.
I really do need to get a twin post ramp, that and a transmission jack would have made this job so much easier. View attachment 464438View attachment 464439

It was all going too well. Took it on a test drive on Sunday, all good. Today it's making a rattling / clunking noise in the gearbox area. Had a quick look this morning, nothing obviously amiss or loose that I've had apart externally, guess I'll be taking the gearbox out again Grrrr!

 

[Keithmac]

AHH I thought that was you with it half way out!

No, that's what I found when I'd stripped it all down.

 

[Keithmac]

A bit like the rear main oil seal on the old Vauxhall Chevette, held in by a raised lip on the block and the main bearing housing turning what should have been a five minute job into the engine out, sump off and crank lifted to replace the seal

There is no real reason why they designed it like that, the vast majority of 2 strokes have a simple pressed in seal and no issues..

Will see what happens this morning, hopefully not an engine strip!

 

[droopsnoot]

A bit like the rear main oil seal on the old Vauxhall Chevette, held in by a raised lip on the block and the main bearing housing turning what should have been a five minute job into the engine out, sump off and crank lifted to replace the seal

Same in the Vauxhall OHC engine fitted to my cars. There was an article on the engine in one of the classic car magazines, and a chap from Vauxhall said that he'd no idea why it was produced like that, as GM group had already produced other engines with a single piece seal. Not only is it a pain because of how much needs to be stripped, it's also a rope seal that has to be somehow cut exactly the correct height above the block and bearing cap so it all fits together when bolted down. And you don't find out it's still leaking until it's all back together and in the car. Fortunately for the OHC there's a two-piece rubber replacement that works quite well - still a pain to swap, but more likely to seal when you do. But no conversion to a single-piece like you get on other stuff.

 

[Melvyn Best]

Same in the Vauxhall OHC engine fitted to my cars. There was an article on the engine in one of the classic car magazines, and a chap from Vauxhall said that he'd no idea why it was produced like that, as GM group had already produced other engines with a single piece seal. Not only is it a pain because of how much needs to be stripped, it's also a rope seal that has to be somehow cut exactly the correct height above the block and bearing cap so it all fits together when bolted down. And you don't find out it's still leaking until it's all back together and in the car. Fortunately for the OHC there's a two-piece rubber replacement that works quite well - still a pain to swap, but more likely to seal when you do. But no conversion to a single-piece like you get on other stuff.

The old 1256cc engine had another bad design fault on the timing cover which had a circular section at the bottom where it connected with the sump, unfortunately it wasn’t deep enough to all the crank sprocket and timing chain to clear the sump when they were replaced. There was also a ridge on the flywheel that meant the ring gear had to be heated more than necessary when fitting, I’m sure that was the cause of premature ring gear wear!

 

[Keithmac]

Made a makeshift seal press out of the original crank nose gear and a decent thick washer.

Chamfered the case.

Modified the seal and went in first attempt, nice snug fit.

But it back up and ran it for 15 minutes, no more gearbox oil smoke so that's a result.

Then the rev counter shat itself, never a dull moment..

 

[minimutly]

The old 1256cc engine had another bad design fault on the timing cover which had a circular section at the bottom where it connected with the sump, unfortunately it wasn’t deep enough to all the crank sprocket and timing chain to clear the sump when they were replaced. There was also a ridge on the flywheel that meant the ring gear had to be heated more than necessary when fitting, I’m sure that was the cause of premature ring gear wear!

The old 1256 engine was a design fault itself.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Nice little repair.

Typical failed mantle on a Aladdin Oil lamp.

They do last a while, but will fail if disturbed.

A new one fitted, even through they are more resilient to being handled. Do not torch the mantle, your finger grease will cause an early fail of it.

Trim the old wick, make sure the fuel is fresh.

Do the next bit outside, as when it is first used it will flare up, a good 24" above the chimney.

Let it warm for about 5 minutes before going to full light and heat.

 

[qwakers]

audio upgrade time

i needed (heh, no i didnt, i wanted) better audio quality, less distortion and higher volume. voice command and internet radio was on the list too. rather than change the headunit, i decided to simply fit a echo auto and a decent pair of speakers.


old ruined worn out speakers...

new speakers

new connectors soldered on and fitted. couldn't use the factory covers without a spacer so I'm stuck with using the pioneer covers. that's a shame as I prefer the factory look.

then i needed power for the echo auto. i had a factory 12v port in the coin tray by my knee, but this was a proprietary connector. I changed it for a standard cigarette lighter socket and ran the wire up behind the dash to the echo. all nice and neat.

and bonus sleeping horses pic, because reasons

 

[Keithmac]

Gunnerside hike with our Scout group today, not fixed anything physically but very healthy for my body and mind!.

Absolutely stunning views.

Beats being at work..

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This nice looking Tilley came my way the other day.
Nice looking is all I can now say about it. It was a royal pain to fix.

It was striped down, new seals, new cup washer and the tank cleaned.
The first issue when re-building the bore of the pump body was scored, so it tore up the cup washer.
So a quick raid of the spares bin and a better body was found.

The small pile of rust powder was from the brown top, the rust dust has an annoying habit of migrating into the pin hole on the vaporizer.

First lighting.
To those who do not know, the mantle should be bright white light, a gentle hiss should be heard. Plus no fluid leeks.

The mantle is burning with an orange hue and there are two leeks, control tap and from the pump to tank seal.

The tank seal failed, even through it was new. Striped down again and there was a very very very small burr on the top of the thread. Something I had not seen before. A fine grinding stone removed it, and a new seal fitted.

Lighting up again and the lantern blew out, meaning a lack of fuel.


The controll valve was tested and looked to be working. To test the vaporizer is simple, but best done out doors. 30 pumps on a half full tank, remove the whole top. Open the control valve and jet of fuel should come out, a good ten feet is a good sign.

This was the issue. Not well shown. The axil from the black knob to the body is bent. Another first for me.
A good tip, the seal you can see can be a pain to change. place it in warm water before fitting and that will help it slide on.

Done, bright clean mantle, even hiss and no leaks.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

A classic Surform. Well used and in need a quick tickle.

But a bimble round the WWW, I found a new method of making french polish.

Here you can see how modern varnish stripper works on the old style varnish.

The wood stain is instant coffee and meths. Here it has been just applied.

The bow in the side is not meant to be there, a small bow on both sides yes. But not this.

The star washer is there to stop the front handle from rotating when in use.

Handles are now French polished, wax will be applied.
A new blade was found locally, nice to see the old tools can still be found.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

At the Men in sheds, we have a motley bunch. some are well advanced in DIY and such. But some do not.
So sometimes a toll is restored for no other reason than education.

This half moon was in a very poor state.

As the new member has not been registered on the power tools this had to be done by hand. The liquid you see is rust killer, that was washed of before good going over with a wire brush.

The cutting edge was first done with a file, then finished off with oil stone..

The old screw fixing was drilled out, rattle can paint and the sun did the rest.

 

[sako243]

Fingers crossed, been having weird (read inconsistent) getting hot scenarios in the 110.

 

[qwakers]

my race car hasnt been in the workshop since February.

since jdm ive known ive got a failing low pressure fuel pump and consequentially a damaged high pressure pump. ive had both in stock to replace since shortly after jdm, however ive simply not had time to sort it. i finally got a empty workshop and time to stick it in the garage, so on the way home from yakushi i finally brought the car home.

now i postulate the reason the lp fuel pump failed is because of the way it was plumbed, so i needed to change that. i disconnected the hp pump and attached some hose to the lp outlet, and started draining the tank by running the pump. less than 5l into a nearly full tank the lp pump started pulsing and then only pumping intermittantly. that will be fault confirmed then. i stopped there and pulled the pump out(a nearly new aem, goddamnit... my fault though, not the pumps), to find about 15l left in the bottom of the pump side of the tank (probably nearly full on the other side) after swapping the new pump in i drained the rest of the fuel out no problem. the reason for this is i want to calibrate the level sender in the dash, so i need to start with a empty tank..

then the real repair started, i needed to replumb the fuel rail return and add a return from the surge tank to the main tank to stop the lp pump trying to dead head against a full surge tank and consequentially overheating and dying. to do this i replumbed the fuel rail return to go to the surge tank, and took a return from the surge tank to the an fitting on the main tank where the fuel rail return used to go. that should mean the lp pump has fuel flowing through it constantly and therefore stays much cooler. this was all a bit fiddly but not too bad as i set the system up to come apart without having to cut loads of wires.... except the relay feed to the pump. i will add a high current inline connector to re-join that wire.

left to do this afternoon is to configure the dash and move the battery charge point to the boot.

 

[qwakers]

last job for the security camera is to supply it with a permanant power source. this would have been considerably easier if i had done this before i put the ceiling up.

1st job was to cut a hole in the new ceiling (tbf this would need doing anyway as you cant have a socket with no access above the ceiling.


next was to pull one of the wires out of the socket on the wall and pull a new wire from the socket on the wall to keep the ring intact

then i shortened the wire i just pulled out and ran it to the new socket above the ceiling. the wire now going to the main socket also goes to the new socket, adding it to the ring correctly.

all wired up.

the transformer wire then run out the fascia board and around to the camera.

and the access panel glued up.