Chopped Twin Running At Last!

Bill, dont knock your own ability, I believe you are on the right track. I welded the badly bell-mouthed holes in the flywheels which came out of this engine & left the mains spindles in place. I tried to match the outside diameters together & bore through both at once, pretty difficult. Be prepared for shrinkage to distort the OD's. I turned the OD's after welding then bored the BE holes in the mill with a boring head. Disaster!! One was fine, the other bored a thou over size & knowing that I would need to turn the OD's down more after the next welding, I gave up & bought the TP crank.
When I make the replacements I will rough them out, tack weld the wheels together,then bore & hone the mains spindle bores, then same the BE's. Then split them, fit the mains spindles & finish the OD's & faces with the spindles between centres as I believe The Factory did.

I seldom hear of Vincent owners retorquing heads after initial running, does anybody do it? I recognise that it would be a pain to loosen off the top nuts, but as a long tome Guzzi owner, I feel the urge! Guzzi take 3 or 4 check torques to settle down, but they have mushy paper barrel gaskets & soft head gaskets. Does anything move in the Vincent head-barrel joint? There is a thin paper barrel gasket, do they move?

Oil changes the same, I dont see in the Riders Handbook a recommendation for an oil change at a short period, does anybody do that?

Most owners I know that have done rebuilds do re-torque the heads. I don't use anything but a base plate sometimes. I usually do not use base gaskets and nothing on the head.

On a new engine I usually change the oil after the first break in run. Any little bits that have been built into the engine by mistake get a chance to leave. Even with relatively expensive oil it is cheap insurance.

David

Pushrod Twin said:

I seldom hear of Vincent owners retorquing heads after initial running, does anybody do it? I recognise that it would be a pain to loosen off the top nuts, but as a long tome Guzzi owner, I feel the urge! Guzzi take 3 or 4 check torques to settle down, but they have mushy paper barrel gaskets & soft head gaskets. Does anything move in the Vincent head-barrel joint? There is a thin paper barrel gasket, do they move?

Oil changes the same, I dont see in the Riders Handbook a recommendation for an oil change at a short period, does anybody do that?

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I would leave well alone, I used to play with my Bikes all the time, But now unless I have a problem, I try not to.
You wind up with stripped threads and all sorts, Get some miles on it and have some fun, After all the work you have done, It owes you.
I never change the oil, My Bikes burn a bit, In the winter they sometimes sump so I drain it off and throw it away, I also don't use a filter, My thoughts are anything heavy would wind up in the bottom of the oil chamber. I have broken my Bikes in the past , When I used a filter, And the mess is all over the place, So I would prefer no restriction the filter makes. Just my thoughts, Cheers Bill.

Pushrod Twin said:

I seldom hear of Vincent owners retorquing heads after initial running, does anybody do it? I recognise that it would be a pain to loosen off the top nuts, but as a long tome Guzzi owner, I feel the urge! Guzzi take 3 or 4 check torques to settle down, but they have mushy paper barrel gaskets & soft head gaskets. Does anything move in the Vincent head-barrel joint? There is a thin paper barrel gasket, do they move?

Oil changes the same, I dont see in the Riders Handbook a recommendation for an oil change at a short period, does anybody do that?

Click to expand...

I had new liners fitted and did need to re torque after a heat cycle or 2.

Normski said:

I had new liners fitted and did need to re torque after a heat cycle or 2.

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But then you're another long time Guzzi owner. Do I see a pattern developing here?

Roy, My advice to you is very definitely Re-torque the heads. Even with a single paper base gasket the tension does relax slightly. It is very easy and can be done quickly. Back off the nuts securing the cylinder head brackets about a half to one turn, mark the cylinder stud nut next to the head with a small dot or line using a texter pen. I use a ring and open end spanner and a 13/16 one works well, and about 10 or so inches long. You will find each nut will come down a bit less than the distance on a clock face from say 12 to one o'clock. I use a spring scale on the ring end of the spanner to be sure, but they generally always come down that much. Also I generally back each nut off and come up wit a "Rolling torque" rather than just applying more tension as the nuts are. Remember to only do each nut one at a time, don't back them all off together. Re-tighten the head bracket nuts, go over all the tappets while your at it, check for leaks from the inspection caps and the return oil lines and your all good to go. See you back here in 10 Minuit's ........ .Job done.................Cheers...............Greg.

Thanks Greg. Couldnt help myself, bought a 21mm OER & hacked into it with the angle grinder. Then parted off a cheap 3/8" drive socket for the square. Had my #3 son, the welder, TIG them together to make a crows foot so I could use my torque wrench. Didnt back them off, I had assembled them all with graphite grease so they pulled up easy. You are right, 2-3 flats each, definitely worth doing. Dressed up the ring end for tool kit, its same as 1/2" BS, fits spark plug etc.
Dumped the oil & filter first, messiest oil change I've done since my last British bike. Fitted a V50 Guzzi oil filter. Pulled the fuel tank taps & carb floats again to blow out the aluminium dust & swarf for the 3rd time. think I've got it all now.
Checked the tappets after re-torque, rear exhaust had opened up a couple of thou, hope it's not cam wear, after 200 miles, probably not?? Plenty of oil around the rockers, that was pleasing. Plenty of metal on the pleated Vincent filter, as there was after the crash. Using the Guzzi one might mean I cant see it & will feel better!
Oil returned to tank quickly after startup. Test ride to fill tank indicated all was well.

Bike is packed, ready for 0800 ferry crossing. I will be off line for a week. I will read any replies on my email, but I havent mastered getting on the website with my phone so dont be disappointed If I appear to be ignoring you.