E: Engine Cylinder Liners
- Thread starter erik
- Start date
Erik,
Typically, the liner should not need substantial machining at the top when replaced. The 0.125" lip that stands proud of the muff on top is the sealing lip for the head and with luck, the muff, when fitted to the head, will seal on head. This is assured by the grinding & lapping method described in Richardson.
When I have aluminum liners made for my bikes I usually have the lip made at 0.126" tall or taller so that I can match it to an original head, which may have been worn down a bit. I usually measure the recess in the head to make sure I can seal everything up as planned. If the lip is too tall I can machine it in the lathe for correct final fitting.
In summary, the final machining is done by grinding and lapping.
David
Typically, the liner should not need substantial machining at the top when replaced. The 0.125" lip that stands proud of the muff on top is the sealing lip for the head and with luck, the muff, when fitted to the head, will seal on head. This is assured by the grinding & lapping method described in Richardson.
When I have aluminum liners made for my bikes I usually have the lip made at 0.126" tall or taller so that I can match it to an original head, which may have been worn down a bit. I usually measure the recess in the head to make sure I can seal everything up as planned. If the lip is too tall I can machine it in the lathe for correct final fitting.
In summary, the final machining is done by grinding and lapping.
David
Not to hijack this thread, but does anyone know what foundry makes the Vincent liners? It's a long shot to hope for, but liners for early (ZB and BB) Gold Stars are longer than for the later CB/DB/DBD models, and those liners don't seem to be available anywhere. Since the 84x90 mm BxS of the Vincent is close to that of the 85x88 mm of a Gold Star, perhaps the foundry would undertake making a batch without requiring some huge minimum order. They may say 'no', but it wouldn't hurt to ask them.
Did you try LA Sleeve, I have no personal experience with them but have been told by people over the years that they are running LA Sleeve liners...... They seem to make liners for almost anything.
My experience with LA Sleeve is good. I sent them a cylinder block from my '53 Speed Twin, which was beyond the max over bore, and a set of NOS standard pistons. What came back was looked good and measured up well. I would use them again.
Steven
Steven
Steven,
Thanks for your quick reply. To add a bit more to this hijacked thread, the problem is that Gold Star liners are made of austenitic cast steel whereas the industry standard is gray iron. These materials have significantly different coefficients of expansion and there are problems with the liners cracking the outer Al muff when pressed in with the proper interference fit needed for gray iron. So the problem is two-fold: finding a foundry willing to make liners of suitable dimensions in less than mass-produced quantities; and making them from austenitic cast steel instead of gray iron. LA Sleeve isn't interested in making them from the steel.
Thanks for your quick reply. To add a bit more to this hijacked thread, the problem is that Gold Star liners are made of austenitic cast steel whereas the industry standard is gray iron. These materials have significantly different coefficients of expansion and there are problems with the liners cracking the outer Al muff when pressed in with the proper interference fit needed for gray iron. So the problem is two-fold: finding a foundry willing to make liners of suitable dimensions in less than mass-produced quantities; and making them from austenitic cast steel instead of gray iron. LA Sleeve isn't interested in making them from the steel.
The top of some new liners are not flat if you place a straight edge across them.They need a light machining to get level, as just lapping is probably asking too much.
Westwood Cylinder Liners Ltd
Unit 3 George Baylis Court
George Baylis Road
Droitwich
Worcestershire
WR9 9RB
Tel: 00 44 (0) 1905 799470
Fax: 00 44 (0) 1905 796414
Email : sales@westwoodcylinderliners.co.uk
This company may be of help.
dave.
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Thanks for that reference. But, I'm hoping for pointers to companies that people already know are very good possibilities for producing what's needed. Otherwise, contacting companies for something like this is a lot like making a phone call where each person in a chain makes you describe your entire life's story before they say something like "I don't handle that, I'll transfer you to ___," until you finally give up.
no guts no glory