Not for the squeamish....

[Tom Walker]

No fancy oil for me. 20/50 tractor oil goes in everything except the GN which is vintage and air cooled and drinks R for breakfast lunch and supper, but then she is very spoilt.
Vinnie will get tractor oil and love every last cc.

 

[bmetcalf]

I would steer clear of modern oils they are too slippery and not suited to seventy year old engines I do think you are over thinking the oil situation just consider for the moment Tony Rose 100,000 miles without a strip down Filtrate oil (non detergent) frequent changes and a delicate hand for the first 15 miles from cold and sensible rev ranges that was his formula. BMW and Triumph Twins are just two other engines from 1950-60 with horror stories about detergent oils

BMW and Triumph crankshafts also had sludge traps that were very easy to neglect.

 

[vibrac]

I'm not sure that Filtrate was 'non detergent' I had a long talk to Ted Hampshire when he was their rep and he told me that the development went something like this. They wanted to make a viscostatic oil. To do this they introduced a 'varnish' which is non lubricating. To get round that they had to introduced graphite but to keep it in suspension they needed to make it with some detergent characteristics. Certainly putting Filtrate in to a Vin was sure to lead to increase oil leaks. Whether that was because the oil was thinner or because is was cleaning up inside surface is anyone guess now.

Put in filtrate oil in Google there is a VOC doc about it

 

[ClassicBiker]

BMW and Triumph crankshafts also had sludge traps that were very easy to neglect.

All of the Triumph motors I've rebuilt have and sludge traps packed solid. Most have been so bad the only way to clean them has been to gradually drill the crap out till I'm making contact with the tube in the trap. Then I've got a home made puller with a tap brazed on and pull the tube in the sludge trap out and replace it with a new one. I've even had to drill the end feed to the crank and dig into the drilling that link the end feed to the big end/sludge trap. Filter or not regular oil changes are the way to go to prevent sludge.
Steven

 

[Tom Walker]

Tonight I made a "small bulb" inspection light out of a 12v instrument bulb, to try the endoscope (oooooo matron) in the plug hole.

Now the fun bit, whats inside??

I think this old boy has seen some action. At least one owner has had a good scrape. Can anyone date the piston by the stamp? It says 20 thou, so I presume thats only one re bore, but how old is the piston, I would love to know.

thanks, Tom.

 

[Martyn Goodwin]

Tonight I made a "small bulb" inspection light out of a 12v instrument bulb, to try the endoscope (oooooo matron) in the plug hole.

View attachment 15721

View attachment 15722

Now the fun bit, whats inside??

I think this old boy has seen some action. At least one owner has had a good scrape. Can anyone date the piston by the stamp? It says 20 thou, so I presume thats only one re bore, but how old is the piston, I would love to know.View attachment 15723


thanks, Tom.

Head of the piston - opps - crown, is remarkably clean.

 

[greg brillus]

Not ran since last been apart. piston has had more hits than Elvis..........Bore looks in poor shape. VOC spares................here we come...........

 

[Tom Walker]

Interesting that both pistons are clean on top, so the Vin hasnt done much since last strip.
BUT evidently not much was spent on PARTS when that work was done
Im going to run it to see how it sounds, but now I know I cant expect a high mileage out of this motor as is.

Do those initials on the piston top mean anything to anyone?

Thanks, Tom.

 

[greg brillus]

Original I would say, going by the numbers and stampings.

 

[BigEd]

Interesting that both pistons are clean on top, so the Vin hasnt done much since last strip.
BUT evidently not much was spent on PARTS when that work was done
Im going to run it to see how it sounds, but now I know I cant expect a high mileage out of this motor as is.

Do those initials on the piston top mean anything to anyone?

Thanks, Tom.

Dear Tom,
E7 part number for a piston and the 6 will be 6:1 compression ratio.