A: Oil Pipework Summer Bodge

[A Nut]

My post war bikes remain relatively free from oil leaks but this is because on reassembly I clean the seal recesses thoroughly then coat with Wellseal the evening before assembly then stick the seals in the following morning then use Wellseal as a lubricant to allow the pushrod tubes to slide down then up on reassembly. The Wellseal then presumably semi sets on the inside of the seal. Obviously OK on initial assembly but wont help on an already leaking seal. I usually get someone to help hold the seal down (a K1 is ideal) whilst I then move the pushrod tube up into position. It is surprising how out of line these tubes are. (They should have stuck to the "A" design with clamping plates top and bottom!)
Brian

 

[stu spalding]

I use Boots No7 nail varnish for fitting ET 104 to the cases. Cheers, Stu.

 

[oexing]

Unfortunately the shrouds don´t align with the cam follower cups neither. So for my 10 mm alu pushrods I moved the shrouds at least 1 mm sideways via eccentric alu o-ring adapters in the seal recesses for clearance. Puzzling for me why they kept that offset obviously to the end.
On the upper end of shrouds I placed sort of sperical washer for dealing with poor alignment and deformed flanges. The nut squeezes onto an o-ring fat enough for sealing on shroud and cylinder head recess same time - hopefully. So misalignment will be not so critical in the end - I think.

Vic

 

[greg brillus]

I haven't used the original type lower seals for a long time now........I just use "o" rings, a thicker lower one to do the sealing, and a thinner one atop that to fill in the gap........It also doubles to hold the gland nuts from dropping down against the barrel fins on assembly. It is quite easy to change an "O" ring in situ, just cut one, then feed it around the tube and glue the ends together with 10 second glue........Vic your engine has some interesting mods........ Time will tell if they all work or not.........Your forward case studs numbered in your pic above, i hope you used some sealant under the heads of those nuts........very common oil leaks from those studs........moreso the ones behind the chanwheel in the primary area.........Alloy pushrods........I hope you dont burn a valve once the engine heats up.......or maybe you will give it some clearance for when it all heats up.

 

[oexing]

Splitting an o-ring for assembling and glue it with instant glue is a bit of a gamble, not easy to align ends perfectly. Also the glue is a bit harder than the NBR so I don´t do that for sealing jobs.
The through bolts don´t get sealant under heads - hate sticky fingers. Instead for those places and more so in the primary around the gearbox I tidied up the mangled recesses with a flat countersink for a nice finish. The nuts made from hexagon rods are loctited on 8 mm studs. Then the nuts got a flat taper on underside , around 5 degrees from flat. So they got sort of shallow taper seat on the countersunk through holes for sealing the lot. Maybe in the photo you can just see some taper. The stainless rods were replaced before fitting them by titanium rods with rolled M 8 threads - because I can - and some weight saving for my old age.
Alu pushrods were standard on postwar Horexes and from /5 series on BMW twins. Steel pushrods in an all alu engine are a bit off-logic as all you can do with cold engine is set it for zero clearance. You cannot have negative clearance without roller followers. So when hot the valves will have some clearance from engine heat growth - or rather more than what you´d like. With alu pushrods you start with a little clearance cold for safety and see if it is sufficient in hot condition. Else you do a bit more clearance, but as long as some valve ticker is there in hot engine it´ll be allright.
It is very unlikely that we will do lots of kilometers once the B Rapides will finally see the roads after more than 30 years when I started the reconstruction of Argentinian old iron. But my brain defect is once I see something I feel I could do better I cannot keep me from messing around on my machines.

Vic

 

[greg brillus]

Love your work Vic........If nothing else, you'll have one hell of a tool kit for any roadside repairs you may need.........all those metric spanners and sockets........not to mention the lathe/mill and so on.....................Not so sure about your extra dowels at the cylinder base........these would be far more beneficial where the cylinder head brackets attach........Yes.