New project for pidjones - a Triumph this time

Finally got all the seals in for the carbs then spent a couple days getting the float valves to seal. THEN when putting the fuel banjos back in the correct position, I stripped a banjo bolt hole in the right carb. Inspecting the damage, it looks like a lot of the cheese metal in the threads had corroded away. Another bowl on order, it will be polished and placed on the center carb since the rest are chromed. This thing is so nasty - grease, oil, dirt all over it and the jugs/head painted with something that resembles truck bed liner. But with chromed carbs and rocker inspection covers. "Lipstick on a pig" indeed.

But other than slowly getting covers on with correct gaskets, that is about all of the progress lately. Spend a couple hours cleaning and trying to remove paint (at least from the head) then get frustrated and find something else to do.

Oh, and I found more RTV. The clutch pull rod seal was RTV'd in place, and as I tried to remove the old fiber sealing washer from the primary drain bolt, discovered it was actually RTV!
 
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I recall an article comparing Triumph mfg with Honda, where they described both(similar) covers being drilled by hand and tossed in a bin.
If you were lucky enough to be provided with both correct covers and gaskets, they sealed, but it was a roll of the dice, hence a reputation for leaking and a smorgasboard of materials being applied to solve an intrinsic mismatch problem.
 
I don't believe any Japanese bikes diverted a bit of oil return to drip on the chain, either. Manufacturing tolerances and metallurgy were obviously way ahead in Japan. For the British threes, they were designed in '63 but not released until '69. By then, BSA and its holdings were headed down (although my '69 TR6C never market its spot, and was usually stored inside on carpet). Use of High Temp RTV is not the correct solution on flanges designed for gaskets.
 
Discovered serious wear/damage to the Stellite coating on the valve stem tips. Wear caps on order and I'll check valve rocker geometry when they get in. 0.080 thick, so may or may not impact. The push rod tubes act as oil return, and the seals were obviously leaking due to careless installation of the tubes and rocker boxes. All of that cleaned up and new seals ready to install on final assembly.

Also discovered that when they bored and re-tapped for larger cover bolts for the rocker box, they broke through the sides of the box. Three of the holes break through to outside and one to inside the cover. Hoping a sealer will take care of that, but it must be removable as the cover has to come off for checking/adjusting valve lash. Will start by testing with Hondabond. I'll check without the cover first, as I want to make sure that I use enough to fill thread gaps, but not so much that it forces sealant out into the box. A pair of eBayed boxes are well over a hundred bucks.
 
Wear caps came in. I put one on #3 exhaust valve stem with a coat of Dykem on it, Installed that push rod and rocker box (no gasket). Adjusted the rocker clearance. Rotated the engine through about six openings of the valve. Pulled the box off and here is a photo of the wear cap. Path of the adjuster tip is clearly visible and just slightly off-center. Left in the photo is the front of the engine. I'm satisfied that this will do without grinding the stem. The Viton-tipped float valves came in, too so that is also moving forward.
Wear cap.jpg
 
jonesn7 said:
Discovered serious wear/damage to the Stellite coating on the valve stem tips. Wear caps on order and I'll check valve rocker geometry when they get in. 0.080 thick, so may or may not impact. The push rod tubes act as oil return, and the seals were obviously leaking due to careless installation of the tubes and rocker boxes. All of that cleaned up and new seals ready to install on final assembly.
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I only recently learned that modern motor oil blends don't have enough zinc for flat-tappet valvetrains
 
guero_gordo said:
I only recently learned that modern motor oil blends don't have enough zinc for flat-tappet valvetrains
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Since it has been setting for over five years, and observing all of its other PO issues I wouldn't pin it on modern motor oil. Starvation of oil or very poor adjustment more likely. Zinc additives if needed are readily available. Most bikes it is recommended to not run automotive oil in due to their wet clutches, but the T150 has a dry clutch.
 
All of the wear caps and rocker boxes are now installed with valve clearances set. Viton-tipped float valves installed and carbs set up with isopropyl alcohol to leak test.
 
Discovered that the adjusters were hitting the rocker box covers. Took them all off, chucked them gently in the lathe (inserted in Tygon tubing), spun at low speed while using the cut-off wheels in a Dremel to slice the square drive ends off. Then stoped the lathe and gave each a straight screwdriver slot. Now, they don't hit the cover and are much easier to adjust.

Decided to begin reworking the wiring soon, so injected 50 ml oil through the rocker feeds and another 50 ml shared by the valve spring pockets. Put 25 ml down each pushrod tube also. Then, buttoned it up and covered the engine with a large plastic bag and rolled it under the workbench.
 
More fun. One of the fork tube caps was cross-threaded. ~1.25" x 20 TPI. New cap ordered, but how to straighten the buggered tube threads? Ended up patiently using a 1/4-20 tap as a thread comb, and over about 4 hours cleaned them up so that the cap from the other tube fits nice. Waiting for an ebay replacement cap, now.
 
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