1966 Triumph 6T Renovation

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#76 Post by **mangocrazy** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:17 pm

Nice one; I googled the part number and they're not exactly an easy part to track down, by the look of it. First reference I saw was from Oz. Where did you get yours from?

Willopotomas · #77 Post by **Willopotomas** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:48 pm

There are a few sets on eBay, but all the cheaper castings and mediocre rings. I know people who use them, but they don't use their bikes the way I'll be using mine. At £140, they were about £50 more expensive, but that extra buys me the piece of mind that comes with quality components. These two were found on eBay by a company called IMD Pistons. A few others had slipped the net by the time pay-day came around mind, but glad they did.

Willopotomas · #78 Post by **Willopotomas** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 7:38 pm

04-02-13

A little more progress this evening.

The first attempt at removing the sludge trap bung proved to be an EPIC failure.

So welded a nut to the bastard. The heat of welding and the extra torque of a spanner saw light work of it.

Once the plug was removed I was greeted by this horrible mess. Chock full of dry, black sludgy crap. No wonder I was having 'wet sumping' issues. The bloody oil pressure relief valve must've been permanently open.

The next task is to get the sludge trap tube out.. This also requires some ingenuity lol. Am away up the Ricoh tomorrow eve, so I'll be back at it on Wednesday. Fingers crossed it doesn't give me too much shit. It's currently soaking in thinners to help move some of the crap out the way.

The crank, rods and pistons are away for dynamic balancing on Friday. They're also going to re-grind the crank journals to -0.010" as the lack of lubrication has caused some scaring.

D-Rider · #79 Post by **D-Rider** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:28 pm

Good work again Will

I'm also having fun with the undoable on the Burgman Daniel was given.
Rear brake dragging - to get at it you need to remove the rear wheel and to remove the rear wheel you need to remove the exhaust ... only the bolts on the flange wont budge .... and they are in a really inaccessible place ..... and the heads of the bolts are made out of some material that seems harder than any drill that might be used to try to remove the heads ..... Feck!

Willopotomas wrote: Am away up the Ricoh tomorrow eve,

Me too - first game I'll have been to this season

Willopotomas · #80 Post by **Willopotomas** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:40 pm

06-02-13

Right then. Time to get that sludge trap tube out!
The sludge trap on these machines is located inside the crank shaft. The tube in question helps catch microscopic particles in the oil using centrifugal force. Over the years this builds up and needs to be cleaned out. The only way to do this is to strip the engine down. It's good practice to do this job every time the engine has to come apart for whatever reason. New parts are around £10, so it's a bit of a no brainer.

Having tapped the inside of the tube slightly, I sent a bolt down it and started to draw the tube out. Holding the bolt still and undoing the nut closest to the crank pulls the tube off it's seat. There are other methods, but I find doing it this way by far the easiest.

Out pops the tube.. But hang on.. Something isn't right here. Some of it's missing. NOOOOO!!!

It's still in the feckin hole! Argh! At this point I packed up n' went home slightly miffed and a bit annoyed.

After a couple of stiff drinks it was time to get back and get the bastard out. This involved using one of the aforementiond 'other methods'. IE, jab the bastard out with great bodging accuracy.

Thank fook fer that!

A further de-grease and clean up to rid most of the sludge, then a coating of WD-40 to stop it turning orange.

All ready for a re-grind and balance now. Nice.

HowardQ · #81 Post by **HowardQ** » Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:31 pm

Well sorted Will, I missed this thread when you had to leave off for a few weeks.
It's great now that you are back in full flow.
The write ups and the detailed photos are brilliant as ever.
Bring the can back though, you deserve a drink!
Especially for times like when the sludge trap tube broke off!

P.S.
I think I enjoy it so much because I used to work in a similar thorough way years ago, but don't have the patience at my age and get too much pain if I try, so it's great to read this thread.

fatboy · #82 Post by **fatboy** » Thu Feb 07, 2013 7:27 pm

lGood work that man !
Ages ago I had to get a T140 sludge trap drilled out,not cheap

Willopotomas · #83 Post by **Willopotomas** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:15 am

Cheers H, I'm glad you're enjoying reading about it as much as I'm enjoying doing it. Doing the forum write up (along with Farcebook) is helping me to keep a picture diary of what goes on. I've done so many of these in the past, but never documented it. Mostly as it was a job rather than a hobby.

FB, the sludge tubes can be a git.. This one proved that point. Other's I've done have literally just fallen out. Of course this one being mine wasn't going down without a good fight. haha.

Willopotomas · #84 Post by **Willopotomas** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:56 am

08-02-13

The two on the left were picked up at an auto jumble years ago. Very cheaply as the bloke didn't know what he had. Cunning.

The two on the right are what came out of the bike.

All four went for crack testing at an aerospace firm where a mate works. The two on the left are perfect, the two on the right are scrap. Makes me wonder just how far from total self destruction that engine was!

DavShill · #85 Post by **DavShill** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:12 pm

Great work Willo. It's a bit like jackonory. Can you update at 4.45pm everyday please so we can all tune in before tea.

D-Rider · #86 Post by **D-Rider** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:36 pm

Willopotomas wrote:08-02-13
All four went for crack testing at an aerospace firm where a mate works.

So was the crack up to "flying" standards?

Again, good interesting stuff Mr O'Potomas

Willopotomas · #87 Post by **Willopotomas** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:27 pm

D-Rider wrote:
Willopotomas wrote:08-02-13
All four went for crack testing at an aerospace firm where a mate works.
So was the crack up to "flying" standards?

Nope. Scraped. I'll probably make a trophy out of them.. Or some sort of ornate guard rail..lol.

I'm glad you're all enjoying the adventure so far. You'll be pleased to know that there are at least three others to follow. Maybe not in the same time frame, but certainly not long-term.

The crank is now away at Nourish Racing Engines

Dave Nourish is approaching 82 years old and is still going strong. A truly great individual. His workshops are second to none. Proper old-school engineering. Not a CNC in sight. Love it!

Willopotomas · #88 Post by **Willopotomas** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:43 am

Small update.

The fork bushes and seals have turned up. Let's hope these are the right size this time. Making them oversize is understandable, but under size is inexcusable. Bloody cowboys!

fatboy · #89 Post by **fatboy** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:10 pm

Not Les Harriss parts are they ?
He bought the Meridan name for 12 months and sold oval main bushes from his shop in Paignton, Devon

Willopotomas · #90 Post by **Willopotomas** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:45 pm

From what I'm told, these were made for the bike shop I got them from, so should be ok. If they turn out to be no good (which happens) then I'll send them back as not fit for purpose and make my own. Don't want to as it'll be more expensive (phosphor-bronze stock is farkin expensive!), but needs must.