'54 running very hot after rebuild... found out why!

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Dan'l

'54 running very hot after rebuild... found out why!

#1

Post by Dan'l »

:x Wrote in a while back asking for advice on why my '54 might be running hot after a complete rebuild. First, "Thanks" to everyone for their suggestions, however, we never should have seen this one coming:

Was working on reassembly of oil pump... had the cam cover off and noticed a nice brass/bronze color on the end of the shaft (pinion?), and started to look around some more...

Cam cover crank bushing was the wrong one!

That's right, folks... not "pinned", spinning in cam cover, metal in the shaft thru&thru galley, wrong height (didn't match up to oiling galley) slopped up & down, and even has reamed out the ID of the cam cover to negate replacing just the bushing. Needless to say (but I will) the cam cover will make a very nice ashtray.

QUESTION: S&S claims their cam cover has better oiling/misting properties than stock... anyone know if this is true?

Yes. I'm going to look into all the related problems this $12 part screw up has probably caused. But for now, I'm just looking to replace the cam cover. Again, "Thanks" to all.

Dan'l

ps, lost my password and so I just signed in as "Guest"
panhead
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#2

Post by panhead »

lost my password
If you login with the wrong login/password you can click on:

I forgot my password

and a new password is sent to you.
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#3

Post by Cotten »

Why not just cut an oversized bushing for the wallowed hole?

...Cotten
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#4

Post by Panacea »

I guess the responsibility of knowing that your pinion bushing has been correctly installed belongs to whomever assembled the motor. Was this a new gearcover? I needed a new gearcover for my last re-build and wound up with a S&S cover. Kinda' cool the way they put two screws in the cover just for future removal, (when screwed in they push against the case, forceing the cover off the case).no need to remove the generator to tap the cover off. I hope your motor hasn't been damaged, you should probably tear it completely down to clean and inspect. (just what you wanted to hear?) LOL Mike
wrecks74

S&S gear cover

#5

Post by wrecks74 »

I bought a S&S gear cover with bushings installed and reamed to factory specs, bolted up with no problemes. have since had cover off and both cam and pinion bushings/shafts look fine. all is good.
Dan'l

Hot '54... bushing

#6

Post by Dan'l »

Thanks for the info on the cam cover!

Cotten:
I took it to the local wrench(s) -- one old school, one new/race school -- to get two opinions (Yeah, diff't guys than who did the work... That guy is now "retired"). They both said it was too reamed to be replaced... prolly in the 5-10 "over" range, and the cost to get a new one made to that spec would prolly be the same as getting a new cover. Not a lot of machining going on around here, I guess.

It was an aftermarket cover anyway -- part of the basket 'o goodies when I got the bike 10 yrs ago -- but never had any problems until the rebuild. Thing is, it seems this parts mistake was done twice! First rebuild went sour from oiling probs: cam cover bushings were beat and shaved. It seems that during the following rebuild/repair, they replaced that same bushing that caused the probs, with ANOTHER ONE of the same specs:

"Uh oh... Wouldja look at this... this bushing is shot ... musta been a 'bad' one... Hey Joe, get me another one of these, wouldja?"

Arrrgh!

Panacea:
The engine never made any telltale noises, seemed even/smooth, and idled/ran well... there was just that problem with the oil temp getting so high: 225 deg after 30 mins. I'd shut 'er down, let 'er cool, and head back home to start figuring what th' hell was going wrong. Had the heads off and the cylinder walls look good, breather is clean, oil has continually looked clean (with only small particles of bronze "dust" during the break in)... and yeah, I know I should pull it all back out/apart and check all the specs, but honestly... I'm not sure if I will.
"... I been down so long, it looks like up to me..."

But enough piss an' moan, here...

panhead:
I'll try the password thing.

Dan'l
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#7

Post by fourthgear »

What if , some other part of the lower end was causing the damage to the bushing ??
Dan'l

bushing

#8

Post by Dan'l »

Lots of "what ifs" about this one... yeah, been thinking on that, too. However, I'm looking at a bushing that has the wrong height (too short, doesn't match the galley in the cam cover to feed), and has no proper hole bored in it to feed the shaft even if it matched up.

Ordered up one of the S&S covers from CycleWarehouse... s'posed to have better breather and misting specs than stock. Thanks for those "... it worked for me..." responses.

Don't think it'll get here in time for the SmokeOutWest Bike Fest this wknd, but hey... I've been dinkin' around on this for 5 years, off 'n on ... what's another weekend, right?

Dan'l
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#9

Post by Cotten »

Making a bushing is pretty elementary.

So much for both old and new school.

....Cotten
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Re: '54 running very hot after rebuild... found out why!

#10

Post by Mountain Flathead 1 »

I had that happen on a 46 Knuckle I restored..... put on a new aftermarket cam cover, and the oil journal wasnt drilled thru the bushing, and i missed it. I actually rode it for quite some time before it eventually seized on a rest stop on a 90+ deg day coming home from a AMCA meet in Wauseon. Ohio. Expensive lesson !
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Re: '54 running very hot after rebuild... found out why!

#11

Post by Panacea »

The "bad bushing" was probably for an end oiler type pinion?
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