ordered myself the mick hemmings rebuild dvd's, trying to keep the budget down, going to consider rebuilding myself rather than the $800-1500 estimate i got from a local shop that specializes in old brits. So my questions today is, what specialty tools would i need to buy that are an absolute must. Also what jobs/machining need to be turned over to a shop that most can't do in the garage. Trying to get an idea what it will cost me to do as compared to just handing it over to an expert, if it's only a difference of a few hundred maybe i forget the great pride in doing it myself and let someone else handle it!
Advice on motor rebuild
- Thread starter kevbo82
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what he told me was usually $1200 labor, but right now he's slow so he said $800 in labor till things pick up, and he ballparked around $500 in parts, depending on how things looked when he opened it up. All that was considering it was a run of the mill job with no extra crazy machining or anything.
rvich
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I sent the head out to Jim Comstock. I decided to do everything else myself. Well that is not completely true. I also sent him my cases for the breather mod and my cam and followers to check hardness of cam and true a follower that wasn't making good contact. My cylinders where within spec, actually still have cross hatching, but if you need to have it bored out then you are probably going to have someone do that as well. The first single cylinder engine I ever rebuilt I overbored with a rigid cylinder hone. It took me about two weeks! That engine is still in use years later, but it was a labor intensive project.
One specialty tool you will want will be a caliper so you can do things like measure the crank to see if it is still in spec or needing reground. I would ask your bike shop if his prices include things like regrinding the crank (if needed), boring and honing the cylinders (if needed) and refurbishing the head. I am skeptical. If he sends all this stuff out and adds it to your bill then you might as well send the stuff out and assemble the motor yourself.
Russ
One specialty tool you will want will be a caliper so you can do things like measure the crank to see if it is still in spec or needing reground. I would ask your bike shop if his prices include things like regrinding the crank (if needed), boring and honing the cylinders (if needed) and refurbishing the head. I am skeptical. If he sends all this stuff out and adds it to your bill then you might as well send the stuff out and assemble the motor yourself.
Russ
You may find yourself running downhill FAST! Find a good machinist for cylinder boring. Consider sending the cylinder head out to a pro for rebuild @ $5-600 minimum, if all is well. Check known weak areas like the exhaust threads. While an engine is out, you will want to inspect/repair gearbox, swingarm, isolastics,etc. You can't service the rear isolastic later. I have done gearboxes in place but more special tools/techiques are in order. I do not want to dismay you but a check with your Chief Financial Officer would be a good thing while still in the planing stage. Look up the Old Britts site and use the service prices as a guide. The tech section that Fred has put together is the best. I have a well worn copy of his gearbox guide that i use every time.
Good Luck
Mike
Good Luck
Mike
Mike,mikie3117 said:You may find yourself running downhill FAST! Find a good machinist for cylinder boring. Consider sending the cylinder head out to a pro for rebuild @ $5-600 minimum, if all is well. Check known weak areas like the exhaust threads. While an engine is out, you will want to inspect/repair gearbox, swingarm, isolastics,etc. You can't service the rear isolastic later. I have done gearboxes in place but more special tools/techiques are in order. I do not want to dismay you but a check with your Chief Financial Officer would be a good thing while still in the planing stage. Look up the Old Britts site and use the service prices as a guide. The tech section that Fred has put together is the best. I have a well worn copy of his gearbox guide that i use every time.
Good Luck
Mike
thats one of my reasons for pulling it out and really going over it, i have no knowledge of the isolastics ever being replaced, and the bike has sat since 1991 so i figured those isolastics need to be replaced, along with everything other piece of rubber or bearing. the CFO's not even happy about me having a motorcycle let alone spending money on it
some people i know have tempted me to just pull/rebuild the head. bike has 21k miles on it, compression @ 125 psi on each side, but it's burning oil and running horribly on the one cylinder. seems like the problems really in the head, but where do you stop when you start taking apart a bike from the 70's that sat since the 90's
DogT
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Send the head out. Figure on 1K, I sent mine to Leo Geoff at Memphis, but CNW will be just as good. They will most likely want to replace everything except the springs and the rocker shafts. Might as well put on some mushroom tappets.
Bottom end hard to tell until apart. Complete bottom end rebuild kit from Norvil is a good price. RGM will do the same, Hemmings too, but he will probably piece everything together without any discount, but price him. Might as well do new rings, pistons and pins. You should be good on the con rods. Now if you need regrinding, that's another story, but believe my you'll never get by with even 2K for the total rebuild, even if you do it yourself. No use skimping when you're in there.
Only special tool needed is the idler puller and I'm sure you could borrow that somewhere, and some ww, metric and am std sockets and spanners.
Mine had 13K on it, bore and crank were good and it still was over $2K.
Dave
69S
Bottom end hard to tell until apart. Complete bottom end rebuild kit from Norvil is a good price. RGM will do the same, Hemmings too, but he will probably piece everything together without any discount, but price him. Might as well do new rings, pistons and pins. You should be good on the con rods. Now if you need regrinding, that's another story, but believe my you'll never get by with even 2K for the total rebuild, even if you do it yourself. No use skimping when you're in there.
Only special tool needed is the idler puller and I'm sure you could borrow that somewhere, and some ww, metric and am std sockets and spanners.
Mine had 13K on it, bore and crank were good and it still was over $2K.
Dave
69S
Almost everything here is homeade. Iso inserter, clutch too, locking ring tool, slide hammer and there is more not pictured like the super duper deep socket for the gearbox sprocket. The one tool I did not mess with is the Timing Pinion Extractor Tool. At the bottom.kevbo82 said:
I guess the other question is "should I have someone else do it?" and if you have to ask, you have answered you own question.
Would you do your own brakes on your car, alternator swap, water pump, even an oil change? These are just mechanics skills and will apply to anything.
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Something to consider if the crank needs a re-grind:
Not every engine shop is prepared to grind a Commando crank to the drawing, as the grinding wheel needs dressing for the larger-than-the-norm 90 thou radius.
Definitely a question worth asking whoever you decide is going to do the work.
Not every engine shop is prepared to grind a Commando crank to the drawing, as the grinding wheel needs dressing for the larger-than-the-norm 90 thou radius.
Definitely a question worth asking whoever you decide is going to do the work.
What a small wild world we live in! Last week my brothers neighbor moved out of state, his father was the inventor of race tape. The guy told me he left a bunch of stuff in the garage and I was free to take any of it. One thing I took was a small red tool box full of wrenches, when I got home I found they were BS/W wrenches, cool! But under them were some tools I knew nothing about, after you posted the photo of the pinion extractor I knew! Even says triumph on the side of it, if anyone knows any of these other tools uses call them out!pvisseriii said:Almost everything here is homeade. Iso inserter, clutch too, locking ring tool, slide hammer and there is more not pictured like the super duper deep socket for the gearbox sprocket. The one tool I did not mess with is the Timing Pinion Extractor Tool. At the bottom.kevbo82 said:
I guess the other question is "should I have someone else do it?" and if you have to ask, you have answered you own question.
Would you do your own brakes on your car, alternator swap, water pump, even an oil change? These are just mechanics skills and will apply to anything.
htown16
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If you can afford to send the head out to one of the name specialists that's great. I've seen their work and it is beautiful. Being on a budget, I did mine myself. I replaced the guides myself, thoroughly decarbonizind and heating the head in the oven first. Then I sent it to a local machine shop to have the guides reamed to fit, the seats recut and a skim cut. I have spent about 350 total, new black diamond valves, bronze guides, new springs and the machine work. The old springs still were in spec, so I could have come in under 300.
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