Push rod total frustration again and again

I've put off as long as I could resealing Trixie and am now hurting again over her in hands and neck and back and mind and heart and will power after 30 min merely trapping a pushrod set again. I found I could screw down a small end wrench firmly under exht rocker adjuster/nut to squeeze with one hand against head which leaves a couple fingers of that hand free to work push rods [plus other hand too] to fully hold valve down to raise push rod end of rocker which did let exht rod slide all the way but but left intake stuck down. Tired it intake first but seemed worse fouling. Some rocker castings must leave extra material at ends to snag pushrods like Trixie repeatedly does. Put global mind focus out there please or I may never ride Trixie again so best sell her off for everyones relief... This could take me a few weeks again stealing some hours here and there till accidentally getting them up. Peel's would slip in each time every time so big reason to keep her and not regret it. This is 5th or sixth time Trixie had to be taken down to crank in the few years I've had her so most the time she's been shut down anyway. Next 2 month peak riding season here going to modern appliance cycle waste.

Take a deep breath and walk away. Things will look better tomorrow. I remember spending about 2 hours trying to get a Chevy motor mount to line up.
Left things alone and the next morning it went on the first try. A cold beer might help while your walking away.
You will get it done.

Psychiatry 101 . Breath in ,exhale out slowly ...elastic bands over tiny wierd exhaust studs work wonders to hold pressures to fit into place. Use a probe fine stick and a good flashlight too. 2 people best to support head weight and fiddling. Blasted about town all day on new A.G.M. battery ,tomorrow off to Elora to trout fish with buddy Dave on 1200 s. sleeping under the stars top of gorge 18 C. Next day cars to Coldwater for all the Salmon. Tues. big dinner for 20. :wink:

Sounds pretty good Torontonian. I still haven't ridden my Commando or any Cdo for that matter. So I can relate for my own reasons. Had to sell my other bike over a year ago because money was tight. Then got sick and haven't been on a bike since. Somehow I'm going to get it done inspite of my ineptitude and other life shit always getting in the way. My point is you got those skills for a reason, so buck up little camper. Maybe Trixie wants you to focus on Peel??

Every day is a gift...

Hot dog, called Wesley in desperation and told just pull front iso bolt to drop engine to clear the half way up pushrods, hand smacking forehead insight to me. Wes said he visited the Ozark Vintage palliation at the Bike Blues BBQ and TV crew happened to be there and needed someone to ride around for them and though plenty of Brit iron around no one else present but Wes on his ratter burnt organe ex-hyryder '71.

Nothing is more important than your personal health. Hobot knows that. :|

Ugh, I'd left my above post unsent till got back in and tagged go so missed the encouraging words that imply I shouldn't trade places with others to handle any better.

Tried Wes's method but d/t prior deer impact Trixie front iso absolutely goes no futher downthan to perfectly line up iso bolt to hand slip in/out but not slightest hint of moving down any after releasing iso adjuster and beating a wood stake apart. So heart sunk lower picturing selling her with most the good stuff off and head hung by zip ties and wedge firmly against spine.

Asked wife for a prayer and tired DS and succeeded by getting exht up first with exposed rocker end fully lifted then other wigged up enough too. So smuggely thot the other would too, nope mostly trapped half way any combo I tried till esculated emotional force left the head tipped bottom more forward and trapped exht rod slide right on on the floor on its own!
Crap caught me by surprise again so didn't learn a dam thing to avoid or do right next time.

Plugs and chambers show moderate oil cake and found oil wet and blow by evidence between copper gasket and barrel but not head seam. Gasket was like wax to handle after my 'over' annealing but now hardened and likely depressed in areas with pressure escape beating so will give a new Flamering one more chance, dreading its blow out to face push rods - again.

Doing Norton stuff is so unrelated to things I did with my late brother Dale, its one the few times can forget how few weekends may have left. Head on the floor is good thing this time.

I am sure you know this but remember to remove the head steady or the motor can't drop if tying the front ISO removal thing

Thanks for the good vibes up/dn - head steady was removed before undoing the stuborn head bolts still showing silver anti-seize. i will mill another few 1000th off the front mount to ease the fit in the tight front tabs. When I turned head upside down so both rockers rocked with outter end raised it only took a jiggle and both push rod fell to roof of head, ugh. I know the solution, suck out spindle and take more off the very ends of rockers but Trixie head held spindle in so tight even heated too hot to handle it almost broke the puller or pulled spindle threads out. With such a strain the exht spindle didn't end up with its slots quite level and even with hi heat almost sheared them off trying to twist a couple degree better so spindle covers seated. i don't know if I can face that again and not ruin the head to access the rockers. I have such a low opinion of my mechanical ability can't offend me rudely agreeing.

Last 2 mo have been watching/helping auto mechanics access about impossible and tough situations, hours at one fastener level leaving blood on the parts over head, but they stuck with it and won so helped me stay saner too.

You know the procedure, Elastics to rocker studs. Flashlight. Help holding weight of head. Wes.

Do you have a bike lift? This stuff is so much easier when you're comfortable.

Ah come on Hobot. its easy. Just like doing the fork yokes, Just do it. Years ago when I work on twin OHC engines we used to use water pump grease to attach the valve collets to a small screw driver when fitting the valves etc. You could get some water pump grease yourself and put it in the dry rockers then stick the clean pushrods into them. They will stay in place until you get clumsy and knock them out. Try it.
Water pump grease is thick brown shit . If you have ever used Denzo tape to fix roof leaks then you know what its like.

The other way is to remove the rocker shaft on the valve that is open. Had to do that once myself when I stuffed up putting the head on one time. Got interrupted by pesky neighbour while doing it. Shit nearly hit fan in big way. Used a lot of motor mechanics language for a while. Got the job done though,.., no choice when you live in the wops.
Dereck

I'm a motor jinx, 2 car engines died on me in 1 mo and am stuck with squatting or sitting on box in garage because the bad engine in mower taking up my normal sky hook Norton nest. Fixed mower engine once and reinstalled it about ready to go but shoe eves dis jointed the governor gears, its deepest most complex component to reach so with other priorities just couldn't make time to take mower apart and strip another block I've on hand, likely breaking it too. I got my neck and major joint mangles regrown some years now so don't hurt to squat long and get right up but cocking neck to see while straining for half hour w/o success hurt in wrists, fingers and skin dings for a while. My tools are in 3 basic piles for shed, garage and living room projects. Still found some pin hole leaks in Peel's frame when heat pressurized so another task still unexpectedly unfinished. Chain saws working so serious wood collecting about to cut into my quality Norton worship.

Yep. They can be a bugger! i have even considered installing inspection plugs in the top..like early triumphs had.

I'm sure you all know this already... But putting grease in the cups helps a lot, you can 'feel' whether or not the pushrod is sitting in the cup properly and the grease helps prevent them from falling out of place too easily.
I chickened out though and put my head on whilst the engine was still on the bench sitting in its nice engine stand, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was like this!

Fast Eddie said:

I'm sure you all know this already... But putting grease in the cups helps a lot, you can 'feel' whether or not the pushrod is sitting in the cup properly and the grease helps prevent them from falling out of place too easily.
I chickened out though and put my head on whilst the engine was still on the bench sitting in its nice engine stand, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was like this!

Click to expand...

+1 here Steve. Put grease in cups of cam followers, then install pushrods, then install head on motor ... that is REMOVED from frame and sitting on work bench I'm guessing you have seen the "Mick Hemmings Norton engine rebuild video" ??? That's the way he does it ... moocho easy yesiree

I tried, many years ago, to install Norton 750 head on motor while still in frame. After much grief and frustration, :evil: removed primary side and removed engine and placed it on work bench. What a difference, easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy I guess others can do it in frame, but just not worth the trouble for me. It's WAY easier and WAY less frustrating to "bite the bullet" ... and remove the primary and remove motor ... to install cylinder head on motor while on work bench. Much less chance of cylinder head gasket leaks too

FWIW, there was an episode on "Cafe Racer" where they had a yellow 750 Commando rebuilt "Cafe style" by a professional shop. On the TV show they installed the head ... WITH engine in frame. :shock: So ... I says to myself " there gonna have problems down the road with cylinder head seal and gasket leaks." Guess what, they did ... and had to redo it. :roll:

Just my 2 cents, to help fellow Commando junkie ...

The first head I put on had work done on it and the bloke who did the work said stuff the rods up into the head tilt it back and then forward to put them in the tunnels. Sit the head on a stud and with the rockers held by elastic bands seat the pushrods, remove the stud and drop the head down checking that no pushrods have dropped out of position then screw down the center head bolt, checking the rods as you go.
Don't be in too much of a hurry a nd you'll be right. I use a head torch cos it gives you two free hands.
It is certainly easier if the bike is raised and a scribe is used to manipulate the rods.


As for less trouble if the head is put back on engine out, might try it if I swop an engine soon.
Steve everybody I have known to work on machines has had days when they " couldn't put a nut in a monkey's mouth " I recon this is yours. Too bad it's when you're working on the trixie bike,but look on the bright side you've still got a bike to fix.

J

Appreciate the attention, as about all the Commando activity I've had this year. Trixie has been a horse missing a shoe nail that losses the rider, then the battle then the war. Deer strike, then oil slot pistons through Aluminum gasket, then a rod bolt, then air boots cracks new rings > which lead to this resealing task. If i only putter around easy legally Trixie didn't leak or smoke but why have a Combat with such throttle restrictions...
SuVee's multitple animal and car take downs about yearly took away Norton time too, not counting cars and mower and major homestead events. Overwhelmed with digging back up out of holes to actually do much to get ahead with projects - to point discussed selling out with wife to stop the big hits. I know I'm alive only by Luck or Grace and have neat stuff like cycles - but even wife asks me now and then why I didn't take a cycle here or there, to tell her I just didn't feel lucky or vigorous enough to risk what I know has happened and what it took to survive it. Two weeks ago carrying some car repair stuff from shed to garage, was a few steps from house when a loud fluttering sound occurred that stopped me in tracks for half dozen seconds, then half dozen more listening for a plane or truck or wind swirl, nothing, so walked a dozen steps more when top of huge tree 15" thick crushed the ground in and took off corner of deck right where I'd been standing so puzzled. We hear tree/limb falls regularly and they all crackle then immediately crash, this one let go but magically suspended law of physics for me - again.
That took time to clean up but didn't slip off 2nd story metal roof clearing limbs for drainage > as rain started. Lost a 42 yr old rennet that lived at my late brothers place that was shoeing horses under a big shade tree like this last year. I work on the rescue squad and one said looked like he'd heard it and tried to leap away in time...

I'm sure I'm not the the first, but first I know of to use rubber bands to hold rockers down and suspend head by zip ties around head oil banjo bolts so hands free to diddle so hope my lazy ways helped others in this area. The DS pushrods slipped up about 1st attempt so TS rockers end casting excess must be fouling and only solution is about melt head again getting spindle out to grind rocker ends then sand open spindle bores so able to get spindle back in like everyone else so easy expects too. I've a new flamering to try once more - but after last one blew in 10 miles of timid commute to appointment I fear I'll be thankful to fight with spindle one more time to save stress of next headache.

They say practice makes perfect. No so with this situation, it's practice makes madness.

I do not know how many time I have had the head off, but it never fails that no matter how careful I think I am, I will have go go back and reset at least one of those bastards back into the rocker. Assembly grease trick does help.

Although easier when the motor is out, the trap is still set and baited for me.

Pete said it, madness of doing the same thing repeated, getting varying results so learning nothing and then back in again, ugh. Still for my life's fates prospective, I'd called pro's and even power company on this Sycamore and told no way could their equipment handle that thing and location, so 35 ft of it came straight down landed parallel off house and deck just after wife and dog and ducks moved away so easy to access weeks worth, ~1200 lb of big fireplace wood and can drop the tree at 4ft thickness about 10 ft up at my leisure being short enough now to miss everything. There's a sister trunk on a base ~6x10 ft. I love the head high bonfires after dark flames throwing embers 100+ ft up freaking wife out no end...

I'll leave cradle in this time d/t no sky hook so center stand holds bike from falling in half. Don't want to face the front iso mount bind again which was a 2 man job last time.