TRITON, at last...

grandpaul · Jul 12, 2011

Had a little help in the shop yesterday, so I decided to do a quick tear-down of the '66 bottom end that's going in the TriTon.

Head was already off-

Jugs took no more than a tap or two with a rubber mallet to pop free-

Pistons looked terrible, very badly scuffed-

Cylinders were not too bad at all, no scars or corrosion (although these will go on the shelf for some other project)-

grandpaul · Jul 12, 2011

Exhaust cam followers were kinda rough, not too bad (I have a better set on the shelf)-

Ditto with the intake set-

Looks like the rods are not too bad off, but they've been oil baked at least once and partially cleaned, or so it would appear. Anyway, I've got a better set of rods, too, so these will also go on the shelf-

Primary was actually quite clean. I have a much nicer alternator that's going in-

grandpaul · Jul 12, 2011

Clutch plates including pressure plate will be replaced with MAP batch-

The stack came out in two glazed-together lumps with one curious loose steel plate in between (typical stuck Triumph clutch from sitting)-

I have found the old style locktabs to work MUCH better when you insert the tab into the hole in the basket!

Just a bit heavy on the grease, but it was still gooey-

grandpaul · Jul 12, 2011

Clutch and alternator out of the way, alternator rotor drew off easily-

Primary chain adjuster plug hole looked to be seriously abused and will need to be welded up and re-threaded. That gives me a chance to do a slightly larger standard thread with easily sourced plug-

We ain't playin' with a full deck here... 4 allen head screws, one slot screw, and one missing. Also, one countersunk hole appears "squashed". This will all get properly sorted-

The debate rages on about whether the book is correct or not. Personally, I believe the pressure in the crankcase is MUCH greater than the primary, and I install the main seal lip to the inside accordingly. This one was backwards (or correct, if you go by the book)-

grandpaul · Jul 12, 2011

Hmmmmm.... I wonder where this came from, and how long was it floating around inside the primary case?

Drive sprocket was a tad fishooked, it'll be replaced-

Busted case bolt lug, it'll get welded-

I've never seen that much crud in the main oil gallery-

grandpaul · Jul 12, 2011

What a mess. Someone had mangled the small case half bolt that sits in a tight recess under the tranny, then I made a bigger mess trying to get it out/off. I got the head chopped off, but it's going to need a bit of welding (that's three chores for the welder so far). I'll have him finish it off FLUSH instead of going back to the recessed bolt head situation-

Crank pinion slipped off easily, what little tranny lube that remained was very nearly turned to grease-

Sludge in the cases was expected by now-

Cool leopard-like rust patterns on the crank-

grandpaul · Jul 12, 2011

Just a couple of shots of the crud inside the cases-

The easy way to remove the drive sprocket nut-

Mainshaft seal was totally brittle-

Right main and mainshaft bearings-

Still need to split off the left main from the crank, open the sludge trap and pull the tube, and pull off the cams, but that'll wait 'till next time I have a helper around.

swooshdave · Jul 12, 2011

Are you going to vapor blast the engine?

grandpaul · Jul 13, 2011

Yes, with no beads.

grandpaul · Jul 20, 2011

A few pix of the aforementioned parts: Carbs, filters, rearsets, oil cooler, and forgot to mention steering damper. The used bits are decent, I'll spiff them up and paint or polish before installing.

grandpaul · Jul 20, 2011

Got down to the crank last week and forgot to post pix of the rod bearings, fairly well worn-

Crank is okay, will polish right up-

This is a "lightweight" (narrowed flywheel) crank. I'm thinking I might prefer a "heavy" crank (full width) flywheel. I happen to have one that is in great shape and even balanced with new sludge tube & plug already installed.

Had to resort to some serious measures to get the trap plug out of the light crank. Beat and banged on the plug with the impact tool after drilling out the dimple, couldn't budge it. So, welded up a big washer, using the inner diameter of the washer on the plug face, then welded a big nut to the washer. It turned off like butter-

grandpaul · Jul 21, 2011

This is what was inside the light crank's sludge trap, good thing I opened it-

Cleaning up the 'heavy" balanced crank. It's the one I'm going to use for a more stable idle and flatter torque curve-

Nice clean standard journals-

New trap & plug in place with two small peenings & loctite-

grandpaul · Jul 21, 2011

Nice clean rods installed with new bearing shells-

Original '66 exhaust cam, E4560-1B casting, E4561 stamping with tach drive nib-

Intake is a standard 3134 casting with breather holes (no photo)

I'm replacing these cams with 71-2887 intake and 71-0042 exhaust, both are nitrided. Although the intake is a later style non-breather cam, it won't affect me because I'm going with modified positive one-way crankcase breathing.

grandpaul · Jul 21, 2011

A very inauspicious start, first valve spring removed and there's already a broken intake guide-

Not much better, the first exhaust valve is loose enough in the head I can slip it out with thumb pressure-

Head was most likely built by someone who knew what they were doing (it had the lightened alloy collets & keepers), also has brass exhaust spring shims-

Valves are pretty rough, this one is badly burned-

grandpaul · Jul 21, 2011

Rogue's hall of shame-

One oversize, one broken, the other two loose...

grandpaul · Jul 21, 2011

Got the case & tranny inner cover back from the welder and took them over to my friend's shop to clean up the mating surfaces.

Tranny inner cover where the recessed bolt head area was mangled-

Nice clean new flat surface with no recess (just need to run a drill through it to clean up the inside edges)-

To me, this recessed area is one of those illogical design quirks; it causes headaches trying to remove the bolt. My repair allows use of a washer and normal bolt that can be easily installed and removed.

grandpaul · Jul 21, 2011

Primary cover had two broken areas; although I'll be running a belt drive in a dry environment and don't need oil tightness, I figured I'd fix them now so I can always change back to OEM chain drive in the future without having to pull the engine back apart.

Cleaning up the face of the rear mount area-

Knocking down some of the exterior welding irregularities-

The last little bit of cutting on the mating face at the primary adjuster plug location-

All clean, with a heavier finish at the plug area so I can use a slightly oversize standard thread plug-

(Still need to drill the mount hole, drill & tap adjuster plug hole)

grandpaul · Jul 21, 2011

MAP big-bore alloy cylinders; very lightly used, just need a pass with a hone to clean up-

MAP pistons, appear to have been run a little, then coated (or else that coating is unbelievably durable without witness marks whatsoever)-

(still need to sort through a stack of rings and sort a matched set)

Very sparkly titanium valve spring collets-

MAP clutch pressure plate-

Carbonfibre · Jul 22, 2011

Have you removed and replaced the sludge trap tube, and was this done after the crank was ground or polished? Many people think that taking out the sludge trap bung, and cleaning out the tube is all thats required, but this will generally result in big end failure shortly after the motor is up and running, as debris will tend to have made its way behind the sludge trap tube, and then into the big end oil ways.

grandpaul · Jul 22, 2011

Yes. ALWAYS remove & replace the tube if damaged in removal. I need to go back and count, but I believe this makes 25 of 'em now.

TRITON, at last...

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