Sunday, June 21, 2009

Cleanup Begins

I really abhor Harbor Freight. But as much as I hate cheap, crappy tools, today I went against my morals and purchased their small 6.5 gallon parts washer. I'd been watching Craigslist for some time looking for a decent used one but nothing small ever came up - I don't have room for a large parts washer. So...I dropped $40 on the plastic Harbor Freight model(plastic?!?!). I have to say, however, this parts washer is one of those "my god - why didn't I do this sooner!" type purchases, right up there with my lift table. Cleaning the timing cover - which would have taken forever with my old method, was shiny-clean in a matter of minutes. Awesome!












The washer was just big enough to fit the engine cases, too. Despite a lot of nasty sludge, they cleaned up very well.














I then began the long process of measuring everything to make sure it's still in spec. The oil pump and crankshaft bushing in the timing cover were both fine. The calculator is to convert my measurements to metric, as my micrometer is english.

The piston showed hardly any wear, but the cylinder wall has a few pits and will require an oversize piston once it's cleaned up. I'll also have to fit a new bushing in the connecting rod's small end. I know the big end needs some work, too, but that's getting farmed out to a machine shop. I don't have a press to rebuild the crank.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Tear Down Part II

The chassis sans motor.

Tonight I removed the engine from the frame and proceeded to split the cases. All the remaining fasteners came out without issue, but I was worried the case halves were sealed together with some unknown adhesive. Every time I handled the cases I got some odd, black gooey stuff on me that wouldn't come off no matter what I tried, and looking at the combustion chamber (combined with a lot of odd nicks on the flywheels), it was obvious that this engine had been opened up previously, most likely after some sort of catestrophic failure.






Something was bouncing around the combustion chamber at some point.


Like the rest of the motor, however, the cases split without issue, as there was no gasket sealer whatsoever between the cases. I removed the crankshaft and all of the transmission, ensuring that I got all of the shims and thrust washers. Everything was zip-tied onto its respective shaft and bagged for later inspection. A cursory inspection showed the transmission was in pretty good shape, but the crankshaft wasn't so happy.







It looked like shafts had been overheated at the journals, as both showed the deep blue of severe heat, and the timing side of the crank even had a piece of a tooth broken off (a bit blurry in the photo).


I was worried that I'd need a new crank assembly, but looking closely at the pics of other cranks on eBay it seemed the bluing was normal? I posted the question to the Bevelheads mailing list, and the consenus was that amount of bluing is not a concern.

A closer inspection of the chip in the timing gear revealed that it was actually the timing mark drilled into the tooth and someone had filled it with white paint. Looks like I may be able to use this crank after all.


With everything spread out all over the garage, the enormity of the whole project hit me - I have a lot of work ahead of me. I also realized I that really need to get a parts washer. I've been making do with the bottom cut out of a fabric softner bottle filled with mineral spirits and a bristle brush, but I think I finally need to step up and invest in a washer with a pump.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Teardown Part I



Today two new tools arrived in the mail just in time for the weekend - a magneto puller and a tool to hold the clutch basket in place for removal. I could have fabricated the clutch tool out of old parts, but I haven't been into Ducatis long enough to have accumulated a collection of old clutch plates and I didn't want to sacrifice the one set I had if I didn't need too. Besides, I love tools, so it was just another reason to add to the collection!





With the new tools the tear down began in earnest. First I removed the clutch and decided to perform a quick inspection to see if I needed new clutch parts. Unlike other bikes I own, unscrewing the clutch springs on a Ducati single doesn't cause anything to go SPROING! Simply loosen all the screws, remove the springs and cups, and then remove the clutch plates.









The clutch plates spec'ed out OK, but the springs need replacing as they came up short on the vernier.

After I had the clutch plates out I decided to open all the engine covers and loosen all five major engine nuts while the clutch was still assembled. This way I could use the new clutch tool to keep everything from rotating while loosening the nuts. Essentially, every nut on the chain side is left hand (except for the sprocket nut), and everything on the primary side is right hand. Everything came loose without problems, so I proceeded to remove everything from the primary side. Here I got confirmation that the entire engine needed a rebuild, as the main crankshaft bearing on the left side is rusted badly.


I continued stripping everything down to the cases, and once again I got confirmation that this engine needed a rebuild in a bad way - I could wobble the connecting rod side to side nearly a quarter inch at the top!?!?! This engine would have self-destructed in short order had I ran it. I'm very surprised I didn't hear a bad knock.

I decided to stop at splitting the cases and leave that for another night. Everything is bagged, tagged, and sorted, and I'll come back to them component by component once I get the bottom end rebuilt and assembled. So far, so good - everything has come apart without problems. I hope the cases come apart just as easy.



Thursday, June 18, 2009

Hello, Rebuild!



When I removed the points cover I found that the condensor was missing, but the points weren't pitted. Behind the points plate the advance mechanism was clean and working smoothly, so I figured I would reassemble the ignition, set the points gap, and then time it statically. I wished I had made better note of how the advance mechanism was installed, as it can be installed in two different positions, potentially throwing the timing off 180 degrees.









I left the ignition to check the clutch. Fortunately, all the primary cover screws came out easily, and since they come in several different lengths I made a simple cardboard template to mark their locations.

To remove the clutch cover I first removed the inspection cover and then used the claw hammer trick shown by Mick Walker in Ducati Singles Restoration. It's crude but works very well on the Ducati after you remove the clutch adjusting screw. A word of warning, however: be very careful if the cover is stuck tightly - I tried this trick on a stuck shovelhead primary cover, and now I'm looking for a new cover (OEM shovelhead covers with a floorboard tab are NOT easy to find!).





Once the primary cover was off I found a LOT of small metal bits in the oil on the bottom of the engine cases. Even worse, when I gave the crankshaft bearing in the primary cover a spin it was very rough and gritty. Looks like an engine rebuilt is in order. If the first bearing I found was wasted, I figured that a lot of other bearings would be just as bad. It didn't make any sense to try and run the engine and risk a catastrophic failure. So this project will begin with an engine rebuild, after all.








In removing the primary I found the first of the shims and thrust washers on the kickstart shaft. The kickstart shaft also has an o-ring on the outside of the cover underneath the kicker arm. I was pleasantly surprised, however, at the overall condition inside the engine. The only corrosion I saw was on the kickstart return spring. Everything else looks nicely oiled and in good shape. I hope it all goes this easy.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

My First Ducati

This is my first foray into the world of vintage Ducatis. I thought it would be fun to document the progress, especially since I was going to take pictures of all the shim placements during the engine tear down anyway. I expect this to be a longer-term project, so I don't know how often the updates will come. While I'm no expert in vintage Ducs, perhaps someone will find this useful or even (gasp) entertaining.

I'd been interested in Ducati singles for a number of years, and last fall an add popped up on my local Craigslist - "1967 Ducati 250. Runs, with title. $550". I spoke to the owner on the phone, and he explained that the forks were bent, a few parts were missing, and the exhaust threads were stripped out, but it ran. I ripped the cap off my truck and quickly drove the 45 miles to see it.

The bike was apparently used in the local flat track circuit in the late '60s and it last ran in 1972(?). It was missing a LOT of parts, but the engine was free, it seemed to shift OK, and he had a title (although the title was in the previous owners name - the guy that sold it to him in the late 1960s). I thought the price could come down a little, but his phone was ringing off the hook with people interested in the bike, so it was now or never. I handed over the $550 and loaded it up.



Over the winter I collected parts to turn it into a roadworthy bike and this summer I began putting it together. The first thing was to get rid of the off-road bars and put on a proper set - clubmans!

Next, I replaced the bent fork tubes with a set of $10 used tubes (yeah eBay!) and bolted on a set of intact headlight ears along with a headlight/speedo. I tried to bolt a Monza front fender on, but it won't fit with the 19 inch scrambler tire. I also added 70s-style donkey grips I found under an inch of dust at the local speed shop for $2.95 and a set of control cables off a Sebring. It was starting to look like a bona fide cafe bike (albeit a rather abused one).



I then fabricated a mount for the $10 Lucas tail light I had from another project using a license plate bracket off a 1978 Harley Davidson FXE (I know the Ducati purists are screaming right now).

The bike was at least looking more roadworthy, but the question remained - did it run? I debated whether or not to tear into the motor and rebuild it right away or get it running and just ride it. I pulled the spark plug and looked into the cylinder. It was well-oiled and didn't have any visible rust - very promising. It had good spark. I pulled the float bowl off the carb, and it was dry and clean. I decided to try and start it.



The fuel tank was pretty dirty, so I threw in a hand full of nuts and some gas, put in ear plugs, and sloshed the mess around for about 30 minutes. When the gas came out mostly clean I put the tank back on, installed a fuel filter, and added gas and a quart and a half of new oil to the sump. The moment of truth had arrived.

I rolled it out into the drive way, tickled the carb, pulled the choke, and turned on the ignition. One kick, two kicks, three kicks and it was running! I couldn't believe it. It didn't run great, it smoked a lot, but it was running. I couldn't hear any loud, ominous knocking, so things looked good.

I wanted to take it for a spin around the block, but the clutch was sticking badly and it wouldn't rev properly to get underway with the problem clutch. It was obscenely loud, too, even with the muffler. I got a lot of annoyed looks from my neighbors (from what I could see through the blue cloud of smoke and noise), but one guy walking down the street yelled out over the din "Awesome bike!"

Disappointed that I couldn't take it around the block, but very happy it ran, I put the bike back on the table to check the advance weights and clutch. Not a bad start for a bike that hasn't ran in 37 years.