Only British Motorcycles from the 60's, 70's & 00' Spoken Here!
Rick's Vintage Bikes
Rocky Mountain " 750 or 650 Engine"
Horror Show
Please before you view any of these pictures, be aware what you are about to see made me so mad and sick at heart to think someone out there put together a Triumph 750 cc engine, that is nothing short of disgusting. The person or persons who did this work are in my mind totally incompetent, which is lower than a nincompoop!
I was asked to re build this particular engine by a young lad here in Calgary, who had inherited from his father's estate. His father had a number of vintage English machines and this is the one he chose. In stripping it, I took pictures with the idea of documenting how an engine should be stripped for passing along tips in the ease of doing so. It became very evident this particular engine was a miss match of everything or anything that may fit. I will walk you through this step by step........
This is the engine in an engine stand after I brought it home. On the outside everthing looked normal. The first sign of what was to come was very evident on the inside of primary cover, along with the inside lower primarey engine case where the screws are threaded into the case holding the primary cover on.
The first sign of this engine having a miss matched engine case is the picture to the upper left in that the amount of glue used to seal the gap on the front engine cases.
At the rear, it was just as bad, in the upper middle.
The picture to the upper right shows a very large gap, after I undid the bolt part # 14-6220 Bolt Top Rear. When I undid this bolt the cases sprung.
Lastly, the picture to the right indiacted waht we have is two missmatched case.
Hang on there is more to come..................
Primary side of the lower engine case indicates that it started it's life as a five (5) speed. What is now in place where the Foot Change Spindle part # 57-7003, is now home to a wooden plug. The transmission side or timing side of the case is for an older right handed shift setup.
This is getting interesting...........
Who ever assembled this engine, with out question was in love with the Red Gasket Sealant. This is one product that is not necessary to use if you have everything trued and the correct parts are used.
The picture to the left is the Kickstart Ratchet Gears. Notice there is no Tab Washer, nor was it torqued to the proper setting.
This picture really blew me away, as what you are looking at is the Intermediate Wheel Spindle - Put in backwards......
The needle bearing on the outside of the transmission case must be flush with the case, not like this.
This is the same needle bearing on the oposite side of the case, which should be sitting up level with the pin at the nine oclock position.
This is what is left of the Thrust Washer. It is badly worn due to not having the needle bearing acting as it's center point.
The main transmission shaft has a smaller bushing. This one was all but oversized and badly worn.
This is the Gear Box Sprocket that is held in place by a Large Lock Nut. Again, there was no Tab Washer and what better way to remove or tighten, but using a chisel.
Stator nut with a tab washer that was not even bent over to stop the nut from backing off.
The clutch securing nut washer. It was over tightened to the point it was very close to shattering. Look closely and you will see the surface cracks forming.
This is the oil way that feeds the exhaust tappets coming up from the pressure relieve valve. Can you believe it's plugged!
This is a closeup shot of the connecting rod bolt. Notice the first six threads are so badly stretched, it was only a matter of time!
This is the exhaust timing cam where the timing wheels fit. Rather than us the proper tools, it was hammered on.
This is the transmission main shaft bearing land area. Rather than use Loctite, let's punch prick the whole area to keep the bearing on place. Good grief!
On both camshaft bushings, the bushings were introduced, but someone forgot to line the oil way holes.
The timing side crankshaft end at one time was removed, you guessed it with a BIG Hammer..........
You cannot see it but again to save money the Timing Pinion Gear needs a Clamping Washer in order to get the clamping tool in behind to remove. Not There!
The picture to the left is the hole that the Housing for the Index Plunger screws up into the under side of the Transmission. Two Threads Left. This was typical in that any threads on the engine case where stripped and literally hanging by a thread.
I wanted to share this with you, that if you are going to work on a Triumph engine, or any engine, take the time to get a service manual, parts book, the proper tools and torque wrench and most of all, get the proper replacement parts.
This engine is all but toast and I am now looking for a replacement engine for this young lad who was so proud of this ticking time bomb.
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The Wood Ruff Key was sheared completely off on the main transmission drive shaft connecting to the clutch hub.
Update: A donor engine was found and a complete rebuild was done for this young man. Sadly I received the engine out of the frame and when I went to install, I found that the swing arm lug had a crack, and further inspections revealed that this frame was in a rear end accident at one time. It makes my blood boil when butchers out there have no regard for safety, as long as they get their money and disappear. The donor engine started on the second kick and ticked over beautifully..... I have no idea what further happened to this story.
Rick MacPherson
