1962 Superhawk Restoration: Here I go

[Spargett]

Rotor: The rotor is at TDC along with the cam. I turned it around until the masterlink lined up with everything.

Cam: I'll check out the rivets and neoprene on the cam tonight. It shouldn't be able to move whatsoever? I think like it has a little bit of a jiggle up and down, not side to side.

Pipes: The headers are new, the exhaust is cheap repos from Apex that the previous owner put on. I'm replacing those with a pair of nice pair Dunstalls I purchased.

Teazer, is there a way to test to see if the rings are not sealing with the engine apart? I'm wondering if the engine wasn't broken in properly. I don't think I've ever read two break in guides that said the same thing. Would a new set of rings, and re-breaking it in fix it if that was the issue?

Thanks everyone for helping with responses. I feel like my mind just a swirling pool of questions that aren't directly addressed in any of my manuals.

[e3steve]

Teazer, is there a way to test to see if the rings are not sealing with the engine apart? I'm wondering if the engine wasn't broken in properly. I don't think I've ever read two break in guides that said the same thing. Would a new set of rings, and re-breaking it in fix it if that was the issue?

Thanks everyone for helping with responses. I feel like my mind just a swirling pool of questions that aren't directly addressed in any of my manuals.

I don't wish to hijack Teazer's response(s), but I'd suggest looking for 'blow-by' on the piston skirt(s) -- a darkened, streaky stain, beneath the oil-control ring, indicating poor ring sealing.

LM has offered an enlightenment, explaining his tried & tested method of ring break-in. C'mon Ed, spill, mate!

[teazer]

Good idea to pop the barrels off (argh.....) and see if a ring cracked when it all went together. Inspect the pistons for blowby and any other sign of things being less than new and shiny looking.

Another simple test is to pop the head back on and do a leak down test - no need to connect the cam chain etc for that one. As long as the valves are closed, it's OK.

If it's an oil ring problem it should be fairly easy to spot.

I'd like to hear how smoothly the cam rotates and the valves move. From the prior post it wasn't clear whether the valve was hanging up or not. Do you have a picture of the piston crowns?

[Spargett]

Thanks guys, I'll give that all a shot tonight. I've got a picture of the piston crown at home. Everything looked good, just a smooth thin layer of carbon on top.

I'll spend some time turning the cam over with close attention. I wasn't really concentrating on how smoothly it turned. I was using a socketed wrench at the time, which prob just plopped the cam around once the resistance was gone.

Good idea to pop the barrels off (argh.....) and see if a ring cracked when it all went together. Inspect the pistons for blowby and any other sign of things being less than new and shiny looking.

Another simple test is to pop the head back on and do a leak down test - no need to connect the cam chain etc for that one. As long as the valves are closed, it's OK.

If it's an oil ring problem it should be fairly easy to spot.

I'd like to hear how smoothly the cam rotates and the valves move. From the prior post it wasn't clear whether the valve was hanging up or not. Do you have a picture of the piston crowns?

[Spargett]

Everything looks good and solid on the sprocket. Nothing loose. The valves are opening and closing smoothly. Again the only thing that stood out to me was that the left side exhaust valve is open about 3mm at TDC, and I move past the right side exhaust opens in accordance as the left side exhaust closes. In my mind, it seems like everything should be completely shut at TDC, but it as Teazer stated, this is somewhat normal?

I pulled the cylinder and the inspected the rings. They all seem to be perfect. The ONLY thing I noticed after inspecting everything was these marks on the piston skirts. Reminder, the pistons were brand new when installed. The marking is more predominant on the right piston. Any guesses on what this looks like?

[LOUD MOUSE]

NAW.
I'LL JUST LET THE EXPERTS HAVE AT IT.
I'D GUESS IF A EXHAUST PIPE HAD EVER BEEN RUN IT WILL NEVER HAVE OIL IN IT TO SMOKE.
RIGHT MATES?.
HOW LONG YA RUN THOSE PISTONS/RINGS?
IF THE SPROCKET IS LOOSE AT ALL THAT CAN/WILL BE YOUR CLICKING SAME AS THE NEOPRENE/RUBBER.
GOOD LUCK FRIEND. ..................lm

Teazer, is there a way to test to see if the rings are not sealing with the engine apart? I'm wondering if the engine wasn't broken in properly. I don't think I've ever read two break in guides that said the same thing. Would a new set of rings, and re-breaking it in fix it if that was the issue?

Thanks everyone for helping with responses. I feel like my mind just a swirling pool of questions that aren't directly addressed in any of my manuals.

I don't wish to hijack Teazer's response(s), but I'd suggest looking for 'blow-by' on the piston skirt(s) -- a darkened, streaky stain, beneath the oil-control ring, indicating poor ring sealing.

LM has offered an enlightenment, explaining his tried & tested method of ring break-in. C'mon Ed, spill, mate!

[Spargett]

Those pistons/rings have about 250-300 miles on 'em. Is it okay to reuse the rings since they're so young? They appear to be perfect to me.

HOW LONG YA RUN THOSE PISTONS/RINGS?