1962 Superhawk Restoration: Here I go

[LOUD MOUSE]

This may come through twice.
I sent it earlier but haven't seen it as yet.


The pistons are NOS third over. The cylinders were honed just enough to warrant slightly larger pistons.

Ya changed from .50 to .75 and didn't bore the sleeves!
From the looks of the piston skirts I'd guess ya have the bore a bit to tight.
As I sent PM please contact me. .............lm

Is there any chance that the plugs are 3/4 reach? or of the side electrodes getting clipped by a valve? I have had both situations - silly I know but stuff happens.

[teazer]

LM raises a good point there and the underlying issue is whether the bore is round and parallel and if the piston to bore clearances are acceptable.

It is worth checking that there's the right amount of clearance. I don't have the specs in front of me, but that bore size would normally be somewhere around 2 - 2 1/2 thou.

The scuff marks are perfectly normal and should be carefully and lightly relieved with some 400 to 600 grade wet or dry. Just take the high spots off. The rings look fine and there is no reason to replace them unless you can see something on the rubbing faces of the rings under a magnifying glass.

Look in the bores for signs of distress or signs of places that the piston rings are not rubbing (low spots). Any pickup from the piston is best cleaned with Muriatic acid (swimming pool supplies) on a Q tip.

If you have a three bladed hone (available from Sears) you could run it through lightly in one direction to see if it leaves a uniform pattern. You are not trying to remove material - just to leave a new pattern to see any high or low spots.

One other possibility is the cam chain slapping the front of the cylinder block if it was too loose. Again that's unlikely, but we are searching for that odd thing that we don't expect.

Pity you aren't a lot further north. :-)

[Spargett]

LM, I suspect that the high amount of carbon vs. low miles is due to the bike running very rich while trying to sort out my carbs. Took a while for me to get that one dialed in. The last 100 miles were on perfectly tuned carbs with nice sandy spark plugs.

Cylinders are perfect.

Engine has never overheated.

Teazer, the plugs are fine, I went over them thoroughly. I can't spot anywhere in the engine where one thing was touching another. Not a nick or ding to be found anywhere.

When the bike was together, I went over the valve clearance daily since that was what made the most sense as far as noises go. TDC, set right valves to 0.004 rotated 2-4 times re-checking each time. Then turned the engine over to BDC and did the same on the left. I'd check it every day, never did they budge.

I can get you detailed photos of everything, but there's nothing out of the ordinary I can spot.

Steve, I didn't get a chance to get that close to pin pointing the sound before I had to pull it apart.

Ed, I should have been clearer in my description. The original intention was to just hone the cylinders, but there were still slight grooves from the engine being seized at one point before I owned it. The machinist set out to hone it, with the posibility of it having to be bored explained before hand, which turned out to be what happened, bored to 0.75. Charlie O'Hanlon from Charlie's Place found a matching set of pistons and rings from Ohio Cycle.

Teazer, I reset the cam chain tensioner a few times, so I doubt that's it. I double checked the tensioner when I pulled everything and it moves nice and smoothly within the body and locks solid when tightened in.

I'm just taking the chance to let everyone know the things I HAVE done so they can be ruled out. LoudMouse offered for me to call him, which generally yields great results when you get him on the phone. He helped me out of a sticky clutch situation once before.

I'll keep everyone posted on what I find, and go through everyone's suggestions once more. Sorry this thread is getting so wordy.

[Spargett]

One quick question, is there a specific way the valve clearances should be set with the cam chain off?

[resurrection]

Maybe a loose wrist pin on the con rod.

Allowing some horizontal load ?

Or maybe The cyl a little tight or out of round.

Hmmm???

[teazer]

Yes, just turn the cam shaft and check clearances.

One thing to look at is to fully open one valve on one side and check the other valve on that side and repeat for all 4 valves.

The book suggests checking at TDC on firing which should work out to the same but not always.

I'd pull the valves out one at a time and inspect for excessive play or stickiness in a guide - after checking the piston to bore clearance with a feeler gauge.

[teazer]

Going back to LM's point about the sprocket - have you grabbed the points cam and tried to rotate it back and forth and if so, does it make a loud clacking noise when you do that?

Con rod issues
Try to grab a piston and pull it up and down. Is there any perceptible movement? repeat for the other side. There should be no play at all vertically. It should rock from side to side but not move vertically.