How screwed am I?

[Project Dumpsterfire]

Hi All,

I finally started tearing down the engine on my Scrambler. It's not good. At minimum, I'm looking at a cam, a cylinder and a set of pistons. I can't believe the Titanic level mess I found inside. Not great.

https://youtu.be/sbgMY23RloA

[Geoff Hastings]

I don’t wish to appear rude but…… why do people take either the carbs off or the plugs out before storing the bike in a river for a few years. Always seems such a shame that what could have been rebuildable becomes a salvage operation!

[deuce_7]

Interesting to speculate about how so much water accumulated in the Scrambler's cylinders. Parked in wet weather, or was it hosed down with spark plugs removed? The rest of the bike shows wear and tear, but doesn't show a comparable amount of rust, corrosion and water damage.

About the camshaft: How is it damaged?

[Mark E]

Couple of things you could try:

Use a 60mm hole saw (you have to grind the outside a little to get rid of the off set teeth) to cut the rust down to the top ring and then soak with penetrant.

If one of the pistons comes loose and the other doesn't you can crank the bore off the piston with this threaded rod and nut set up.

[Geoff Hastings]

I did a similar method on an old Norton, I bored inside the rings and then was able to break the piston away without damaging the bore.