Today, I finished getting the pistons out of the jugs on my spare CL77 engine. It is a '65 vintage, that obviously sat for some time on its side with some water in with the oil. I had to drill out the domes of both pistons and then saw thru the sidewall of the piston to get them free.
Somebody, somewhere along the line before I got the engine (probably the guy who gave it to me) tried to unstick the engine by jumping up and down on the kick start lever. All I can tell you is if your engine is stuck, DON'T try to unstick it with the kickstart lever. The result on my bike is a spline that is twisted like a candy cane and a cracked kick start hub. Yes, that heavy steel hub is actually cracked where the relief slot is cut in the splined hole. Chrome was pretty good on that part, too, so I lost a decent spare.
This engine would never have come loose with any type of oil soaking. Even with the sidewall of the pistons cut thru and the domes removed, I still had to give it repeated sharp blows with a hand sledge and a large steel rod before it began to move. This is after soaking over 2 weeks, maybe 3 with PB blaster in the jugs.
Crank is probably shot, rod is rusted fast to the crank on one side. Saved the cases though and that was the objective of my efforts.
Just sharing so a noob does not try to free a salvageable engine with the kickstart lever.
regards,
Rob
FOR NOOBS- How not to unstick a stuck engine
stuch enginesRob,
In the dis-assembly of the few engines I've done, I've seen three that were that stuck and needed drastic measures to set them free. One of them will be running soon,however. I swear, It is written in a manual for "stupid" people that when an old bike stops running they are instructed to pull the plugs and park said bike under a tree and leave it for twenty years. Well that is what keeps us in business, right? Keep up the good work guys, Rw Thanks for the tip, Rob. Is there something about these bikes that makes them prone to seizing up like this? My 1962 Dream had obviously been in a wet barn for 30 or so years, but both exhausts. were on and the air filter was in place. The large expanse of alloy must be a magnet for condensation or something.
I had to get very angry with my CB77 and eventually had to pull the barrel over the liner leaving the piston stuck in place. Even when I had cut the liner with my dremel it was tricky to prise the liner off the piston. Like you say, RW, it gives us something to do...... There is another question to add to your conundrum. Why is it that when someone dismantled a motor and find they couldn't fix it, did they take it apart some more, then throw all of the pieces in some damp boxes and leave all all the parts exposed to gently rust away? I have a very early C72 motor where just about everything is rusted up. Did folks expect that some kind of engine fairy would come along and put it all back together? G '60 C77 '60 C72 '62 C72 Dream '63 CL72
'61 CB72 '64 CB77 '65 CB160 '66 Matchless 350 '67 CL77 '67 S90 '77 CB400F Looks like this thread might become a group therapy session. My engine appears to have laid on it's side based on where the corrosion is. One side of the crank is perfect and the other side looks like it came off the bottom of the ocean. Same for one of the pistons. My guess is it sat outside with no spark plug in the bad side.
Condensation is probably involved here, but I think most of the damage is from being left outside. Carbs, spark plug holes, and even exhausts are paths for water to get into the engine. I bought a 650 Yam as purely a practice engine. It had sat outside for several years in an area that gets more snow than any other place in the state. I'm sure as it melted, it ran into the exhaust pipes, which were still on the bike. I'm also sure the entire bike was under snow more than once and heaven knows what other openings got filled with melting snow and ice. When I loaded the bike on my trailer, about a quart of rusty water ran out of each muffler. I did my best to save this engine. Did not break a single bolt, screw or stud taking it apart. But there was no way that one piston was coming out and as I mentioned, the crank is probably a goner, unless one side is useful for someone. What really pissed me off was the twisted kick start shaft and broken starter hub. That was just pure ham fisted mechanics. I'm a firm believe that you should have to take a proficiency test before you are allowed to buy tools. regards, Rob
Speaking of bad mechanics, I just picked up two cl parts bikes, with enough stuff to build a complete bike. well, almost at least. I just can't believe some of the screwball crap I'm seeing when people put these engines together. Not to mention all the other hay wire things I've seen along the way. The fun in this is to unravel the screwy stuff and breath life back to a bike that would have otherwise have gone to the scrap heap. I don't get into the detailed attention to detail as much, but I love to hear those straight pipes roar once again. Rw
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