(Rant) DIY Butchers

Got the bits for the Bantam so time to put it back together.
This should be in a FAQ.

<rant>
Why is it that DIY mechanics like to pry engines apart with a bloody
screwdriver ?.

Listen up you bunch of cupid stunts

To disassemble an engine READ THE BLOODY INSTRUCTIONS.
After removing the necessary bolts and screws it should come apart
easily with a GENTLE tap from a RUBBER hammer.
If it does not come apart you are doing something wrong.

NEVER EVER under any circumstances try to pry it open.

The crankcase halfs and most covers have specially flat mating surfaces
and if you damage them the bloody thing will never hold oil again.

Stop messing around and give the bloody job to a professional before
you **** it up.
</rant>

Goes back to flatplate and plastic metal.
Another bodge job.

 

35 years ago, when I worked as a mechanic, this problem was always rearing
it's ugly head.
Seems lessons still have not been learnt ;o(

I guess these new-fangled rubber mallet things just stop the ringing in the
ears when whacking a screwdriver in the joint!

--
Greybeard

FLHR -03 UK (95 cu-in Stg 2. Big Boy 2!)

Garmin Zumo 550, To get me home!

ukrm@foxtails[dot]co[dot]uk

 

I love it when I find a tatty bike that hasn't been 'worked on' by
some knob as at least I know it's *just* wear-and-tear I've gotta deal
with.

Stripped threads, wrong bolts, missing bolts, distorted material,
missing components and bodged repairs making a proper repair even more
difficult.

Yesterday I watched someone put a crank back in an engine casing.
Casing heated 'just enough' over a Baby Belling stove then placed on
wooden blocks, crank aligned with casing and gently lowered into
place. Nice. ;-)

I replaced a helical clutch spring on my Ex's Honda C50LA (three speed
automatic) under a warrantee / recall. I asked to do it myself (they
gave me the bits) as I wasn't happy with the cleanliness of their
workshop at the time. It was like a sewing machine in there and I'm
pleased to say it went back together suitably clean. ;-)

T i m.

 

You and me both.

Amen brother.

How could I ever forget the GT380 that had carpet underlay as air filter
elements?

 

?????? Well I *suppose* it's better than nothing.

--
Malc

Rusted and ropy.
Dog-eared old copy.
Vintage and classic,
or just plain Jurassic:
all words to describe me.

 

Not much. The bike just choked at 6000rpm. It felt like a blocked air
filter, so I had a look inside the air box and...

....wtf was this? Fastened round the mesh cores with cable ties?

It was, yes, carpet underlay. Which is closed foam. It's amazing the
thing ran at all. I just got somer of that K&N sheet, cut it to size,
glued it in place, and the difference was amazing.

 

Have you been examining my GoldWing?

 

Angle grinder.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, platypus

Bodger.

A small amount of C4 lowered through the oil filler hole and detonated
will work every time.

It may take a little experimentation to get the charge just so, but
that's what Bantam cases are for.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.

 

Hehe.

My R100RT had hardly been touched (good times) but whenever I tried to
remove something held on with 4 bolts 3 would undo and one would
always try to shear / strip / round (bad times).

T i m

 

No!

On a similar note when checking this MZ over I found whoever had last
looked at the air filter had trapped the rubber sheet from the battery
tray behind the outer cover, meaning the air was coming in from
everywhere and possibly not through the filter at all. ;-(

Maybe what's why the carb could be worn out!

Oh, and the spring that sits on the rear brake pedal rod was just
sliding up and down the rod? Where tf did the washer go? Probably the
same place as one of the n/s foot peg carrier bolts and the two 5m
socket headed machine screws that held the n/s upper fairing mount
under the top yoke. And an insert that stopped the plastic front
mudguard getting crushed when you tighten the bolt though the leg lug
can't just fall out with the bolt still in place can it?

All those things were right when the bike left me 70k km's ago. ;-)

T i m

 

The angle grinder is to cut cross-hatch diagonal grooves in the casings, so
you get a nice fragmentation pattern when the charge goes off.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, platypus

ooh, classy.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - "He's hopeless, but he's honest"

I have already made the greatest contribution to the fight against climate
change that I can make: I have decided not to breed. Now quit bugging me and
go and talk to the Catholics.

 

Paging Bee, Bee to the red telephone please

 

while I agree with the general principle, I've seen things which should come
apart, with all the fixin's removed, yet which were stuck to the point where
the gentle approach had to be followed up with more force.

Prying without thought, though, and damaging gasket faces, is as you say
stupid.

 

Standard practice with japanese engines, I think.

Certainly present on jap engines from the 70s and 80s that I've had a
apart.

 

Oh.

I thought this was going to be a thread started by TOG about his
pig...

 

I was about to mention the Z200.

 

AOL, or some sort of animal, not necessarily TOG's

P.

 

Yes, but only after ensuring *every* bolt has been removed. [1]

Paul.

[1] Never done it myself, but it's been close on occasion, with some
hidden bolt, lurking somewhere,