Barn find !! (Mikey!)

[made2care]

Well, bad news. I sprayed a little starter fluid into the carb boot. Bike fired up and really smoked. I mean lots of smoke exiting both exhausts. Revved up engine a few times and bam, a hiss came from left cylinder. Did not sound good!! Bike immediately shut down. Something bad has happened!! I have spent so much time , money and energy and it came down to this. I'm assuming a rod broke or something!! I have no more energy for this bike. It's going up for sale this weekend and someone else can deal with it!! I'm done !!

 

[desertrefugee]

Sorry to hear that. But, I believe I'd be having a "chat" with the "mechanic" that "built" the engine...

 

[made2care]

He doesn't return my calls. I am one pissed dude right now. Lesson learned, stick with goldwings. At least I know what I'm doing with a wing!! Hopefully I can get my money back from a sale ! :head bang:
I'm going to put everything back on this bike and quickly get it the hell out of my garage :clapping:
My next project is my Vulcan 1600 that has never given me issues. I'm totally redesigning the rear end and going with an interesting paint choice. This will be therapy to counteract my recent disaster :music:

 

[joedrum]

sheesh sorry to here this

 

[dan filipi]

For future reference, starting fluid is death for 2 stroke engines. It washes the oil completely away from the cylinder making it metal to metal. Might have blown the rings out.

 

[desertrefugee]

dan filipi » Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:52 pm[/url]":2v9vu3w8]
For future reference, starting fluid is death for 2 stroke engines. It washes the oil completely away from the cylinder making it metal to metal. Might have blown the rings out.

I hate to say it, but that could be coupled with what looked like a 2 stroke machine already running light on oil. We always jokingly called them 2-smokes. I always specifically looked for smoke. If none or light, I added oil - even if it was beyond the recommended ratio.

Better to foul a plug than seize a motor. In fact, if you're lucky, it did just seize and nothing catastrophic happened.

 

[made2care]

Well, this is interesting!! I noticed the cylinder head was loose. Removed it and the piston seems okay. It's moving up and down freely. I guess I shouldn't throw in the towel just yet. The gasket seems okay, it's a copper gasket. What should I do next , get new gasket and try again. Is this good news that the piston is moving well with no visible damage. I believe I had enough oil as bike was smoking and I did not spray starter fluid directly into carbs.

 

[Ansimp]

Maybe it is time to get some two stroke expert help as I believe that you have a real gem here and if you don’t stuff it up it will be very rewarding. As Joe and I said We don’t trust the auto oilers and would prefer to mix the fuel correctly that way there isn’t any chance of under or over oiling.

 

[joedrum]

hmmmm yes id try again if gasket looks good re tighten the head down and try again ..i wouldnt spend money on it yet till i did that first ...looking good so far ...

 

[Ansimp]

Also make sure that you have the carb issue sorted as it seems like the float stuck and you were almost hydrolocking the engine (ran well with no smoke, then wouldn’t run, then ran with lots of smoke).

 

[made2care]

Thanks guys. Good advice. I feel a little relieved but still need to see what happens. Will tackle it this weekend and will keep you posted!

 

[made2care]

Here's an observation. On the very first start on the video after the bike was up and running, I heard a loud popping coming from the left cylinder. I assumed it was running rich and then when I revved the engine, it popped really loud again. I think there was a air leak between cylinder and cylinder head and that's what caused the head to blow. I'm assuming the piston is not damaged as it moves freely.

 

[joedrum]

check the head for flatness barrels too with a good strait edge

 

[Ansimp]

Paul from C5 posted this link that may be of some help with your carbies.
https://www.mikuni.com/fs-manuals.html

 

[Denver]

Old trick for reusing a copper head gasket is to anneal it.

Heat till red, douse in water, was what i learned from the Brit's, when working on my Triumph, back in the 70's.

All sorts of head issues with them, (Japs solved)but leaking at the copper head gasket, after annealing, or before, was NOT one of them

 

[pidjones]

Yep, just anneal the gasket and reuse it. You can do it over the burner on a gas stove. They soften up nice. Make sure you have something appropriate to handle it. Harbor Freight has some looong SS hemostats that are handy.

 

[made2care]

pidjones » Today, 8:29 am[/url]":301bg4gp]
Yep, just anneal the gasket and reuse it. You can do it over the burner on a gas stove. They soften up nice. Make sure you have something appropriate to handle it. Harbor Freight has some looong SS hemostats that are handy.

So just heat it up, place in cold water then install? There is a slight scuff on the barrel head, nothing major, can I put some high heat gasket sealer on it?

 

[joedrum]

well if it goes out again thats probably the reason

 

[Denver]

Steel wool if gasket is in question as far as cleaning, then install as called for in shop manual.

No sealant unless called for, I M H O.

 

[made2care]

I just noticed that the mechanic did not use stock cylinder head nuts. He used steels nuts with nylon inserts, whatever these are called. Could i just use a steel nut with a lock washer? The parts manual shows an elongated cylinder nut. shoot, this could be why the cylinder blew, I looked at the other cylinder head and the nuts are not very tight.Thoughts?