T-belt...Cam timing theory?

[scdmarx]

I went out and started it up this morning. It was hard to start. Kept fumbling aroud 300-400 RPM and dieing. Finally after several attempts it started and kept going untill I was able to give it enough throttle to get above 1,000 RPM without killing it. Lots of smoke. I did notice the noise was there and finally faded away. Maybe 15-20 seconds total. After it warmed up it ran just as good as it did yesterday. Really sweet. I'm thinking maybe it was flooded and I need to learn how much choke it wants. :?:
As for the noise, I think I'm gonna ride it close to home for awhile and see how it acts? But it's not quite ready yet. The chrome is peeling off the timing covers and the metal is all powdery. Looks pretty knarly. I'd like to do something with that before putting them back on. And of course the valve cover gaskets are leaking. They were old and now they've been on & off so many times how could I expect otherwise? I got some wireing to clean up at the back end and think about rearrangeing some lighting.

 

[dan filipi]

Curious, is the smoke stopping after running a bit?

The noise was there but stopped, hmmm. Sounds to me like a valve is hanging up causing increased tappet clearance.
After running a bit the valve moves like it should.

It would be worth it to me to pull the carbs and look at the back side of the intake valves.
Imma thinkin they are carboned up causing one or more to hang up.
The parts bike has a bent intake. I'm pretty sure it wasn't bent when I got it but by me cranking it by hand I think there was rust on the valve shaft preventing it from closing which bumped the piston and bent it.

May not happen in your case. Just by running it hard out on the road may be enough to clear the carbon, put some miles on it.

 

[scdmarx]

Curious, is the smoke stopping after running a bit?

The noise was there but stopped, hmmm. Sounds to me like a valve is hanging up causing increased tappet clearance.
After running a bit the valve moves like it should.

It would be worth it to me to pull the carbs and look at the back side of the intake valves.
Imma thinkin they are carboned up causing one or more to hang up.
The parts bike has a bent intake. I'm pretty sure it wasn't bent when I got it but by me cranking it by hand I think there was rust on the valve shaft preventing it from closing which bumped the piston and bent it.

May not happen in your case. Just by running it hard out on the road may be enough to clear the carbon, put some miles on it.

Yes, both yesterday and today the smoke stopped as the motor warmed up. Hard to remember, this gas might still have a healthy dose of ATF in it, now that I think about it. But not sure. After the smoke clears, there is no more when I restart it. Only the first time yesterday and the first time today.

I did see carbon on the back of the valves. Even though I could shut the air pressure off and move them by hand when doing the seals. I do have some Techron I can add to the gas. That's the plan soon as I get it back on the road and fill the tank. It works best when added to a full tank and run it all out on a long trip. I'll try half a bottle at a time and run out a couple tanks. But I still want to stay close to the house my first couple times out.

Yup, I think the ol'boy smells a mare and wants outta the stable! :whip:

Did I mention how smooth the engine runs? :rocks:

 

[scdmarx]

This loud tapping noise would appear at random on startup. Sometimes it would be there when I start the motor, and sometimes it wouldn't. At first it was there all the time. Then it would only make the noise sometimes. But anytime the noise was there, it was there from start up untill I shut it off. It started going for a couple days at a time without making any noise. Then just when I thought it was gone, it showed up again. I recently added seafoam and ATF to the crankcase oil and ran it for a week and a half, because I thought I had a starter clutch problem that actually turned out to be the starter itself. When I drained the oil, I replaced the oil with Chevron 5w20. I haven't heard that tapping noise for nearly a week now. Keeping my fingers crossed! :whistling: