Thanks Dave and Roger, that's perfect. I'm sorry to have doubted the Draganfly website!!

I am changing the carb on my 1951 VB from the original 276 carb with the separate float chamber over to the 376 monobloc. (The reason is that the 276 carb leaks fuel incontinently) I have a 1 inch bore Monobloc and I am jetting it to suit the VB. The Draganfly website lists the jet sizes, but I am s...

That's a valid point, a copper gasket will compress a little but I think it's going to be a relatively small amount. The compressive load from tightening the head down is spread over quite a large area.

I checked the clearances in my engine yesterday. The cylinder head above the piston is flat, the piston is 18 thou below the top of the barrel at tdc. The copper head gasket is 34 thou thick, giving a total clearance of 52 thou. This is above the 1mm min clearance recommended by Nev, so I guess it's...

Thanks to all for the fast responses. I will take the cylinder head off again today and take some accurate measurements. I have limited experience with sidevalve engines, I never knew that the clearance between piston and head was so tight! You live and learn.....

Just to clarify, there is a bolt in the cylinder head above the piston so you can remove it and insert a rod to measure the piston height for ignition timing - the tip of this bolt is what the piston was hitting. As it's a sidevalve the piston can't hit the sparking plug or inlet/exhaust valves.

I have had a knocking noise in my VB engine which I have finally tracked down to the timing plug protruding slightly into the combustion chamber so the top of the piston was hitting it. This was easily cured, but the plug was only protruding about 10 or 20 thou, which indicates very little clearance...

Thanks Kevin, the Garryflex product looks to be just what I'm looking for, I will give it a try. My target during the lockdown period is to get all 3 of my bikes running, smart and usable at the same time (Ariel VB, BSA Super Rocket and Earle's fork BMW R60). It's something which has always eluded m...

I have just used the last bits of Loyblox that I have had for years. For those who haven't heard of it Loyblox were blocks of rubber which were impregnated with polishing grit and were great for polishing alloy parts. They came in coarse, medium or fine grades. I can't find any mention of them onlin...

I was in a similar quandary with a VB that I bought which had been partially rebuilt. In the end I stripped the engine to check it over. The good news was that it was in great condition mechanically, BUT the bad news was that none of the nuts and bolts had been done up tight. It would have self-dest...