Yet another little Square Four project, coupling gear puller needed!

[Dave B]

Hello out there, I have just joined the AOMCC following my rescue of a long abandoned Square Four that's sat in a shed for many a year, its a 1957 Mk II that looks to have suffered from a total engine blow up followed by a rebuild on a donor bottom end in which the original and u/s oil pump was not replaced, the honing marks from the first rebuild are still clear to see on the one bore liner that had been replaced so it looks like not stripping, cleaning out and replacing the worn gear on the oil pump had subsequently led to another engine seizure within a very few miles.

The bike's been stripped down and stored in about a thousand pieces, unfortunately mixed up with parts from another Mk I and a selection of internal parts from an Atco mower and other mystery parts for good measure, it has also lost a lot of smaller parts as the aged ice cream tubs used for storage have slowly split apart and dumped and left their contents behind as the bike's been moved around. Luckily everything mechanical that's still there had been lathered in grease and looks to be mostly recoverable. I have put together what's identifiable as belonging to the rolling chassis and have stripped the engine as far as I can. I made a basic three hole puller needed to remove the timing chain cogs and am hoping to find the puller needed to remove the coupling gears, does anyone out there have a coupling gear puller I could beg, steal, borrow or purchase ?

I am also looking for some cycle parts and when I am sure of what I need I will post up a list in the hope that the parts I need may be out there somewhere hiding in somebodies stock of spare bits and bobs, in terms of bigger parts the bike is missing its mudguards, mudguard stays and kidney shaped toolbox, at least thats what is obviously not there. I am not stuck on it being rebuilt as totally original as I ride rather than show, so with the mudguards I am intending to use the earlier more flared front mudguard if I can find one and possibly the more valanced rear mudguard from the late swing-arm VH or any other suitable valanced Ariel mudguard, so if you have anything along these lines please let me know.

As my funds don't run to purchasing a complete up-together one I had been looking for a Square Four project for many years so its good to know there are still bikes out there waiting to be found and I hope something similar comes your way if you keep looking.

Cheers for now. Dave B (Devon)

[roger.fellows]

The most likely cause is that the crankshaft oilways were blocked and precipitated the original seizure and the follow-up because they had not been cleaned out as part of the rebuild. Which liner was replaced Dave?

You'll find lots of good advice on this site, welcome and all the best.

If you let the webmaster know your membership number he'll turn your name red rather than the blue it is now.

Too far away from you to offer a meaningful lend of a puller but I expect somebody will be happy to help.

If you post some photos of bits you have, there are people around who might help to identify things.

[simon.holyfield]

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You'll find lots of good advice on this site, welcome and all the best.
...

If you post some photos of bits you have, there are people around who might help to identify things.

Bring it on, we love to help.

[Dave B]

Thanks for coming back to me, I am keen to strip the bottom end as the sludge traps are probably full up with long gone hard muck as well as the c##p from the first blowup, the bottom end had been reassembled with new + 00.010 over shells which show evidence of gritty metallic particles running around them in the short time it has been run since its rebuild. Its the nearside rear cylinder that has been relined and then re-seized, there is also a light piston slap mark on the underside of the head which shows that a con-rod broke or came adrift in the same bore presumably during the first blowup. I also suspect the engine has been assembled with the barrel reversed at some time as the alignment dowels were missing and damage to some of the barrels upper fins matches that on the head if you reverse the barrel! not sure about this but conclude this would not have helped cooling as the air flow ramp (if that's what you call it) cast into the barrels between the cylinders would have been turned into a air brake if reversed.

I have tried to add in a couple of photos but when I click Img in the box above all I seem to do is add into the current line I am typing, I am sure I will work it out eventually.