VH 500

[Davidmeachen]

I'm Jealous: 4 bikes in the pics! I only have two! But one other thing we have in common (apart from Ariels) is a push-bike (in the background of your pic) as an alternative ride when everything else stops running!

[Jay.Watson]

Ha.... there's actually six in the pic' if you look closely and other than a couple of flat batteries they all run. I've just put the other half's Morini 500 Sport on the road which I bought at the same time as the Ariel. All seems to be well with the Morini so other than a few minor tweaks I should hopefully be able to leave it alone.
That means I can start on Albert. First job will be lifting the 'head and sorting the missing studs/stripped threads as the rocker boxes move about in time to the opening of the valves at the moment. I'll check if I've anything in the "spares box" (pile of rusty cack left over from previous vehicles) that might do but would imagine this'll be a Helicoil and new studs job.
Really looking forward to getting this on the road - funny really as it has less than half the power of anything else in our fleet.

As for the push bikes, they are the least likely to be "on the road"... although to be honest we did buy a couple of cheap replacements recently with the intention of keeping reasonably fit for as long as possible... can't remember where I've parked them now tho'.......

[Jay.Watson]

Well I can't believe I'm posting this as this sort of thing never happens to me.
I pulled the rocker boxes off earlier in readiness for a little engineering work, twas an easy job as a couple of fixings were missing and the others, bar one, were loose. The threads didn't look too bad so I just cleaned them up, had a rummage through my old car bits (Triumph Herald mainly) and turned up some suitable bolts, gave it all a good clean and put it all back together. Job done for now. Touchwood, no leaks and it runs so much better now that the valve clearances aren't constantly changing - the decompressor still isn't working but I think that is due to the cable. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the rest is as easy to sort...

[dave.owen]

Jay , if you are around in the evening this week ,I'll pop over from Swindon and sort out the lifter for you

Dave Owen

pm me

[Jay.Watson]

Thanks for the offer - p.m. sent.

[Jay.Watson]

Well, I spoke too soon...
I sorted the valve lifter today and was just rejoicing in how easy it is to start when I noticed a problem. I had it sat ticking over whilst I made a few adjustments and the tappets started to get loud again. A quick look revealed that the rocker box had lifted again... So a proper investigation this time, previously I hadn't disturbed the gaskets as they were stuck and I didn't have any replacements. Having removed them it was clear why the threads were in such good nick, at some point they had all been replaced with threaded steel inserts. Unfortunately whoever had done it had just pressed in the inserts, as soon as the bike engine reaches operating temperature the inserts, under pressure from the rocker gear/valve springs, just slide out - had they been threaded in they would have been a decent engineered solution, as they are they are useless... so the head is now awaiting a trip to an engineering company to have the job done properly. Poor old Albert I was hoping he might be on the road next week...

[nevhunter]

Pressed in thread inserts eh! Check for cracks as they do it (crack) without the aid of pressed in inserts. There is not a lot of metal there. Nev

[dave.owen]

Jay,

have the parts arrived,How are the head repairs coming on,have you got the taps for the head.If not let me know I'll bring a selection over.It will be after the weekend as off to the LDR in the morning

Dave

[john.whiting]

Be careful drilling weld alloy,it will clog the drill flutes and cause an oversize hole,possibly requiring a return trip to the welder.Regards John.

[adrie.degraaff]

Drill with alcohol and it will do fine, don't drink it.