oil pressure to crank

[nevhunter]

I reckon with a pressure feed even with very litle, you will have oil and smoke everywhere. Most of the earlier (black) Ariels cut the pipe and bent the ends over. ( I don't do that but they did back then). I know HTP grease works fine and many BSA's ran it even on SV's with a nipple on both guides. You don't need much grease but do it every day. A lot of motors running the guides dry have a lot of wear in a short time and that can cause bad running and valve stem breakage. Nev

[ian.scott]

When running dry ,I have had to replace the exhaust guides every year so for ,the valves have only needed changing every 3 or 4 years.
Lately I have resorted to drilling a small hole in the side of the spring shroud and aralditing a spring cap oiler on the side so I can pump 3 or 4 squirts from an oil can into the spring/guide area every trip and hopefully the spring movement causes the guide to be surrounded by oil mist.
I intend to solder up the end of the oil feed pipe to the guide and just drill a very small hole to restrict the amount of oil coming through.

[al.bell]

Thanks everyone, The inlet guide of my '35 RH was originally lubricated through a copper tube from crankcase as Nev describes. When the previous owner got it going in 1997 he put new valves and iron valve guides in it. He was unable to drill an oil hole in the new guide because it was too hard, so it has run with both valve guides dry ever since. I overgrease the spindles so there is plenty of grease around the springs and as often as possible I push a bit onto the stems. I also run a little bit of two stroke oil in the fuel. I don't imagine these help much, but there isn't much wear on the stems - they certainly cope with dodgy lubrication a lot better than the big-end has. Ian's bike must do more miles per year than mine. I feel encouraged if the top end gives off some smoke. With valve guides the joke is that the more they wear, the less they wear - but this is probably wishful thinking. The breather tube that originaly fed the inlet guide has been converted into a chain lube (bent down over the final drive chain). Very little if any oil ever comes out of it - not enough for the chain and I suspect not enough for a valve guide either. If the valve fitted the guide the tube couldn't deliver anything - so even from the design table wear is anticipated and there's some of that wishful thinking at play. My bike was parked beside a BMW of similar vintage at a rally and I overheard an observer ask: "how did the Brits manage to win the war?"

[john.nash]

My bike was parked beside a BMW of similar vintage at a rally and I overheard an observer ask: "how did the Brits manage to win the war?"

Arguably, the Axis lost the war.

"..You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia' ..." Vizzini, Princess Bride.

[al.bell]

Valve guide lube on my '35 RH was by the copper tube from crankcase to the inlet mentioned, and nothing on the exhaust. Previous owner fitted new iron guides and wasn't able to drill them - because they were too hard - so now both guides run dry. I overgrease the spindles hoping some will melt into the guides. sometimes I encourage this with a screwdriver etc but this is probably wishful thinking. Previous owner converted the inlet guide lube / breather tube into a chain lube by bending it down over the final drive chain. Little if any oil ever comes from it - certainly not enough for the chain and probably not enough for a valve guide either. If the valve fitted the guide properly no oil could be delivered by this system anyway so it seems wear was anticipated and / or wishful thinking was already involved from the design table. My guides show little wear and are coping with dodgy lubrication far better than the big end has. If I was to modify the valve guide lubrication system I'd try building an oiler (reservoir) direct onto the top of the guide so some grease or oil could collect or be intruduced around the top of the stem. In the unlikely event that I get round to this I'll let you all know how it went. Al

[brenton.roy]

Hi Al,
A simple way of doing it would be to do something like you suggest. Run a reservior can / dripper above the level of the guides. I thought the '35 had a T piece above the rocker box?
I lose track of which year was which for inlet / exhaust guide lube over the 30's, but even if both guides aren't drilled, the castings are there.
Brenton