Ron

Come to think of it. It would be easier for me to swap the complete battery carriers if that's what it takes.  Ron 

😄😄 I'm telling myself I probably wont bother.......But I probably will!  I think both complete carriers need to be on the bench.....And I'll have to re-paint them anyway.   Ron

I’ve got my main bearing outers in dead true now. I had a hot air gun wedged in the top and played a blow lamp on each side in turn, and the mandrel was a smooth fit side to side.

 But there is definitely something wrong when I assemble the crank into the cases. I’ve clocked my main shafts and the timing side has 0.002” run out but the drive side has 0.010”.  Ainsley said it’s as close as he can get it, so didn't try to correct it.  I’ll  get a 2^nd opinion. I’m wondering if this out of true main shafts is the problem all a long?  Ron

Lex that's another Matchless part they changed without telling anyone! The 1936 part number for the battery carrier and the hinged front remained the same throughout all contracts as far as I can see.

Would you believe it? I've got the wide one on my G3L and the narrow one on my G3. I guess I'll have to swap them now.

Ron

I'll use that then Rik. I'm not changing mine😀 Ron

It does make me wonder sometimes? Since Lex gave me dimensions and now this drawing shows something slightly different. With all the best will in the World, not everything is being copied from an original it seems.  Ron

I got mine made up from info that Lex gave me. Ron

Steve how is you welding on thin rusty metal??  Ron

Doing well Steve. It's taken me years to asses what is right and wrong with my bikes and then gradually correct things.

Ron

From the lower mudguard stay rivets to the center of the tail lamp bolts is about 8". Ron

When they are assembled. I put my finger over the relevant intake oil hole, pull the plunger down and then let it go. If it's a good seal, the vacuum will suck it back up some. Oil the plungers first. There's not much to go wrong with them really.  Ron

If only I had a lathe and mill! I had the same idea but with more basic equipment🙂  Ron

OK I've just ordered a sheet of .005" Stainless shim stock. I can cut the OD with scissors and hopefully stack them up, sandwiched between some plywood and cut the ID with a tank hole cutter?  Ron

Chris there doesn't appear to be shims listed in the parts lists. I guess you have to source suitable shims from elsewhere.  But I cant find any on line. I guess cutting some out from shim stock is an option, but I'm not keen on that idea. Or as you say, surface grinding old thrust washers somehow. I'll get it assembled first in due course and see what I need.  Ron

I picked up the crank from Ainsley who has altered the balance to 57%. I'm waiting for the mandrel anytime soon. In the mean time I've bought four new thrust washers from Hitchcocks, which surprisingly are all identical despite having different part numbers and being called End washer and Thrust washer in the parts book? Obviously Hitchcocks think it doesn't matter?  Ron

Roy van Dorp? I've been speaking to him recently and just received a red dot ammeter from him.    roy206@hotmail.com

Try Arnaud for the switch parts,    leger-arnaud@wanadoo.fr

Mention my name to both.  Ron

Or these might be even better. Ron

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/303444120537?chn=ps

These look quite good. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CST-Motorcycle-Motorbike-C117-Classic-Universal-Tyre-2-75x19-45P/392202454398?epid=10015570524&hash=item5b5116857e:g:sMAAAOSwfiddwiPE

Ron

I've got that to come Chris. Mine will be mild steel also. Did you do it cold? I'm wondering about assembling it all ready and then warm the whole lot in the oven. The problem there is my workshop oven is not big enough 😕 Maybe just some local heat with a gas torch?

I'm also wondering why they've given such a precise overall length of 7 7/8"?    Ron

Hi Rik. Ainsley set it at 60% but is going to have another go at truing it and double check the balance factor. Today I've removed the main bearing outers and my mate is making me one of these assembly mandrels. You have to get the cases really hot to remove/replace the bearings, and I'm wondering how you do this as a whole and what they mean by "Apply pressure to both ends"  I'm thinking that a hammer must be involved?  Ron  

If only I knew Rik! Jan would like to know too. Hitchcocks only suggested it might be 65% and others have suggested 58-60%. I even had an email reply from Edd Abbott today. He doesn't know either. After discussion with Ainsley, we went for 60% and now he wants to know if I want him to alter it. God knows! You can't keep rebuilding an engine to try it. It shouldn't be this difficult on and old clunker! Ron

No I didn't do that Chris. But when I took it over to Ainsley he confirmed my findings with his much more professional equipment and expertise. It was great to get out and spend some time with him (2 miters apart) in his machine shop. We discussed other things of course,  but mainly the different ways and end results of truing crankshafts. For instance, he doesn't agree with the idea of doing them between lathe centers, as that can squeeze the flywheels by a few thou and give a false reading.   

Although I felt that I wanted to have a go myself, I think I could have made things worse. In the end I just want it as right as it can be. I'll report back after Ainsley has done it again and during the rebuild. 

I'll have to figure a way to collect it without getting my collar felt now??  Ron

Well I played around with this today. The readings I got are that the timing side shaft has just 2 thou run out and the drive side shaft has about 5 thou. I phoned Ainsley who had originally fitted the new big end and balanced the whole thing. He says it's very probably as close as he could get it, and if he can't quite get there he always puts any slight discrepancy on the drive side. But he asked me to drop it back and he'd re-check it for me, and also recheck what balance factor he gave it.  In that respect I'd much rather he gives it his expertise than me experimenting.  The new +40 dome piston I've used is about 2.9 onz heavier that a Std flat top. I gather that anything over 1 1/2onz should require a rebalance.

The outer races and rollers are brand new and the shafts are down by only 1/2 thou. 

I'll be looking more closely at assembling the crankcases when the time comes. A few dummy runs and assessing the end float.  Ron  

I can't find a picture of a 3SW cylinder head that's upside down. If your head is the right shape and fits ok, I wouldn't worry about the relieve you have in the "squish" area. At worst it can only reduce the compression by a fraction. How do we know that the Cornucopia head is correct. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that you need a bit of gap for the flame to travel through. I expect Brian will know.

It's just a hardened washer for the valve lifter.   Ron

Lex is right. after gearbox 70975, the rollers were discontinued and replaced by a bush. Since your gearbox has that 48 rebuild date, it must have gone through that modification., Ron