Time to grow my moustache, the garage smells like Guzzi.

Thanks for the tip, Charlie. Slashbacks are on their way.

If anybody wants a set of the original tapered mufflers (or a complete exhaust w/ crossover) let me know. The mufflers are in decent shape under the crumby paint and the headpipes are rusty but salvageable. I think I'll put it all up on ebay eventually, but I'd be happy to have it land with an inmate first.

Looks like I'll be delaying the parts order until after christmas, but in the meantime I'll get the heads cleaned up and ready to go. I talked to a guy that said he'd take a look at them...even though he didn't sound too thrilled. So far it's been a rough go finding a shop that does head work.

PM sent.

After much searching, I finally landed on a machine shop in town that I think will do the job well. Ridge Reamers in Arvada. $100 to blast the heads and re-cut the seats and valves. Seems reasonable to me. He's going to check tolerances, but he didn't think new guides will be necessary, which strengthens my theory that this engine has been rebuilt in the last 20 years.

They can also do crank balancing, so that'll be convenient when the new pistons come in. I'll reserve final judgement until I see the finished heads, but I left thinking that I'm in good hands.


(warning: aimless musing ahead)


All this searching for various vendors has me thinking lately. I wouldn't have thought twice about it prior to my build, but this process has really made me realize how things have changed. I was amazed to learn that Denver Bumper is the ONLY chrome shop in town. And 20 phone calls just to find a head shop? That's crazy...but I guess it makes sense. Modern engines (and their users) seem to have evolved away from the gearhead ethos.

In the eighties and before, more horsepower meant boring the block, porting the heads, custom cams...engine stuff. Now you can do all that with an intake, exhaust, and re-flash on the ECU. Business probably just dried up for a lot of these shops. For my own sake, I'm really glad there are still a few around, but the hunt to find them has been eye opening. It's made me realize that replacement, not repair, is the modern approach.

Of course, none of that is meant to be taken as crotchety old me sitting in a rocking chair waxing poetic about the good old days. Simply an observation; one that wouldn't have occurred to me before. Generally speaking, I'm a big fan of modern technology. I'll never forget when I got my first fuel injected bike. "You mean I can just jump on and ride it without fucking around with the choke for 10 minutes? Awesome!"

That said, I've found it nigh impossible to work on a 40 year old motorcycle and not get to pondering all that has changed in that time. It's like some sort of cultural anthropology project. This bike rolled off the factory floor to a very different world. I love thinking about that.

So, here's a tip of the hat to Dirty Harry, Richard Nixon, and the Ford Pinto. Without you, 1972 wouldn't be the same.

(end of aimless musing)

Well said seven. Personally, I don't mind fiddling with a choke for 10 minutes, but it helps that I'm semi-retired and in a position where I can refuse to be in a hurry.

Despite the bad press about the gas tank thing, Pintos were a pretty good car for the day. Especially if you put a 289 in them.

There's no app for that!

Man, I love poetry in prose.....

Well, I guess it's been a lifelong love affair...



My mom found this photo randomly and sent it to me recently. On the back is written neatly:

Spring 1983
Gavin
Age 4


For the record, that crushed velvet polo is still one of the best shirts I've ever owned.

^Then-and-now picture opportunity.

Holy cow! That's really random...same color and everything. Thanks for posting the pic, I've been meaning to look up the bike. As far as I know, it's the first one I ever sat on. How long have you had it?

Now I just need to find a purple 3/4 lid and a crushed velvet shirt that fits.

The head shop got back to me with their findings on the valves. Sounds like there's a bit of extra play in the guides, so they're recommending replacement. The guides haven't been pulled yet, but the guy at the shop recommended going with the .10 oversized guides rather than the stockers.

Any thoughts on this? I don't want to needlessly upsize the guide sleeve in the head, but seems like it can't really hurt anything. I'm probably going that direction, but just thought I'd ask for a second opinion before I pull the trigger.

Thanks!

I wouldn't want to oversize them either. There is a method of restoring existing valve guides where the old one is bored out, and a new sleeve is fitted into the old valve guide. It does have a half-assed air about it, but it is cheaper and less work, and well accepted as a solid repair. I'm sure there's a name for the process, but I can't remember it. Someone here will know what I'm talking about and give it its proper name.

Guides can be relined (K-Liner) or also knurled. Can't tell you which process would be do able on a Guzzi though.

Yeah, I actually asked the guy about K-liners when I dropped them off. He doesn't like to use them and would rather just do new guides. I'm fine with the guides, I just felt a little reluctance about the oversize. Who knew there would be so many decisions...

Same here on my Eldorado. New guides and valves from Mgcycle. Local machine shop. No issues. And they really make a difference!

Nick

To be fair, this isn't really reinventing the wheel though, is it? Granted, my knowledge of this whole topic is limited and fairly fresh, but on older engines isn't it normal for the guide sleeve in the head to become worn after numerous guide removal/reinstallation cycles? It follows that this is why they make oversized guides, to account for this expansion in the head sleeve over spec.

Like I said, I'm hesitant about doing it simply because I don't think it's necessary. I don't think he doesn't know what he's doing, he just thinks oversized is the way to go for the heads because of their age. Based on the wear through the rest of the bike, I just don't think very many guides have been installed/removed on this bike. I guess it's a hunch, but I really feel like the stock guides would work fine. I guess I could just order stockers and upsize if it's absolutely necessary.

It's not a problem to just tell him how I want it done, I just have a bottleneck at my own lack of in-depth understanding.

Thanks for the tip on the hot/cold installation, Dan. I'll make sure to mention that at the shop. I've been using that method on the various bearings throughout the bike and I really like the unintrusive nature of it. Seems so much less likely to cause damage.

Also make sure you look into the installation and removal of the guides. Some of the guides in guzzis require the guide to be pressed one direction, a circlip is removed and the guide is pressed out in the other direction. Guzziology has the details. I mention it because, iirc, you can ruin a set of heads pressing out the guides in the usual manner.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

The first set of Guzzis heads I had done, I supplied my machinist with 1st oversized o.d. guides and he had to machine them down so they would even be close to fitting. Since then (at least two dozen pair of heads) all I've supplied are standard o.d. guides and we've never had a problem.

Awesome, thanks for that Charlie. I tend to play the numbers, so standard size it is.

Thanks for the tip photomd. I just looked that up in the Chilton manual to understand what you were getting at and they detail the process enough that I can effectively relay it to the machine shop.

Which leads me to another question: in the parts catalogue the exhaust guide looked to be tapered on both ends while intake tapers only on the cylinder side. The guides sold by MG Cycle say they're to be used for both. I looked back through my photos and confirmed that my current guides are, in fact different from intake to exhaust. Why the difference in guide style? I couldn't find it specifically addressed in the chilton manual, any of Pete Roper's guides, or anywhere else. It has me curious.

Thanks again guys!

Parts are in!




I didn't get much done on the bike through the holidays, but I did manage to get my parts ordered...that is, those that weren't given to me as presents for Christmas.

I now have the new Gilardoni jug/piston kits, a new clutch, new spline, new MAC slashback mufflers, new valve guides, and a shiny new generator cover since the bike didn't have one on it at purchase. All I have to do now is put it all back together. That sounds easy, right?

Actually, I need the head shop to do their work, THEN I can put it back together. I installed the new pistons on the con rods, then both sides went back on to the crankshaft for balancing. Even though it's essentially just a dry run assembly, I got everything installed properly on the crank journal (at least as I understand it). Oil passage up for the left rod and down for the right, both pistons installed with arrows pointing forward. Right side installed to the front, left is aft. Proper torque...best practices, I remind myself, best practices...




I dropped off the guides and shaft at the machine shop today. I made sure to go over the installation method with them, and he was quick to assure me that they always do the hot head/cold guide installation. I went with standard size quides and new clips, the rest is in their hands. I think it'll be fine...mostly I'm just excited to get everything back and start the rebuild.

All my sheet metal is still at paint. It was supposed to be done the first week in December, I guess it's a good thing that I'm in no immediate need of it.:huh It's funny, I've yet to have any of these oldboy shops meet their own timelines. Chrome was weeks late, powdercoat was a month late, and paint is going to be 2 months late by the time I actually see it. I doesn't really bother me, I know how those guys are, but it still makes me smile and shake my head. Five years running my business and I haven't missed one deadline. We're spawned from different schools of thought it seems.

Anyway, that's my update for now. Hopefully my parts are back from machining in the next couple weeks and then I can get to reassembly. Oddly enough, I'm expecting the reassembly process to go much quicker than the dis-assembly...much less cataloging, photo taking, and staring in abject confusion I suspect.