Anyone Want to Build a 1007 Engine?

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lcrken

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I was just checking the TGA/Molnar site, and noticed he is now offering his crankcases and cylinders in configurations for 750, 850, 920, and 1007 engines. Nice that they also supply the cases in street configuration, machined and drilled for stock primary drives, as well as race configuration, without the reduced wall thickness needed to use stock primary covers. Looks like they bought the patterns, tooling, and design info from Steve. Details here



So if anyone really wants to build a 1007 Commando, it looks possible now. In addition to buying the parts above, one would just need to convert the head to 1007 bolt pattern, which is pretty straight forward, and source a crankshaft. I would expect that you could get a suitable crank made by Rotational Dynamics or one of the other suppliers of billet Commando crankshafts. I still have some of the 83 mm pistons in stock, and I think Jim Schmidt is also willing to supply them along with his long rod kit. All it would take is money. :) Adding up all the parts costs, and assuming at least $1500 for work on a customer head, similar to Steve's Stage 3 work, plus relocating the head bolt holes and opening up the combustion chamber counterbores, it looks like the absolute minimum to build one would be around $8000, assuming all assembly labor done by the owner. Plan on one of John Snead's new heads, and maybe some other nice touches, and I'm sure you're well past $10,000, and that's if you do all the assembly labor yourself.

Just something to consider.

Ken
 
If my Molnar 1360 Vincent cases are any indication, this will be good stuff.
If the cost of that build is any indication of cost, you could triple the estimate.
First off would be need for a TTi box to handle the extra power . I believe those are about $6k or so.
So maybe not triple, but when I did the math it ran to 20k CDN for the 1007.
It's always more when you get down to it. If you put expensive ignition and carbs on the engine, there's another 2k gone.

It would be fun though!

I guess Ken will be able to give us the 1007 ride report in the near future.

Glen
 
I built all my own engines, never managed to build a race 750 Commando for less than £10k (sterling) , and that's the bare motor....gearbox, ignition, smoothbores etc puts it over £15k , then you've got to build the chassis, exhausts etc, unless you're happy with off the shelf stuff
 
When I built my 920 I did think about a 1007 but decided it was a step too far. There is precious little head gasket left with that bore size, & for a road bike I could see problems ahead. Always happy to be proved wrong though.
 
Yeah same here Martyn, I kinda concluded that the 1007 engine is so unique, future parts supply might be an issue. And that starting it would be an issue too.

But if Molnar has stepped up where Steve left off, the parts supply looks better. And given what I know now about the cNw e start, I’m certain that would easily handle a 1007 motor.

However, having built the 920, I’m in NO hurry to start building another !!
 
I was just checking the TGA/Molnar site, and noticed he is now offering his crankcases and cylinders in configurations for 750, 850, 920, and 1007 engines. Nice that they also supply the cases in street configuration, machined and drilled for stock primary drives, as well as race configuration, without the reduced wall thickness needed to use stock primary covers. Looks like they bought the patterns, tooling, and design info from Steve. Details here



So if anyone really wants to build a 1007 Commando, it looks possible now. In addition to buying the parts above, one would just need to convert the head to 1007 bolt pattern, which is pretty straight forward, and source a crankshaft. I would expect that you could get a suitable crank made by Rotational Dynamics or one of the other suppliers of billet Commando crankshafts. I still have some of the 83 mm pistons in stock, and I think Jim Schmidt is also willing to supply them along with his long rod kit. All it would take is money. :) Adding up all the parts costs, and assuming at least $1500 for work on a customer head, similar to Steve's Stage 3 work, plus relocating the head bolt holes and opening up the combustion chamber counterbores, it looks like the absolute minimum to build one would be around $8000, assuming all assembly labor done by the owner. Plan on one of John Snead's new heads, and maybe some other nice touches, and I'm sure you're well past $10,000, and that's if you do all the assembly labor yourself.

Just something to consider.

Ken
Ken
Whats the contact info for "Rotational dynamics" and are there photos of cranks, prices etc?
 
If you’re referring to Greg at Ro-Dy crankshafts in Michigan, he’s not really an option right now. Under normal circumstances it takes a while as you have to place your order before he orders the raw materiel, then wait till he pits in his next order and etc,etc. It’s a long and unknown wait. But currently he’s closed shop due to covid anyway.
 
I built all my own engines, never managed to build a race 750 Commando for less than £10k (sterling) , and that's the bare motor....gearbox, ignition, smoothbores etc puts it over £15k , then you've got to build the chassis, exhausts etc, unless you're happy with off the shelf stuff


Back when I bought my Rickman frame for the 2nd time....2009, I spoke to Steve for the first time about cranks and crank cases. He said that if he was going to build a bike from scratch at that time he would budget £25K for parts. That would of course be 20% less than it would cost a punter like me once I had paid taxes on it!

My build took to the race tracks in 2015 after completing the build based on the existing frame, but including repairs to that frame. I still have the spreadsheets to back Steve up!

The actual cost difference between a 750 and a 920 or even 1007 would not make really significant difference if you were purchasing new parts.

Today, I would say £30K to £35K, for which you could alternatively cobble together a Manx Norton or Seeley 7R/G50 if you include some second-hand parts, which probably means the Norton twin race bike market will remain pretty small!
 
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I was just checking the TGA/Molnar site, and noticed he is now offering his crankcases and cylinders in configurations for 750, 850, 920, and 1007 engines. Nice that they also supply the cases in street configuration, machined and drilled for stock primary drives, as well as race configuration, without the reduced wall thickness needed to use stock primary covers. Looks like they bought the patterns, tooling, and design info from Steve. Details here



So if anyone really wants to build a 1007 Commando, it looks possible now. In addition to buying the parts above, one would just need to convert the head to 1007 bolt pattern, which is pretty straight forward, and source a crankshaft. I would expect that you could get a suitable crank made by Rotational Dynamics or one of the other suppliers of billet Commando crankshafts. I still have some of the 83 mm pistons in stock, and I think Jim Schmidt is also willing to supply them along with his long rod kit. All it would take is money. :) Adding up all the parts costs, and assuming at least $1500 for work on a customer head, similar to Steve's Stage 3 work, plus relocating the head bolt holes and opening up the combustion chamber counterbores, it looks like the absolute minimum to build one would be around $8000, assuming all assembly labor done by the owner. Plan on one of John Snead's new heads, and maybe some other nice touches, and I'm sure you're well past $10,000, and that's if you do all the assembly labor yourself.

Just something to consider.

Ken

Where will you source the crank? That question stands if you choose 80.4, 89 or 93mm

I think this is the limiting factor on most engine projects right now!
 
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Converting a stock head to 1007 configuration is not that difficult. Any shop with a mill and lathe can do it. I think I posted pictures and details of such a conversion here several years back.

Ken
 
If you’re referring to Greg at Ro-Dy crankshafts in Michigan, he’s not really an option right now. Under normal circumstances it takes a while as you have to place your order before he orders the raw materiel, then wait till he pits in his next order and etc,etc. It’s a long and unknown wait. But currently he’s closed shop due to covid anyway.

Yeah, he's the one I was referring to. Didn't know he was closed for the COVID duration. Other possibilities include MAP in Florida, who sell a 76 degree billet Triumph crankshaft. They might be talked into doing Norton crankshafts. There's also Falicon in Florida, who made Norton crankshafts of various sorts for Kenny Dreer. Or even Moldex in Michigan, if they are still in business. They made billet Norton cranks for Ron Wood's short stroke 750s back in the day, as well as for some others. Last time I checked (which was a few years ago), they were still willing to do custom Norton crankshafts. It might also be worth checking with Marine Crankshafts here in SoCal. Admittedly, I haven't seriously looked into having any crankshafts made lately, but I'm pretty sure I could find someone willing to do so, if I put enough effort into it.

But if they are soon to be available from Andy Molnar, that would solve the problem.

Ken
 
Yeah, he's the one I was referring to. Didn't know he was closed for the COVID duration. Other possibilities include MAP in Florida, who sell a 76 degree billet Triumph crankshaft. They might be talked into doing Norton crankshafts. There's also Falicon in Florida, who made Norton crankshafts of various sorts for Kenny Dreer. Or even Moldex in Michigan, if they are still in business. They made billet Norton cranks for Ron Wood's short stroke 750s back in the day, as well as for some others. Last time I checked (which was a few years ago), they were still willing to do custom Norton crankshafts. It might also be worth checking with Marine Crankshafts here in SoCal. Admittedly, I haven't seriously looked into having any crankshafts made lately, but I'm pretty sure I could find someone willing to do so, if I put enough effort into it.

But if they are soon to be available from Andy Molnar, that would solve the problem.

Ken
Ken,
Falicon was liquidated July 1st, 2019. Their business will be continued by Race Winning Brands (RWB) of Mentor, OH.
Moldex is still in business.

-Knut
 
Thanks, Knut. I hadn't seen that news. Looks like RWB is a relatively new entity formed by Kinderhook Industries, a private investment company, as a holding company for automotive and powersports companies. In the past few years they have been acquiring some big name brands, including Wiseco, JE, Manley, etc. Not a lot of info on their web site, but they do mention that Falicon will still be operating out of their Florida facility. Their old web site at faliconcranks.com seems to be having some security issues, and I haven't been able to a ccess it.

Ken
 
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