D@%N Amals

I have not had time in the last several weeks to really get deep into the Norton due to a month long cold and the recent operations we are working with the tornados we have had recently. I have been having a heck of a time getting the amals to work with me along with timing. Got a TDC Tool so that will rectify that issue, but still having issues with the amals. I have noticed when sitting with the petcocks closed there seems to be fuel collecting around the drain on the bowls, seems to be wet all over the bowl (new petcocks by the way). I have rebuilt the amals with all new rebuild kits and put on chrome plated brass plugs in the bowl drains with seals. I am considering just buying a differnt carb set up and putting on due to the leakage and not wanting to take the chance of catching on fire. I read the previous thread on carbs but did not want to hijack it. Any suggestions? Found a set of PWKs on FleaBay new for a decent price.

I really just want to get this baby running and on the road, SAFELY!!! I went ahead and bought the braided oil line kit for the head oilers due to the new plastic oil line feed coming off the banjo and dripping oil on the exhaust and starting a fire. Trying to get this baby as safe and reliable as possible before I put my butt on the road!

To save yourself hassle and expense, make sure that those Fleabay PWKs have the correct canted intake manifold, the complete Commando compatible cable set up, and that they are tuned (needle, slide and jets) specifically for a Commando and not for the more common PWK set up which is tuned for a Triumph.

warpedscout said:

I have not had time in the last several weeks to really get deep into the Norton due to a month long cold and the recent operations we are working with the tornados we have had recently. I have been having a heck of a time getting the amals to work with me along with timing. Got a TDC Tool so that will rectify that issue, but still having issues with the amals. I have noticed when sitting with the petcocks closed there seems to be fuel collecting around the drain on the bowls, seems to be wet all over the bowl (new petcocks by the way). I have rebuilt the amals with all new rebuild kits and put on chrome plated brass plugs in the bowl drains with seals. I am considering just buying a differnt carb set up and putting on due to the leakage and not wanting to take the chance of catching on fire. I read the previous thread on carbs but did not want to hijack it. Any suggestions? Found a set of PWKs on FleaBay new for a decent price.

I really just want to get this baby running and on the road, SAFELY!!! I went ahead and bought the braided oil line kit for the head oilers due to the new plastic oil line feed coming off the banjo and dripping oil on the exhaust and starting a fire. Trying to get this baby as safe and reliable as possible before I put my butt on the road!

Click to expand...

Likely your leak is at the float bowl/carb body interface. The flanges on the float bowls that the two screws go through get bent or warped easily leaving a gap the gasket cannot fill. Set the bowl joint surface down on a very flat surface and see if it rocks. You can correct this by carefully bending the flange then sanding on that flat surface.

Amals will work fine if set up correctly.

If it's leaking at the gasket between the carb body and the float bowl, either your needle valves are leaking or the float is too high, or both. The gas in the bowl should never reach the gasket, and I'm not sure the gasket will hold back the gas even if the top of the float is flat and smooth. It might leak air though. You can test the needle valves by mounting the float bowls alone on a flat piece of metal and running gas lines to them, fill with gas and see if it runs over because the needles are not seating. You can polish the seats with a piece of 1/8' aluminum rod filed to same angle as needle and polishing compound.

leaky-float-bowl-seat-t8025.html?hilit=float%20bowls#p84368

Leaky petcocks are not good either, they need to be tested by themselves. Don't count on your needle valves to hold the gas back. I lost a whole tank of avgas evaporating from the float bows overnight with leaky petcocks. The ones from OB seem to be fine at $17 ea.

Dave
69S

The carbs on Ebay are likely sold by JS Engineering, aka Jim Schmidt who is a member here so I would contact him for more info on those.

As for the Amals, take the bowls off and lay the gasket surface on a nice flat piece of glass to see if they rock back and forth on their ears. It isn't unusal. You can straighten them out some with pressure but then use fine sandpaper laid on the same piece of glass to get them flat. That won't address whether or not you have too much gas in the bowls in the first place but it will certainly help them seal.

http://www.amalcarb.co.uk/TechnicalDetail.aspx?id=11
http://www.amalcarb.co.uk/TechnicalDetail.aspx?id=13

If you decide to buy the new carbs and you want to throw the Amals away, feel free to throw them my way!

Russ

Hey, I wanted them.

Dave
69S

Check bowl flatness.
Check float level.

Done.

I had the original Amals on my 73 and bought new Amals with chrome slides; used them 1 season and changed for a Mikuni. What a difference in quality. I now have a steady idle at around 750-800 rpm, it pulls very strong and once adjusted you just forget it. I had my Mikuni for more than 3 years now and I wish I had bought it in the beginning!

All right boys, settle down. If I replace my Amals they will go into retirement packed away nice and snug , I never get rid of original parts, never!


I have to clean the garage out tonight, the garage door is being replaced (rental house or it would have been done when we moved in) and I have to make room for them to work. Property management wanted to just take the door off and wait until the company could come and replace it. I told them they could put up about $12-15,000 in collateral on the bike alone in case it got stolen, maybe. That is not to include all my tools and such, LOL. So tomorrow we get a new garage door!!!

I may pull the bowls off tonight and mess with them some, checked on them earlier and it seems the fuel is mainly coming out of the drain plugs. I don't know, we will see later. Got to get my right signal on too so may make it a late night and go get some beer to make sure the redneck engineer comes on full force!!! LOL.

I just want to get to riding, put a Barnett clutch on about a week ago and ready to see if she wont buck me off anymore!! Plus using the excuse that gas would be cheaper to go to work on!!!

OK, gotta go cook some infidel pork chops on the grill and finish up the garage, will keep everyone posted.

Thanks for all the input!!!

I just replaced the gaskets on my bowl drains - damned ethanol in the gas ruined them. I also bought new petcocks when I put the 850 back on the road - the rubber sleeve on the new replacements is not ethanol-resistant. I put the original petcocks back on the bike about 10,000 miles ago, after really cleaning them to stop the leaks - no issues. The original design of the conical stopper in the brass body will last forever if cleaned properly to get all the gum out. I guess that's one thing where ethanol is actually good - it'll clean gum out of anything.

Amals aren't perfect, but they're easy to work on, and haven't been a problem for me. I also ride Ed on a regular basis, rarely going more than a few days between start-ups, so the common Norton issues of wet-sumping and leaks just don't come up.

I think the amals are really cool, but I didn't have the time or patience to dick around with the old, worn ones that I had. I sold 'em on ebay, I think I got over $200 for the pair. After shopping around a bit, I bought a mikuni from Rocky Point, for about $200. Once tuned, the bike finally ran like a real bitch (thats good), with heart-pumping acceleration, at least for me, hehe

OK, pulled the bowls off tonight and OMG, I could not believe how dirty the fuel is. The micro screen from the tank to the bowls had some sediment which I should expect but for what little it has run I feel is too much. There was also some sediment in the bottom of one bowl, looked like it was caked fine particles. I may just pull the tank off and try to clean it out again, any suggestions? Don's want to Kreem or coat it, from what I have read I am afraid I would just make more problems.

The bowl tabs are bent, just put them on my workbench and they did not lay flat and saw where some fuel has seeped through the gasket. I will have to recheck the floats and may set them a little lower. I still have the original floats with new float valves that came in the rebuild kit.

Will try and get the bowls done this weekend and reset the floats. I am now more worried about how much sediment is coming from the tank which is in good shape with some small surface rust which I am sure the fuel is breaking loose. May just take the tank off and put some more fuel in it and slosh it around and let it set before I pour out and flush.

All I can say is I am getting a good education on Norton's!! Would like to buy the PKWs but the wife wants to go on a vacation at the end of the month so I will be selling off some fox body mustang extras I have to come up with the funds for those!

All right, got the bowls flat and did the same for the drain plugs to make sure they are level. So far so good, I let it sit for about an hour with fuel in them and no leaks so far (crossed fingers). I tried to set the timing again and could not even get good fire, and apparently I have a short at the ignition switch. Going to pull the connectors and clean them good tomorrow and try to re time again. Got a TDC tool but think I am not taking enough time. Also noticed by back wheel is not spinning freely since I have put it back on, loosened the nuts and still only spins a little over a quarter around. It was a pain to get it back on! Any suggestions there. Seems that even though I took my time putting the bike back together to have more problems arise, ugh!!!! We will see what the next few days bring!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!

Iv'e han my Norton since 1969, we are one. Lots of good times together, some things take time. You have to go slow before you can go fast.

Those little posidrive screws,2 to each bowl,need very little force or the bowl tabs will warp upwards resulting in swearing and disgust.Live n' learn.

Thanks Toronto, so far they are still looking good. Now I am concerned more about the tightness of the rear wheel, went back out and put a lot of grease in the speed gear tit since I cleaned it out really good when I pulled it off but still tight after turning several times. Considering pulling the wheel back off to check the bearings again but they were good before I put it back together.
I also re timed the ignition, seems to be spot on! Took the wiring harness apart on the ignition and scraped the terminals and sprayed contact cleaner on them. Seems to work better now, just have to re tape and need to get a bracket to hold the ignition on instead of using zip ties.

Trying not to get impatient but really want my first ride!!!

Oh, almost forgot this question. Is the red light on the headlamp supposed to come on when the ignition is turned on? I pulled the bulb out and it looks good and accidentally shorted it out on the lamp housing popping the circuit breaker so there is power there! Just have not seen it come on at all even when running.

Warped one ,did you centralize the brake assembly ? Try slackening both axels ,standing on brake pedal and tightening dummy axel, then the long main. Your warning light assimilator red light should come on when ignition on ,when kickstarted and motor running it goes out telling you that the bike is now putting out power (electrical). Neat stuff . When it croaks take the canister apart for laughs some winter evening ,then order in a solid state equivalent.

I switched the bulbs on the lights and they work so more than likely the assimilator is bad, will look at getting a solid state one soon. The original is probably as laughable as the relay switch for the signals, took that apart to see if I could get it to work and just ordered a couple of new one and they work fine.

Will try what you suggested on the rear, I did tighten the dummy up first to hold up the brake assembly the first time but would not hut to do it again, there seemed to be a lot of play in the dummy axle in the brake drum does this mean it is bad?

Comedy good , eg. warning light assimilator. Dummy axel is a sloppy hanging thing until tightened up so no need to freak out. Having sushi trout n' fiddleheads for dinner after 4 days of trout fishing in cold wet. Yum.