No more gearbox questions. Now it's the engine...!

BrianK,
You can supoort the pistions with a pair of 1/2" wooden dowels, available at any hardware store. The way the skirts are cut tends to help retain the dowels. I have the "official" Norton part number ring compressors; I am happy to help you. Mounting the barrell takes all of 2 minutes; you buy the beer.

RS (Bill)

Thanks Bill, I'll take you up on that. Project scheduled for winter. Good weather today, ridin' time! - Brian

I have some large plastic reusable cable ties that would seem to be near perfect for this type of job. I got mine from the local outboard dealer as they were used in packaging a new Volvo outdrive he was installing. I use them for all sorts of jobs on my boat, so don't have them handy for pictures but found a link on the web for a similar band which looks like it might be even easier to use.

http://cableorganizer.com/hellermann-ty ... m#features

BrianK said:

Thanks Dave. How thick is that puppy (or does it matter)?

Click to expand...

It's 3/4" ply. Needs to be stiff enough to support the weight of the barrels, but I'm sure 1/2" would do.

I also confess to using hose clamps with a thin sheet of aluminum underneath as ring compressors. I snipped the upper edge of the strips and bent the "tabs" over the top of the clamps to help keep the tool from getting stuck in the cylinders on the way down. Maybe I can get a pic of those as well.

As someone mentioned, the commercial ring compressors are all too tall for use on a Norton. I suppose a clever fella could cut one down to size etc, but for as often as I've needed them I've always improvised. I keep saying, "This is the last time.."

This style works fine