Now just a question about new valve guides

OK, I've gotten off the stanchion nuts and the instruments and got the connectors freed from inside the headlamp cowl and I found out why the lamp in the speedo never worked and kept shorting out a fuse, the rubber outer protector was worn through and both wires inside broken. It appears that before they finally broke, the insulation on the wires wore down and the wires shorted together - although I wouldn't have thought there would be a + and a - inside there- I'll have to check the schematic, there may be some other gremlin lurking or one of the wires shorted to the id plate on the front. Also, those bullet connectors inside the shell of the headlight were corroded together so one of the wires just broke off, even with my getting a small pair of pliers in there to pull it.

On another subject, before the head cracks around my RH4 valve guides, should I proactively have the valve guides changed to a different material?

Re: The prince of darkness unmasked again and valve guide ?'

Yep, sounds like you've got a pretty complete C-do puzzle kit to entertain. Just look at the picture on the box and try to match it...

I've recently found that it takes at least 3 lens clips to hold it in but at least 4 to stop it rattling...

Re: The prince of darkness unmasked again and valve guide ?'

powerdoc said:

Also, those bullet connectors inside the shell of the headlight were corroded together so one of the wires just broke off, even with my getting a small pair of pliers in there to pull it.

Click to expand...

I strongly recommend you replace every bullet tube connector that you find, as the metal tubes inside them are usually corroded and they are often very brittle.

Re: The prince of darkness unmasked again and valve guide ?'

Amend to that so place order now for the variety of combo's expected to encounter. Trouble is the wire ends tend to work harden apart and very tedious to try to reproduce the terminal as good as factory and with a bit short wire length to work with.

OK, the Prince is temporarily at bay 'til I reassemble the machine, so the question remains, on the RH4 head, where there is a propensity for the head to crack around the valve guide, should one change the valve guides to a different material before this happens?

The only common problem I know of with valve guides is that the 750 guides can get loose in the head. The valve will continue to work even when the guide is so loose that it comes out with the valve. Replacing them with 850 guides solves the problem. Your choice of cast iron or bronze depends on the flavor you like.

Greg

I don't believe it is the material of the guide that causes the cracks. Removing the guide is more likely to cause cracks.
The best way to remove the stock cast iron guides is to machine them out rather than press or drive them out. However, I would not remove the guides unless the originals are worn.