Sometimes you score!

marshg246

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Working on rebuilding an engine and I didn't like two of the pushrods. No problem, I have a bunch of used ones. Well, I did have the two I needed, but all the rest, I don't like.

So, I started watching eBay. A guy had two listings each with a complete set he said were good and he wanted $25 "Buy it Now" or "Best Offer". I offered $16 in both listings. He countered at $18 in both listings. Bought the two sets for $36! Two sets new from AN delivered to the US would be about $200. I was hoping to have at least one good set from the two. Both are near perfect and one set appears to be NOS. Balls are smooth in tappets, sockets are smooth with rocker balls, all are straight, and there are no significate scratches or any gouges.

Over the years I've gotten some ready good deals on eBay and only a few duds. These days, I only buy parts from people with a lot of sales and 100% rating. Greg, selling as ebvc, is one you can count on.
 
New score! Needed a set of 750 cylinders and tappets. Found a set on eBay cheap and offered even less. They were originally silver and rust; half-assed sprayed black. The top surface had what looked like bad rust - ended up being a lot of surface rust - came right off. The seller said that the bores looked good (no measurements) but the tappets would not move. Sprayed them with WD40 from both ends and waited a few hours. Still stuck. So, I heated the tunnels a little and use an old pushrod to push them out - came out easily. They are fine and don't even have a wear mark on the cam surface! The top edge of the tunnels had rust, and someone tried to push the tappets further into the tunnels which make them stick. The tunnels cleaned up nicely and the tappets move perfectly in them.

Now for the bores. I was shocked to see the original cross-hatching mostly there and when I measured there was absolutely no taper, they are round, and they are standard size! There is some staining but that will come out with a light hone which won't hurt anything, they are about .0005 tighter than I like! Checked with new pistons and a .003" feeler gage went in easy in both cylinders and a .004" went in tight so they are around .0035". I figure they were not even broken in when the bike was disassembled for some reason.
 
New score! Needed a set of 750 cylinders and tappets. Found a set on eBay cheap and offered even less. They were originally silver and rust; half-assed sprayed black. The top surface had what looked like bad rust - ended up being a lot of surface rust - came right off. The seller said that the bores looked good (no measurements) but the tappets would not move. Sprayed them with WD40 from both ends and waited a few hours. Still stuck. So, I heated the tunnels a little and use an old pushrod to push them out - came out easily. They are fine and don't even have a wear mark on the cam surface! The top edge of the tunnels had rust, and someone tried to push the tappets further into the tunnels which make them stick. The tunnels cleaned up nicely and the tappets move perfectly in them.

Now for the bores. I was shocked to see the original cross-hatching mostly there and when I measured there was absolutely no taper, they are round, and they are standard size! There is some staining but that will come out with a light hone which won't hurt anything, they are about .0005 tighter than I like! Checked with new pistons and a .003" feeler gage went in easy in both cylinders and a .004" went in tight so they are around .0035". I figure they were not even broken in when the bike was disassembled for some reason.
Just incase you don't already know but WD 40 is a water dispersant not a penetrant
Apologies if you already know this
 
Sometimes you score!



Pee bee Blastuh ked! Works great for rednecks!


But, for the Grey Poupon set, there's:

Sometimes you score!
 
Just incase you don't already know but WD 40 is a water dispersant not a penetrant

However, there is a WD 40 penetrating oil :):
 
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I've never seen that one
Cheers
There are dozens of "specific variations" of "WD" now, as the marketing team realized they have good brand recognition, but there was a big untapped market.

I use the WD-40 in a trigger spray as a pleasant smelling degreaser for chain lube, etc.
 
Just incase you don't already know but WD 40 is a water dispersant not a penetrant
Apologies if you already know this
Absolutely. Just finished washing a set of freshly painted and honed 850 cylinders in the kitchen sink. I took them out, set them upside down on towels and went at all bare metal with WD40 and paper towels. Turned them over and did the top and the rest of the bores. Perfect job for WD40. Once everything was dry, I went over the bare metal with dino oil. WD40 is also is good at removing grease and grime, removing buffing compound, removing surface rust, and so on. It's a solvent that displaces water and a very light oil which holds rust off for a short time.

As far as a penetrant, as far as I am concerned, none are worth bothering with. The value in using WD40 is that when you hit it with a torch you don't worry about burning the shop down. It this particulare case when I heated the tunnels you could see the WD40 move down at least providing some lubration to the tunnels and tappets which I believe is why they then easily pushed out without damage.
 
1/2 automatic trans fluid 1/2 acetone ...old timer poop.
I tried this, ATF type F mixed with acetone. Seemed like trying to mix oil and water. They would separate immediately after vigorous shaking and didn’t do squat. Perhaps I’m challenged.
I use Kroil now. Great stuff
 
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