The Queen said off with her head!

Textbook things that go wrong on a Norton. I bought this bike with wiring and I think trans problems. Trans was something simple, the wiring was typical wiring screw ups. So I have been riding it a good bit, may I say the word "dependable'! See pics bad connecting rod, side stand missing the bushing, top ring upside down, head gasket assembled with no sealer, cradle cracked and poorly welded. The ignition seal had the spring for the seal rolled out. The inner primary was hitting the swingarm, bad! And I'm sure not the last but new fork tubes installed without the "O" rings in the headlight mount!
The crank has .027 end play and the cam has .020 end play
My two questions for the day are:
The cam looks good and has a nice wear pattern, should I replace it with a new Norris cam that I have laying around?
See pic of the trans/clutch shaft in relation to the inner primary cover. Is there a "fix" to center it in the inner primary? Is it as easy as bending the center bolt?

The Queen said off with her head!The Queen said off with her head!The Queen said off with her head!The Queen said off with her head!
 

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Looking at the various Norris cam profiles on the Atlantic Green site, the answer would be " It depends" .
The wildest cam there is the Norris 480.
That would take a lot of mods to fit and is a very high rpm cam.
Some of the others look to be hot street cams, however unless you add compression and bigger valves I suspect you would be detuning the bike by just changing to a hotter cam.
In any case, you will likely up the power band rpm and detune the midrange at least a bit with a cam change. Comnoz, the very experienced Norton tuner with the dyno in his shop, has proclaimed the stock cam as the best of all the cams for midrange punch.
Just my observations and opinions, others may vary greatly.

Glen
 
trident sam said:
a stock cam with all it's prescribed lobes that is ..........
Click to expand...
If you have got one, use it!

The other thing is, if you want to use this one as much as you have been doing, that is probably because it is nice to ride casually, just as it is!

And I am not talking about as is being the list of things you are about to fix, just don't be tempted to fix the one thing that isn't wrong ;)
 
mean gene said:
My two questions for the day are:
The cam looks good and has a nice wear pattern, should I replace it with a new Norris cam that I have laying around?
See pic of the trans/clutch shaft in relation to the inner primary cover. Is there a "fix" to center it in the inner primary? Is it as easy as bending the center bolt?

View attachment 111572
Click to expand...

If the lower bolt (one with the nut showing) for the inner primary goes through that fancy weld on the cradle, it may be what is holding the inner case up a little at the mainshaft. Loosen the bolt and see if you can get the inner case to drop, or elongate the hole in the inner primary enough to lower the inner primary a mm or so. Or bend the heck out of the bolt like you are thinking.

If the cam in an old Norton twin was easier to change, I'd say try the Norris cam for grins. But they aren't that much fun to swap out. Go with what you know is good enough for a street sport cruiser. You already have a Hot Rod Commando to play with. ;)
 
Red locktite was used to seal the case halves! What a nice touch to do to someone you don't like! After I got it out, cam shows wear in timing side bushing and one lobe has wear. Gona replace it . I have a Web Cam # 312 that's a slight upgrade. Hunting for early 850 .040 pistons to bump the compression a little. All 850 pistons, that I found, are 8:1 compression be nice to have a little more. Crank looks great, will disassemble it and clean out, change bad connecting rod and reassemble bottom end.
 
mean gene said:
Red locktite was used to seal the case halves! What a nice touch to do to someone you don't like! After I got it out, cam shows wear in timing side bushing and one lobe has wear. Gona replace it . I have a Web Cam # 312 that's a slight upgrade. Hunting for early 850 .040 pistons to bump the compression a little. All 850 pistons, that I found, are 8:1 compression be nice to have a little more. Crank looks great, will disassemble it and clean out, change bad connecting rod and reassemble bottom end.
Click to expand...
I use the .023" head gasket to gain back some compression.
 
mean gene said:
Red locktite was used to seal the case halves! What a nice touch to do to someone you don't like! After I got it out, cam shows wear in timing side bushing and one lobe has wear. Gona replace it . I have a Web Cam # 312 that's a slight upgrade. Hunting for early 850 .040 pistons to bump the compression a little. All 850 pistons, that I found, are 8:1 compression be nice to have a little more. Crank looks great, will disassemble it and clean out, change bad connecting rod and reassemble bottom end.
Click to expand...
CR bump from JS:

jsmotorsport.com

High compression .003″ thin head gasket ring set (add pliobond sealant).

Comes with .005″ thin crushable copper wire for eliminating oil leaks at pushrod tunnels and oil return hole, making this a reliable and trouble free setup. This is the easiest way to raise…
jsmotorsport.com

He also does nice pistons for stock rods.

But then again… if you’re buying new rods anyway why not stump for his long rods whilst at it ??
 
concours said:
I use the .023" head gasket to gain back some compression.
Click to expand...
You can in conjunction with that head gasket eliminate the base gasket , using the thinnest smear of sealant instead . Mine has no base gasket and has not leaked . I used Permatex # 1 gasket sealant , taking care around the small head oil drain passage that it was applied thinly .
 
Torontonian said:
You can in conjunction with that head gasket eliminate the base gasket , using the thinnest smear of sealant instead . Mine has no base gasket and has not leaked . I used Permatex # 1 gasket sealant , taking care around the small head oil drain passage that it was applied thinly .
Click to expand...
IIRC 850s did not have a base gasket as standard.
 
My MKIII had (and has) one. Pretty sure I was the first person to open that engine up. I have had it since 1988
 
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