Powerplus

[c.o.]

I was sitting around bored tonight and thought I'd yank the engine out of the '16 for a closer look.



I decided I'd pull the plugs first. Check out that gap!!!!



I popped the valve caps off and took a look inside. I was suprised to see a very small amount of soot. There's some random debris inside but I'm thinking that's due to sitting without header pipes for many years. I pointed a flashlight toward the bore and so far it's not looking too bad. Note the primers went bye bye somewhere along the line.





There's some motor mount damage.....



Well, that's all for the moment but if there's interest I'll post more pics as I go.

[exeric]

I see a little bit of the welder's art will be needed at the back mount but otherwise, that motor is a beauty. I'll bet you're feeling that ghosts from the past stuff as you get into that motor Cory.

[c.o.]

Eric, I was dancing around last night thinking, if the welding that's needed is the worst thing I run into then I can count myself lucky. Your "ghost from the past" hunch is right!!!

[c.o.]

I took some time tonight and yarded off the cylinders. The pistons have a bit of sideways slop but not too bad. I'm happy to report that there is no detectable up and down movement on the connecting rods. There was a hint of an oil film in the bottom end but not much.



The rear barrel.



Front barrel.

[BigLakeBob]

Cory, I enjoy your very positive contagious outlook in every one of your posts. Bob

[c.o.]

Thanks Bob! It's hard for me not to get excited about stuff like this. Especially, when I find limited problems in a motor this old!! I discovered that the timing gears were not lined up correctly and puttered a bit just for practice.



It's looking like I'll tear it right down and give it a good cleaning and put it back together again. So far, I'm not seeing/finding enough wear to worry about replacement parts (YET!!). I was initially worried about the rings re-seating and ending up with a "smoker" but upon studying the old manuals it appears that pulling the cylinders was a regular maintenance thing and I've yet to find it written that rings would have to be changed unless it was necessary. Feel free to speak up with opinions on this notion!!!

I popped the mag off to take a look and again it's looking like it needs a good cleaning and then I'll figure out if it sparks or not. Does anybody have any recommendations on getting all that wire clean??? I've got some stuff here that will likely work but it's always good to hear about what other folks are doing.



This is going to be a laidback, no pressure project. Over time I've got some parts to round up but I've given myself until the bikes' 100th birthday to have it running. Just trying to be realistic!!!

[rwm]

Thanks Bob! It's hard for me not to get excited about stuff like this. Especially, when I find limited problems in a motor this old!!
you want me to come over and give it a beat down with a harley wrench?

[c.o.]

Thanks Bob! It's hard for me not to get excited about stuff like this. Especially, when I find limited problems in a motor this old!!
you want me to come over and give it a beat down with a harley wrench?

I'm guessing it would be a little over a week roundtrip for you, with long days behind the wheel but if you think it will help...

[c.o.]

It's looking like I'm about ready to split the cases. On the sprocket side I see that I've got what looks like some kind of lock ring to deal with. Does anybody have any suggestions as to how to break it loose? Possibly throw a little heat to it? It looks like it's been beat on a time or two over the years and I don't want to be another one on the list to cause it damage. How about thread direction? Left or right?



Another question regarding the cases. Who's the "man" to repair the mount bosses? I suppose I could track down a good welder but I'm a little nervous at handing over these old relics to someone who may not have an appreciation for this kind of stuff....

[charger49]

Dont worry about the lock ring on the drive side, it only holds a felt seal so wont stop you from splitting the cases, and it is probably easier to undo it once the cases are split.

I used C spanner to undo the lock nut on our powerplus.

[c.o.]

Dont worry about the lock ring on the drive side, it only holds a felt seal so wont stop you from splitting the cases, and it is probably easier to undo it once the cases are split.

I used C spanner to undo the lock nut on our powerplus.

Thanks!! That's one less headache!!!

[jurassic]

hey cory, i got a real good aluminum welder in rapid city. he just fixed some unfixable merkel cases for me. one of the best i've seen,and i've dealt with alot of welders. he can also do the machine work after the welding. fixing those tabs on your cases is pretty basic.

[nagamon]

I am not an experienced bike mechanic but I have 35 years in a machine shop. As charger49 says a C-spanner is correct. It looks like someone used either a punch or a spanner with a round peg on your lock ring at one time. Find or make a spanner with a flat peg. The better the fit the better the results.

[c.o.]

hey cory, i got a real good aluminum welder in rapid city. he just fixed some unfixable merkel cases for me. one of the best i've seen,and i've dealt with alot of welders. he can also do the machine work after the welding. fixing those tabs on your cases is pretty basic.

Thanks for the heads up Lonnie!!! I'm sort of just getting this thing all ripped apart to see what needs to be done at the moment. Maybe I'll bug you for some info when I'm ready to go.

I am not an experienced bike mechanic but I have 35 years in a machine shop. As charger49 says a C-spanner is correct. It looks like someone used either a punch or a spanner with a round peg on your lock ring at one time. Find or make a spanner with a flat peg. The better the fit the better the results.

There's a second hand store that I check out from time to time and the guy has got wooden boxes full of tools. When I need an oddball size or something that I'm going to want to bend up, I dig through the boxes. I'm pretty sure I've seen wrenches like you are referring to. If he doesn't have anything then I'll see what I can make. Thanks for the idea!!! A hammer and punch will not strike that lock ring again!!

[c.o.]

O.K. I got back out to the shop for a bit tonight and thought I'd split the cases. I got to the oil pump drive gear and it became apparent that it was going to be a challenge. Not wanting to call it a night yet, I slid the left hand side off for grins. I put the flywheel assembly and right hand case half carefully in a vice and took a good look at the oil pump. What's the deal on pulling that gear? I thought a pinion type puller may work but there's not a lot of room to get a good grip on the gear. I'd say maybe a little over a third of the circumference is safe enough to grab on to. It's also looking like I should disassemble the rest of the pump prior to attacking that gear. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Oh, and another question is there any overhaul literature out there for this engine? I've yet to stumble across any.





P.S. Sorry, the pics aren't the best tonight.