Top End due to oil usage.

[Mustang]

Goes along with what CLive said on the course.  He's familiar with valves wearing but not valve seats.  As Threepot says and again a Clive quote  "valve land should be 0.05mm,  0.75mm max".

You lot are getting great value for my 75 quid no????

the seats don't wear out , it's more like they get work hardened and will destroy a new set of intakes within a couple thousand miles .

there is a guy in Texas that will cut your seats just enough to get under the work hardened layer, it's not cheap though .

[NeilD]

if you can make a thunderbird sport head fit (the differences is where the screws attach at the cam chain tunnel ) then Triumph are still listing  brand new bare heads for £89 

https://www.fowlersparts.co.uk/parts/6072/thunderbird-sport/cylinder-head-and-valves (https://www.fowlersparts.co.uk/parts/6072/thunderbird-sport/cylinder-head-and-valves)

[threepot]

Does anyone make aftermarket valves for the t3/4's ? In Titanium???

[Sparky]

You lot are getting great value for my 75 quid no????

And not all of us are Scottish 

New / used cylinder head is on it's way thanks to Ivan at National Triumph in Wolverhampton, 100 pounds shipped across the pond is worth a gamble me thinks !

[Sin_Tiger]

And not all of us are Scottish 

You wish 

[Sparky]

Progress report:

Well the new head arrived from National Triumph and the machinist gave it a thumbs up the head will get the seats lapped and new valve seals installed.  Price was 98 pounds shipped from Wolverhampton to the West Coast of Canada, total Canadian after UPS fees was $240.00 which is a great deal in my opinion.  Pics below show the new parts starting to stack up and some pics of the old intake and exhaust valves you can see the normal contact area on the exhaust valve and the sharp edge on the intake valves as they have been deformed by the valve seat.  No wonder the compression was so low looking at the state of intake valves.  I'm now waiting on a new set of piston rings before engine assembly and the rear shock which got sent off for a rebuild before I can reinstall the swing arm and linkage.

[fishnbiker]

I had a reply to this on another site recently,and he mentioned Triumph had a batch of poorly manufactured valves,and a new set would cure this problem? Don't know how much truth in that? I also spoke to Clive Wood,and I'm sure he said the fuel softens them? And you never get a problem with the exhaust,of which all mine were in spec!
I was concerned that it is a valve seat issue .
And when you 'lap' them in,don't overdo it,just a couple of turns!

Mine too. Caught it at 86,000km when the starter sprag was replaced. Now at 130,000.

[Sin_Tiger]

That was quick and very reasonable  I suspect the bike has had a harder life with a PO and/or poor fuel for a period. This is a nice thread (if a wee bit spendy) 

[nickjtc]

This is a nice thread (if a wee bit spendy)

Yes, very interesting. I've never seen a valve end up with that profile before. Makes me wonder how it would have ended up if the bike had kept running....

[Sparky]

Back to working on the bike now after the holidays.

I was waiting for parts from Triumph and the machine shop was shut down until Jan 4th so I picked up the head and sleeves this afternoon, the head got the valves and seats cleaned up, new valve seals and the sleeves got a light hone.  I ordered new piston rings, grudgeon pins and circlips.  First pic is the sleeves with a nice hone on them next two pics show a tip I learned from my two stroke days after a hone or bore on a steel cylinder there is always residual oil, cutting fluid, mud or whatever embedded in the surface so I use ATF on a clean rag to wipe the bores down and you can see the ATF discolor as it cleans the surface.  Spent some of the evening cleaning parts ready for assembly, next step is to set the valve clearance while the head is on the bench.

[JoeDirt]

I am glad to read, pictures #2 and #3 are not your bodily fluids.

[Sparky]

I managed to get the cylinder head installed today. 

A few things to point out:
1) The ring spacer on the third piston ring has to go on first then the upper and lower scrapper rings.
2) Make sure to plug any holes in the crankcase while installing the circlips if one goes AWOL into the crankcase you have a situation on your hands.
3) I installed one circlip with the piston on the bench and the second one after installing the pin as there is not a lot of room to work. 
4) Use temperature to your advantage I put the pins in the freezer for a few hours and they slid nicely into the pistons and rods with swearing or excessive force, read big hammer. 
5) Leave the liners about 1/8" above the block and let the cylinder head bolts push the liners into position.  Triumph put a nice bevel at the bottom of the liners so the piston rings slid in nice and easy without the use of a ring compressor.
6) Check and double check the TDC and cam timing marks before installing the timing chain.

The bike is starting to look like a bike again and not an abandoned carcass. 

[nickjtc]

Beginning to look like brand new.... good job!!

[Sparky]

Well I'm happy to report the Steamer is back together and running no road test yet as the weather is crappy and I have no insurance.  After about 1K miles I will check the valve clearance and compression readings and report my findings this should give the new rings time to seat properly.

The top end rebuild was part of a larger project to go through the bike front to back and add a few farkles, this is what was done:

-  Check front wheel bearings and replace all seals.
-  Repack steering head bearings.
-  New fork oil, 12.5W filled 130mm from the top.
-  LED dash lights, all except low fuel and clock, forgot to order the clock bulb 
-  LED fog lights.
-  Oxford heated grips.
-  Fuzeblock to power the accessories.
-  New battery and cables, ground and starter cables.
-  Rear shock serviced and recharged.
-  Rear suspension bushings greased and seals replaced.
-  Check rear wheel bearings and replace all seals.
-  New rear brake pads.
-  New chain and sprockets.
-  Sprocket shaft, clutch push rod and shift shaft seals.
-  New chain slider block under the swing arm, old one was MIA.
-  New air filter.
-  New spark plugs and Nology wires.
-  Flush brake and clutch fluids.

All in it cost about three to four payments on a new bike   

[nickjtc]

All in it cost about three to four payments on a new bike   

And you've ended up with a bike with waaaay more character than most modern ones........