TOPIC:

Just read that other forum page, makes sense...but I already epoxyed it ha. It should do just fine like this.

Also when I was checking my valve clearances using a socket to rotate the crank, that doesn't throw of my timing right.

Wont throw your timing as long as your cams are in when you turn the motor.

I actually meant timing as in like...when the coils fire, rather then the cam timing. isn't the coil sensor thing right there at the end of the crank...I didn't mess with anything other than turning the crank.

Garbosh wrote: Just read that other forum page, makes sense...but I already epoxyed it ha. It should do just fine like this.

You want cheap, you get cheap. You get what you pay for. If were me, I'd be thinking about that band aid fix every time I got on it hard.
Glad it's your bike and not mine.
Steve

Garbosh wrote: I actually meant timing as in like...when the coils fire, rather then the cam timing. isn't the coil sensor thing right there at the end of the crank...I didn't mess with anything other than turning the crank.

Yes the sensor is right there, near the end of your socket when you turn the engine. But if all you did was just remove the points cover and turn the crank; then the sensor will still swing in time with the crank, regardless of how the crank is turned.

All your wrench is doing is simulating a very slow and controlled starter motor.

Cheers
Chris

swest wrote:

Garbosh wrote: Just read that other forum page, makes sense...but I already epoxyed it ha. It should do just fine like this.

You want cheap, you get cheap. You get what you pay for. If were me, I'd be thinking about that band aid fix every time I got on it hard.
Glad it's your bike and not mine.
Steve

I would have got it welded, because I can throw down some mean beads, but the metal looked brittle and soft like it wouldn't hold one. I wasn't trying to mess it up to the point of no return. I mean in the other forums url, THAT guy had his broken one welded and it still cracked again. I thought this would be the best method. If it does crack again, ill just dremel out the bridge portion.

That's some good quality aluminum. Ours have bearings, the smaller bikes the bearings are the material it self. I would weld it.
Steve

One concern I would have about welding would be whether or not welding the bridge might warp the cap a bit and distort the alignment of the two saddles. I don't know if that would happen as the welded area cooled, but if it did it might cause a bigger issue than the cracked bridge. Ed

If it were me I'd have it clamped down on my bench, weld it, then let it cool. When I was a finish welder, my bench had to be moved with a fork lift. The top was made out of 1-1/4 steel. I now have a large piece of 1" steel I use for these kind of things. A good welding shop will have them too.
Steve

swest wrote: If it were me I'd have it clamped down on my bench, weld it, then let it cool. When I was a finish welder, my bench had to be moved with a fork lift. The top was made out of 1-1/4 steel. I now have a large piece of 1" steel I use for these kind of things. A good welding shop will have them too.
Steve

I wonder if aluminum brazing would be better? It would not be so hot would it?
I'm not a welder and so I don't really know.
I know they are already epoxied together but I think they really need to be held together in perfect alignment before anything is done.
If the alignment is off... when bolting them down to the head, even at such a low in pound torque, the tension error might snap the repair joint.
I can't think of a good way to hold all the dimensions perfectly when clamping down to welding bench.... maybe taking a good one off and using it as a pattern jig, to telegraph aligned holes in a backing plate, and clamping the backing plate down of the edge of the table and mounting the broken cap pieces together using the aligned holes of the plate?
I think if a good welder was really careful, maybe using a bogus camshaft to clamp down too? Or how about using the other cam bearing cap as a backing around the camshaft bearing journal and two bolts with nuts?
Just rattling stuff off the top of my head....

Clamped together horizontally and down on both ends would be enough.
Steve