Today in the workshop .....

[Cato]

Lucky it didn't stick the rod out the crankcase really!

It's pretty clear that it was held at the red line, probably in first. People just don't seem to understand the differences between engine types and how to use them. A big single like that is a torque monster, so short shifting up through the box is the order of the day. Between 75% and 100% all the increase in revs does is make more noise.

If it'd been oil starvation it would have thrown a rod, but over revving on a roller bearing just lunched the bearing so it rotates a bit, then sticks. When it cut out they kept trying to start it which destroyed the starter clutch, that then caused the starter gear behind the gearbox clutch to brinell and finally melted the starter. Once I'd sorted that lot and got it running again it was pretty clear that there was more to do and here we are.

 

[Slowcoach]

The good old waste producers license.
what fluid do they use, the ones I’ve seen were about 3’sq.

 

[oldbikedavey]

Mostly torqueing down a BSA B.44 round-barrel cylinder head, and chunking up a large aluminium casting, probably of LM.2 on the bandsaw , into usefully crucible sized lumps....

 

[Cato]

The good old waste producers license.
what fluid do they use, the ones I’ve seen were about 3’sq.

I honestly don't know what it is beyond that it cleans stuff, and I get a waste cert for it when they change it.

 

[Memmeddu]

Made progresses on my leaf sight project during the last two days
Here's how it looks like on a spare receiver

Don't pay attention to the once workbench wich is a tools dump now

It's still work in progress.
Need to refine things but it starts to look like something.
I've solved the alignment problems of the actual sight to the mount just switching from an M4 to M5 thread on the windage adjusting apparatus.
Need to grind little bit of material off the hinge allowing it to fully close.
Round edges little things.

By having a look at the real thing.
It's pretty close dimensionally speaking.
I have to drop little bit the height by removing little more material from the top of the mount wings, getting them roughly at the same height as the bottom of front sight post in the Delta gas block.
I may need to remove material from the piccantinny attachment meeting surface, the hinge and the sight itself.

Fun fact if you add a peq 15 at the rifle in the picture it would be almost identical to my replica.
I have an M2 aimpoint replica in mine, unfortunately not the right scope mount and no rear sight but it's pretty much the same

 

[Robotstar5]

It's a heated SafetyKleen wash on contract, they swap the fluid every month or so, works pretty well when it's hot to be fair. I needed to make sure all the I's were dotted and T's crossed when I moved into the new workshop, as much for peace of mind as anything. Council, insurance, environmental health etc, any of them can walk in the door and I can hit them with the certs for whatever.

It probably won't happen to you being a one man band, but I've found in larger companies they can call every couple of weeks to "change the fluid" hoping the invoice just gets signed off in accounts, when I worked for Keiper my boss was pretty switched on and spotted what they were doing, their visits dropped to every 3 or 4 months after that.

 

[Brad93]

I looked into safety kleen and couldn't warrant the cost

 

[oldbikedavey]

I looked into safety kleen and couldn't warrant the cost

The toll on your self respect doesn't show up on the bill.
Victimhood is not a status to be sought after......

 

[Cato]

It probably won't happen to you being a one man band, but I've found in larger companies they can call every couple of weeks to "change the fluid" hoping the invoice just gets signed off in accounts, when I worked for Keiper my boss was pretty switched on and spotted what they were doing, their visits dropped to every 3 or 4 months after that.

I think they've changed their attitude in recent times, no doubt because of negative feedback and more competition. I'm on a fixed monthly cost for a 6 weeks cycle of fluid swaps, so if they came more frequently they'd be out of pocket.

I looked into safety kleen and couldn't warrant the cost

I um'd and ah'd about it as it's another monthly bill (£233:32 inc VAT) but what swayed it for me was the visibility of the workshop, and that when I ran the numbers for alternatives they were about the same once you include disposal. So I just include it in the annual overheads to be broken down as part of the hourly rate. Talking of which, the national average hourly rate now for a small workshop is £85:00 for general work and £110:00 for 'diagnostics' justified by using more qualified staff on a higher rate and more expensive equipment.

It's unlikely I'll be inspected by any official bodies, but it just takes one and it'd be a world of hassle and these days I'd rather avoid that than engage in battle.

 

[Cato]

In case anyone's interested in actual costs for the Raptor engine rebuild, I've checked it all over now that it's washed, priced up the parts and it's £2,000:00. That's to remove the engine, strip it, clean and check everything, supply a new crank, main bearings, timing chain, gaskets and seals, rebuild it, and refit the engine. As near as makes no odds it's an even split between parts and labour.

 

[Beanwood]

In case anyone's interested in actual costs for the Raptor engine rebuild, I've checked it all over now that it's washed, priced up the parts and it's £2,000:00. That's to remove the engine, strip it, clean and check everything, supply a new crank, main bearings, timing chain, gaskets and seals, rebuild it, and refit the engine. As near as makes no odds it's an even split between parts and labour.

View attachment 522949

You have to wonder how much they could have saved by not getting it fixed when it first went wrong…

 

[Cato]

You have to wonder how much they could have saved by not getting it fixed when it first went wrong…

Around £1,500 on the starter motor, starter clutch gear & bearing (£400 on its own) starter torque limiter, battery, second starter motor as they burnt out the first that they fitted, plus repair time, plus time off the road.

The other thing is from what I can see the sole cause of failure was pinning it on the red line. So a little knowledge would have saved the entire cost.

 

[Robotstar5]

Around £1,500 on the starter motor, starter clutch gear & bearing (£400 on its own) starter torque limiter, battery, second starter motor as they burnt out the first that they fitted, plus repair time, plus time off the road.

The other thing is from what I can see the sole cause of failure was pinning it on the red line. So a little knowledge would have saved the entire cost.

Suggest to the owner you fit a throttle stop/rev limiter while you're in there?, when I used to help a mate run minibikes at country shows we had screw in throttle stops to stop the kids going too fast.

Sidenote on minibikes: One mum paid for her little boy to have a go so I put a helmet on him and explained the controls, "twist this to go and pull those to stop", gave him a push to get going and he went a few feet before falling over, get him back up and try again with the same results, I said it's just like riding a pushbike, he said "but I can't ride a pushbike" I gave mum her money back.

 

[Cato]

The girl picked up her scooter this morning, a happy camper to be back on it.

She was saying that the last couple of days was costing her £15:00 a day for the train and bus, and taking an hour and twenty minutes each way to get to University (10 miles) vs 20 minutes tops and an egg cup full of petrol on her scooter. Yet the powers that be seem surprised that more people don't use public transport.

 

[addjunkie]

The girl picked up her scooter this morning, a happy camper to be back on it.

She was saying that the last couple of days was costing her £15:00 a day for the train and bus, and taking an hour and twenty minutes each way to get to University (10 miles) vs 20 minutes tops and an egg cup full of petrol on her scooter. Yet the powers that be seem surprised that more people don't use public transport.

Thats exactly why my daughter started with a little 125. To get to university she had to go 9 miles in the wrong direction to change busses, and the times just didn't work. There was no buss after 6.30 in the evenings. If the powers that be want folk on public transport it needs to sell itself, by being a better alternative. Parking costs close to the university was a killer to when she used the car. For rural kids scooters etc are freedom.

 

[MattF]

Don't pay attention to the once workbench wich is a tools dump now

That simply makes it a typical workbench, for most of us.

 

[Cato]

Thats exactly why my daughter started with a little 125. To get to university she had to go 9 miles in the wrong direction to change busses, and the times just didn't work. There was no buss after 6.30 in the evenings. If the powers that be want folk on public transport it needs to sell itself, by being a better alternative. Parking costs close to the university was a killer to when she used the car. For rural kids scooters etc are freedom.

It's got to change if people are expected to move to public transport. Especially when you consider how the gap is widening between the cost of personal and public transport in favour of personal with the availability of cheap Chinese cars and bikes as well as the cost benefits of electric vehicles for short urban commutes.

 

[addjunkie]

It's got to change if people are expected to move to public transport. Especially when you consider how the gap is widening between the cost of personal and public transport in favour of personal with the availability of cheap Chinese cars and bikes as well as the cost benefits of electric vehicles for short urban commutes.

It only works where you have big numbers of folk making similar journeys. Besides lots of little bikes etc keeps folk like yourself in work.

 

[Cato]

It only works where you have big numbers of folk making similar journeys. Besides lots of little bikes etc keeps folk like yourself in work.

Which is sort of my point, there are over six million people in the West Midlands and the public transport system here is pants. So if they can't get it to work well here then I would suggest that the whole idea of public transport needs a ground up rethink. Just looking on the likes of RightMove tells you how bad it is when they put phrases like "conveniently located for public transport". If that's a stand out for particular properties it means that a great many/the majority aren't.

 

[addjunkie]

Which is sort of my point, there are over six million people in the West Midlands and the public transport system here is pants. So if they can't get it to work well here then I would suggest that the whole idea of public transport needs a ground up rethink. Just looking on the likes of RightMove tells you how bad it is when they put phrases like "conveniently located for public transport". If that's a stand out for particular properties it means that a great many/the majority aren't.

Yep, Holland and Japan are good public transport examples. We only get busses on a Saturday in summer, and its a 9 miles to the shop.