RH Crank Bearing Oil Well Cover

Hi,

I am after a bit of help from minds who have more experience in these sort of things.

I am up to fitting the RH crank bearing housing (Kit 10) and have hit a snag - the cover for the oil well doesn't fit, as the hole for the hinge pin seem to be in the wrong place. As it stands the pin for the hinge cannot pass through both holes as they are too close to the rear of the well (see photo).



The second photo shows roughly where the 2mm holes would need to be to make the cover fit within the existing housing.


As I see it, I have a couple of options:

1. Redrill the hinge pin holes. As they would pass at least partially through the existing hold down bolt holes, these would have to be filled with a piece of steel rod (or similar) to stop the drill wandering (it is ~2mm drill, so it is fairly flexible and will easily wander). I don't have any cast iron rod so is steel the best to plug the holes or would brass be better?

2. Use a ball end cutter to grove out a trench for the cover so the pin can pass through both holes and the cover hinge. This should allow the cover to open fully as it only needs to be ~2mm deep.

3. Mill down the back of the cover ~2mm to allow the pin / cover to fit (don't think much of this)


Any other ideas / suggestions / advice?

Thanks in Advance,

Rodd

I'd suggest option two or send it back to STW for replacement/modification

yes Rod, option two is what we have been doing at the factory to solve this problem, in fact yours should not have been sent out without this being rectified.

send it back to us, that's the best thing to do

actually, just seen where you are so sending it back may not be what you had in mind. it's up to you. send it back and we will sort it or fix it yourself as per option two. i can only apologize that it was sent out to you in the first place.

Thanks Craig and Steve,

I agree - Option 2 is the simplest way to go.

I'll have a go correcting it myself as it would cost a few limbs to post the casting back to the UK.

I will let you know how it all works out (if you see an order for a new casting, you can guess 'Not well' )

Rodd

I would suggest that a dremel with a ball end cutter would be suitable if larger machinery wasn't available. Clamp the bearing cap to the bench and use two hands to control the dremel so it doesn't run away from you.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the tip. Certainly worth trying / contemplating if using the mill looks too much like a 'challenge.'

I'm guessing that controlling run aways will be the biggest issue when trying to break through the skin and establish a trench.

Rodd.

I had the same on my cap i over come this with my mill but you cut down on a run away when useing a dremel by chain drilling first along your marked out line then all you would have to do is join all the holes up. And you might have to remove some iron at the rear of the cap to clear the gear change casting as well.

Closing the loop on this thread.

I got a chance yesterday to mill out the slot to allow the oil well cover to fit. I used a 5mm ball nose cutter and it took 5 time longer to set things up than it took to mill the slot! I used 1:2:3 blocks to align things square to the bottom face of the casting.



After milling the slot ~5mm deep, it all worked as it should



Thanks for the advice and suggestions on how to tackle this

Until the next question ......

Rodd.

PS: Yes I know the cover is up side down - I found this out after I took the photo. It works even better now