Inside the timing cover, oil pump.

I made a new gasket from .015" gasket paper. The object is to get the end play of the gears within specification. The gear driving the dizzy timer is particularly critical. Now I need only remove .001" from its' spacer to achieve minimum clearance of .003". Getting this gear correct will mean the ignition timing will be more stable.

 

I placed the cover on the gasket sheet and drew around with a marker. Then I marked the holes and cut them with a wad punch. Cutting the inner paper away was more awkward but care and attention paid off. Finally the outer paper was trimmed off. It seems like a lot of trouble to make a gasket when they are just a few dollars however alternatively matching and making correct size spacers is as much work if not more.

The timing cover had chrome build up on a copper base. It was very thick and uneven on the gasket surface so needed machining flat and true. Chrome can be such a menace at times. Also the two dowel holes were thick with chrome making the cover tight to remove so I used a reamer to correct size the holes. During assembly I was careful not allow Loctite 515 sealer to coat the dowels as it locks the cover tightly making removal even more difficult.

 

The timing gears were covered in light rust possibly from when it ran US gasoline with the alcohol content. I've seen similar effects on competition alcohol engines. The thought is, alcohol attracts water which in turn rusts.

Top: FLH cam is marked with "H" on a lobe. Left: breather. Right: distributor-timer drive gear. Bottom: crank pinion gear.

Lower left is part of the breather system. There should be a gauze to help remove foam/bubbles from the oil but was missing.

 

Breather screen made from stainless perforated sheet.

 

I made an oil-feed-to-primary adjustment screw. It's 5/16" UNF. It replaces the plain cap screw in the picture so at least now I can control the amount of oil flow.

Finally I modified the screw as pictured. Nut size is reduced to 7/16"

Tappet/hydraulic lifter screen pieces. The screen had a tear so was solder repaired.

  

I rounded up a selection of springs to use the best one for the job. Should the strainer plug, the spring would compress allowing oil to bypass. The spring I settled on was from a ballpoint pen.

The screen got an extra washer soldered to it's flange so making it a better fit in its' housing.

 

I used Brownells hardening compound on the idler gear and breather spacers. Both these items were turned on home shop lathe and hardened according to instruction. They were quenched in very light oil not unlike diesel by weight.

Oil pump assembly with re-zinc plated studs, nuts, plugs, etc. The oil switch pictured had seen better days. The center bakelite part was loose so I tried to tighten the crimp but it sulked and was replaced with a temporary one which switches at 10psi. The switching pressure is a little high meaning the oil light comes on at idle too easily. I think one that switches at a low single digit figure would suffice.

 

Thanks for viewing. I hope you found this interesting.