Cylinder Puller

[slawsonb]

Moonpup, good thought on the Evaporust. (it is my weapon of choice for any rust combat). Further up this thread, Gerrit was describing the stuckness mechanism as aluminum oxide forming behind the rings and on the piston wall causing the effective diameter of the piston to increase and creating stuckness. The evaporust would attack any rust formed on the rings, but I don' t think a chelating agent is effective against aluminum oxide. Admittedly, I am not a chemist, so if anyone has another opinion, jump in...
...bert

[OldSwartout]

A 9.9 or a 10 being throw the motor into a deep river  or use it as a door stop.
Colin.

Or, as someone had done to a bike I bought a few years ago, split the cases, remove the bottom half and torch the rod off. There wasn't much useable left of that engine, although I did get a good clutch cover out of it.   

[Colin]

Well today I decided to change out the exhaust studs on my freshly aqua blasted barrels because I had nice new ones just sitting there, double nuts onto all of the old ones and I was ready to remove them, 1st stud glides out as does 2nd and 3rd and I'm thinking what an easy job this is when you have the barrels lying on the bench but the last stud was a different ball game  .
Not only did it get right up there on the stuck ness rating I soon discovered it had an insert heli-coil thread that came out with the stud when I wound it out , such things are there to try us because it's always the last one  , had it been the first I might just have let the others be, still I had another thread inserted and it's all good now.
Tomorrow I shall see if I can break something much more important and way more difficult to repair, just for the sheer buzz, it's the only way to get the blood pressure up at my age  .
Colin. 

[slawsonb]

Colin, certainly glad for the positive outcome.
I thought I was the only one, who for the sake of cosmetics, would risk the most difficult to repair or the rarest of parts...looks like you are a kindred spirit (from a blood pressure perspective too!...;-)
I'm sure your bike will be awesome!
...bert

[Gerrit]

Got the RH cylinder off today! In this case the rear spigot developed a crack though only more or less vertically. This will have to be repaired before new plating is applied of course.
Now for the pistons, the LH one won't be a problem but the RH one will as the gudgeon pin and small end bearing are frozen to the conrod's small end, which means hacksawing the piston to bits. But after the struggle to get the cylinders off this will be dead easy. 

[slawsonb]

Glad your cylinder ordeal is over. The remaining dismantling will be cake!
All the rest of the components (pistons, pins, bearings) are readily available.
congrats!
...bert

[Gerrit]

Since the engine was far from complete (only cases, crank, pistons and cylinders) there's not much to dismantle! For those interested, engine number is NA1-06213. Cylinders have later exh flanges, pins, no cutouts in fins. LH cylinder has "345", "L" and "O" cast in the base, RH cylinder has "345" and "R" cast in the base plus what looks like a faint "T" stamping. No other markings found. The engine's history is unknown, so the cylinders may or may not be the originals.

[Gerrit]

After cleaning the RH cylinder the probable cause for the RH piston being such a b@#%&*d to remove became clear: the cylinder plating had loosened in several places, with parts having loosened completely. This caused the piston to jam solidly. In contrast, the LH cylinder's plating, while scored, was otherwise intact and still solidly attached to the aluminium. Both definitely require replating though, but I expected that from the start.

[slawsonb]

Just wanted to update those interested on the fate of my cylinders from my parts bike. They made a trip to Millennium Technologies in Wisconsin for rework and plating. Top deck was cleaned up and a lower flange crack and fin chip were repaired in addition to the mandatory welding, boring, honing, and replating of the bores. Not cheap, but they are things of beauty. They (along with every other aluminum part from my 350) are in Oregon for vapor blasting. When I get them back I will post before and after pics. It really is possible to salvage very stuck cylinders as long as the structural damage is not too severe. I highly recommend Millennium for this service. They were very easy to deal with and did an outstanding job.
 
...bert

[old smokey]

bert, thanks for putting money into my local economy!
I have no connection to Millenium other than the fact that I also had my GTR cylinders redone there.

[slawsonb]

Smokey, I shopped around and these guys are sharp and really did do an excellent job with pretty meager feedstock. Glad your economy is benefitting. Tucson is a desert not only because it's dry, but because there are no local sources for these specialty services. Thankful for USPS/UPS/Fedex.
 
...bert

[old smokey]

bert- I think they do more snowmobile repairs than motorcycles, but it's a nice perk for us. I'll be upset if you get yours going before me. Of course, I should try working on mine sometime. At the moment, me and the wife are hoping to move to your corner of the world. Will let you know if/when that happens. Smokey