Drain Pipe !

[1975-S1C]

Folks,
Is there any truth to what I've heard that you can use plastic bands made out of strips of plastic drain pipe and cable ties to compress piston rings ?

I'm really struggling to get the barrels back onto my bike.
Any help / suggestions appreciated.
Cheers
Paul

[chrisu]

yes you can.

used this method many times

[1975-S1C]

Do you do all 4 pistons at once ? Or 2 at a time ?

[ZedHead]

Yep worked for me

[kev edwards]

Have never used anything, and always start with the middle two, and have only ever broken a finger nail.

[chrisu]

Middle 2 first

I also use a tool to hold the pistons flat

I'll did out a diagram of it in a bit but it's basically a piece of mdf with a cutout for the Conrod

[VinnyE]

I think the blocks to hold the pistons level are ;
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=35063&hilit=compressor

[chrisu]

piston support.jpg (53.46 KiB) Viewed 5598 times

[slappa13]

Works well

[1975-S1C]

Aha, now I see how it's done.
I've purchased some drain pipe today so I'll make some collars tomorrow and a couple of those little wooden fellows too.
Thanks all
Paul

[1975-S1C]

So I made some of those piston ring clips out of drain pipe and bought cable ties, tonight I made the wooden pieces to hold the pistons still. So far so good.
I then go to try the little blocks of wood in place, turn the engine slowly to raise the middle two pistons and then the bloody cam chain snarls and lifts the guide dislodging the little rubber blocks, one of which I can't find. I assume it's either gone down the cam chain tunnel or down one of the inner 2 piston holes in the crank case. The air turned blue at this point.
Question is, where do I go from here ? Is it likely to do any harm ? Might it come out if I drain the oil ? Or am I screwed and have to strip the whole flaming thing down ?

Felling like a prat !
Cheers
Paul

[ZedHead]

Works well

Even better with the engine the right way up

[1975-S1C]

Yeh I know, funny right !
But I do need to sort it, and being completely new to working on Z's (not that you can tell) I do need some pointers.
Am I screwed ? Or what can I do to get that rubber block out of the engine ?

[chrisu]

what rubber Block.

Also if you're new to rebuilding these be really careful and get some help with cam timing. otherwise lots of bent valves !!!

[1975-S1C]

One of the two little rubber blocks that sit on top of the lower cam guide wheel shaft.

Yes, very new to working on zeds, though I do have a triple, but that is of course a very different beast.