Monday, June 30, 2014

Service time... part 2.

Ok, here's a bit more from my latest Norton session:

It is vitally important that the oil tank drain bolt be tightened properly. I've decided to put some lockwire on here, as losing the plug during operation would in all likelihood result in all the oil being dumped on your rear tire, with predictably horrifying consequences. On the bright side, you'd crash long before the engine was starved of oil so... silver linings, eh?
Andover offer a variant of this bolt/plug, with a magnet. I'm going to fit this to replace the original one since it's a little bit mangled, and will be checking it at the next oil change to see what will have happened in my oil tank.

As for the oil filter, provided you or the previous owner/mechanic didn't over-tighten it, a strap wrench like this is all you need to remove it:
Make sure the outside of the filter is free from oil and grease, then fold a strip of coarse sandpaper and wrap it around the filter, this will give you a lot more purchase on it and it should come off with very little effort as it did in this case.
Always inspect the new filter for any foreign particles, swarf, damaged o-ring, etc. Here's the new filter:

As you know, spin on filter cartridges need only be tightened by ½ turn after the rubber o-ring contacts with the engine/mounting flange. Of course, the o-ring itself should be oiled, and in some cases you can even prime the filter with oil before you install it. All that will prevent the filter from getting truly stuck on and you won't have to resort to "the negotiator" to get it off:

Last but not least, I replaced the battery with a Motobatt unit. I've not tried these before but they're popular, fairly cheap and maintenance-free. I also tidied up the battery tray and it looks considerably better than the unholy mess I had there before.

Here's a neat tip: use a wide strip of aluminium tape to secure extra fuses to the battery:

1 comments:

Mario Di Nucci said...

one more step forward...
I love the new oil tank plug, good tip for my next racing fastback

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