Goat

Here is Red cutting off the crushed old slingers and rolling on his new ones. You can see all the crud in this one: And done: Crank going back together: Finished product. All new bearings, new bottom end rollers, a couple of replacement conrods, and 2 new crank web with pins. $$ but worth it. Better than new (literally, as this year (1979) the factory fitted incorrect bearings that would catastrophically fail within 20,000ks! haha. So Italian): So now this is safely on my bench. I've dropped the cases off to get some broken threads welded up, aswell as the oil pump surfaced machined as it has a horific scratch in it. I also dropped the barrels to see what can be done about the scoring. Cant pick it up with fingernail, so hopefully just a hone and i can continue running STD size pistons. Once i get the cases, its off for vapour blasting. Then i can put it all back together. New gearbox bearings are en-route. So hopefully have the bottom end nipped up by the end of feb.

After some initial investigation, I soon saw why it was pulled down, cylinder number 1 bottom end. fucked.: It has had some catastrophic engine failure at some point. There was damage to the cylinder head, cam chain guides, pistons and crank. It looks like the cam chain had snapped at full noise. Damaging everything related. Oh boy. Worst looking damage seemed to be the crank above. (or so i could see) After trying to find someone keen to tackle a Laverda crank rebuild, i ended up having to send it to Redax Engineering in australia. The dude there Red is a super GC. Gave me guidance and advice, and fully rebuild the crank with new bits and bobs, including largely unobtanium bottom end bearings from his own personal stock. Legend! I built a custom crate, and sent it away not knowing what to expect. Got to Red all good and he set about working his magic. The laverda runs a low PSI oil system that pretty mush just pushes oil where it needs to go. All the bearings are roller, so it only needs oil, not pressue. It has sheet metal slingers on the crank, which centrifuge oil into the main bearing. It needs super regular oil changes, as if you have dirty oil, all the particulate centrifuges out and blocks up the slingers. Which happened to cylinder number 2. Fucked: He was doing a few other cranks at the same time:

So a while back this popped up on trademe, in wellington. I was first to view and bought it then and there. A big gamble as it had been completely stripped down for over 25 years! Its a 1979 Laverda 3CL. Its a 1000cc, 3 cylinder, 180 degree crank Italian stallion. These were the fastest production bike in the world for a bit. A claimed top speed of 140mph. They're pretty rare. With only 7 thousand odd being manufactured across all triple variants (3C, 3CL and the Jota) Its a major project. I though i'd just get it, put it all back together and sell for big bux. lol. Yeah right. She's a bit fucked. It was completly stripped down in the mid 90s, and has moved around a few owners since. Has spend the last 13odd years under some dudes house. I'm a sucker for misery/punishment, so i've decided to do the right thing and fix it up proper. This is collection with Seedy AL and his sweet ute. All the parts were wrapped so i had no idea the condition or what was missing: Parts laid out in the shed ready for a shit load of stress and money. Oh boy. The color and seat are vial and will definitely be changed. Just what i need. Exotic 70's Italian engineering in unknown condition and in random bits and pieces. Yay.

The carbs were full of green gunk. It appears to be corroded brass. Pretty much all of the brasswork in the carbs has been etched. Thank goodness the floats are plastic. I've had this with my kawasaki recently, where the fuel ate pinholes in the floats. Really weird, must be some crazy additive in the fuel. The residue was so difficult to remove. Wouldn't even wire brush off. Degreaser and brake clean did nothing. Turns out good old vinegar works a treat. Leave it to soak, wipe it off with a rag. Who would have thunk. Yum: This was rancid: After a soak in some vinegar:

Holy thread revive batman. This has been in the corner of my shed for some time. So i've decided to dig it out and get it going. Currently cleaning and rebuilding carbs and rebuilding front brake. Then i'm going to undo the mods i did to make it a cafe and try and turn it back into OG. Have everything to convert it back asides drom the 4 into 1 pipe. Which i'll try and get a repro, as they are the feature point of the bike. Will be progressing slowly, but shouldn't take too much to get it on the road again. As i dug it out and as it currently stands:

I won't be around either.

Keen

Shit yeah Rog, Repair looks awesome!

Just seeing Michael San's coments above... Be careful driving with the handbrake on, as it can cause the pads to rip out (sounds like a fail i know). But they are a pretty fragile thing, designed to keep the car still. Not for e-brake drifts. So just be mindfull of that. Cos it will be misery to change the pads...

I'll be keen for both

Wow. This is awesome dude! Next level 2 stoke dedication! Have you got any recommendations for a not so wild setup? My maverick is tired and i would love a bit more pep. Not valentino rossi spec though. Haha. Just not first gear up my hill!

Yep, Keen

I'm in

k33n

Find another stocker Al. Get it in and get it gone. Put your efforts into the bus or the cressida like originally planned. Dont turn this into a big project.

You guys are doing it right!

Living the dcoe dream

Still remember stopping somewhere with @kicker in his cedric, and asking him what that hissing sound was, thinking it was a coolant leak. Got a response along the lines of: "Oh, that, its just fuel dripping onto the exhaust, it stops after a while"

Should be self priming, I've never primed one. Just biffed it in, and made dorts.

How pleasant that was

Awesome! I'm in!

Ill be in masterton this weekend Otherwise i'd be all over this. I'll be around next sunday though, if you can hold off till then? Would actually love to give you a hand g.

Love Your Style

Yuss!

Hmm, That doesn't look right, i don't think that chain could stretch 25mm over 21 links.... Thats like 1mm of play per link..... Are you sure thats the right measurement?