Thank you Michael. Watching you is like sitting in the garage with my dad fixing cars and bikes before he passed away. Thank you for the brilliant videos and beautiful memories. Martin
Great video Mike... but wonder if you could have mentioned or briefly stated the size of socket / spanner size each time so we know which tool to pick up rather than trying for size every time, Thank you ;-) Love how you compare also to the later C15F and G and B25 engines, great that you giving us your knowledge. Cheers
Yeah, me too. I pressed apart a good number of Japanese two stroke cranks and had a similar set up. The springiness in the blocking and in the press fittings always add up to it letting go all at once. I was using a jack with 12 ton capacity and the press looked very similar to Michael's - hardest crank I serviced to press apart was a large bore Maico mx bike, it was scary with all that pressure.
The worst one I have done was a Matchless 500, that was one hell of a bang. Then a chap who raced the 500s in the sixties said to set the crank up as normal, put a suitable piece of round bar on the crankpin and give it one hell of a belt with a big hammer. He said the jolt knocks them out a lot easier than the steady pressure of a press.
Hello Michael. Following this with considerable nostalgia as once upon a time 55 years ago when a teenager I owned an example of this very model of C 15. I retain a fondness for the BSA/Triumph unit singles, having also once had a Triumph T 20 S. A book I would recommend to anyone with an interest in them is 'The Rupert Ratio Unit Single Engine Manual', ISBN 0 9535098-1-8 on my copy. It covers the entire range of BSA unit singles from the C 15 to the B 50 and is full of useful help and information. Should have watched to the end before commenting LOL :))
Mike, there I was sitting overlooking a well known stretch of water, glass of the foaming Brown in one hand and a Savaloy Dip with extra Pease Pudding in the other when it came to me in a flash “image”. You have tried the foaming Brown, the clean shaven and bearded looks, the cap, the coat and the dog. What you need is a small tattoo on the web of your left hand. How about? A small primate, standing on a raised platform. Whilst wearing a Tricorn hat, red trousers a blue coat and a strategically placed piece of sisal. Just a thought keep up the good work. Andy & Flo
I remember seeing Allen Millyard in one of his "how it's made" videos put a crank in the barbeque before pressing out the pins. Thanks Michael for your great videos. I really look forward to them. Cheers.
I am not sure about hww effective that would be as the steel of the flywheels and the crankpin would have very similar coefficients of expansion. Heating is normally only of use with dissimilar metals. Having said that as everything else that Allen Millyard does is brilliant it is worth thinking about.
Fantastic information from yourself and the crowd. I have a B25 with a C15 engine that is my project for next year. Going to do something similar. I will be coming back to this series many times I can see.
Excellent video as always Michael. It would be good if you could take footage at your friends shop showing the crank being split and then the fix and pressing together and alighment 😁
Hi, Michael, your comment do they have to make these things to be an exact bloody fit, you will find the guy who designed it will never have to either install or remove one, If you had filmed it you would have been able to watch it and return it the same way. Ah well, I have no doubt it will go back. Great video, as usual, don't know how your subs haven't doubled as I regularly recommend people who want to learn to this channel on how to do engine work they think is a dark art or build a bike in general and it is if they don't know what they doing, the problems and pitfalls, the trick is to learn. I need to say the pullers you made and level of finish is second to none.
Thank you. With modern cars and bikes I know that they are designed to be easy to manufacture so complete lumps just get dropped into engine bays etc,, but you would have thought that in the 50s someone would have thought an extra 1/8" here and there would be a good idea.
Michael, I went for a bit of a walk this afternoon and as I passed the local petrol station the only vehicles on the forecourt were two 250cc old BSA singles, one of them even had the German Hand-Grenade style distributor, both of them ridden by older gentlemen. Reminded me it was Sunday and your video would be here by tea time 👍
Old Mechanics trick from an old Mechanic - Ball a bit of rag up under the Intake or Exhaust valve, put a socket ( I use a spark Plug socket with a magnet in the end) on the Valve Cap and give it a tap with the hammer - instantly disassembles the valve and the collets are caught by the magnet - cannot put it back together this way unfortunately ! Much quicker and easier than the Compressor and causes no damage. Paul.J.
Hi Michael - really enjoying this project as well as the channel as a whole. I built up a C15T myself in the dim and distant past so brings back a lot of memories. Good to see/hear mention of good references too such as Triumph in America by David Gaylin and also I think the book with the photos that you refer to is Don Morley's? I'm still a BSA nut but all mine are the '71 grey framers although I don't have a single (yet). Stay safe yourself and best wishes from Blighty.
Hi Michael, Great video and those pulled would be really useful Any chance of showing us all how the oil gets from the pump into the crank shaft and big end etc I believe there's a one way valve inside the right hand crank case that needs checking as well as the pump etc. Cheers really enjoy Sunday evening now. Regards Martin Walker.
You are right to be cautious when the press break thru the stiction of the bearing and crank. It will scare the &^$#^& out of you and then your set up hits the floor when all that energy is released
The previous owner of my C15 who did a "complete engine rebuild" left a lot to be desired, finding the oil pump wouldn't go back in, he sawed a half inch off the pick up pipe, he used half a tube of orange silicone goo to bodge a piece of plastic tubing in too. I did ask him if he'd cleaned out the sludge trap in the crank and he nodded in agreement, but upon stripping it right out for TIG welding to outer case, I found the said trap was solid with black carbon, it took a four inch wood screw to get it started coming out, the very worst mess I've ever seen on any engine, the rear mounting lug was a mass of puffy white aluminium oxide, no metal there at all. You live and learn.
Perhaps you heard us groaning and shouting at you to remove those two top crank-case nuts. I thought you were going to try splitting the cases with them in situ! Again, all very familiar from 50 years ago.. Thanks for sharing your workshop. Les in UK
Hi Michael, Another great video, They used to say "Where there's a Will there's a way" Well Will has been sacked it is now Where there's a Michael there's a way! after making that one off puller! great stuff. One question, would it be a good idea to mark the flywheels before parting them for balance when they go back together or is it not necessary? Also is that a sludge trap bolt in the edge of the flywheel. Cannot wait till next week, Take care Bud, Cheers Dave UK.
Hi Michael, Alpha are still in business. Chris Williams of Autocycle Engineering took on the business and are refurbishing cranks to the usual standard.
@@BritanniaMotorcycles thought so, thank you. I passed my test on a C15 Sportsman in 1970, I got a C15 Star on eBay which I sold at a profit, now I own a Starfire which is my baby, an ongoing project. Take care friend.
Michael, do you think the clutch nut is the correct internal diameter and the correct threads per inch but the wrong thread profile, angle of the sides of the thread and shape of the corners?
Michael, I couldn't help but get the impression that the drive for the oil pump is likely serviced out the bottom of the sump rather than be pushed out the top or is it the bushing that determines which way it will go? Just an observation. Looked like the cases had probably never been split before - nice work on the case puller, all Japanese machines I used to work on had similar factory supplied pullers, some even reverse puller devices for drawing them back together.
I was thinking of making the crankcase puller in two pieces. One to pull them apart, and another end that uses the crank nut to pull them together. I still might. The hole is sized for the tang on the bottom of the distributor worm drive to stick through to the pump. The drive has to come out of the top.
@@BritanniaMotorcycles Thanks. The reverse puller I used had a ball bearing in the load bearing connection to allow the threading to pull but not try twisting the stationary part on the crankshaft, if that makes sense.
Given free choice, would use a TR25 engine in the C15, or do you prefer the BSA unit ? Asking as many years ago a C15 was my first road legal bike, and it had the Triumph engine fitted prior to me buying it, for a whole £50 MOT and road tax included. Needless to say it wasn't very reliable, valve guide kept dropping out. Lol (nothing to do with me revving the nuts off it while trying to keep up modern (back then) 250's
Hah, good read. There's a video on YT of a test ride of a 1970 or so BSA 250 and the owner of it spoke of it having 25 horsepower. I had to think on that a bit - as a mechanic in a BSA/Suzuki/Kawasaki shop and a considerable back history with older 250s like Ducatis and Parillas, the latter claimed to be 26 h.p. and could do 100 mph, I winced a bit that the Beezer actually had the claimed 25 ponies. My experience wouldn't support that claim though I saw the BSA factory MX team racing their 250s at a race at Unadilla, N.Y. and they were certainly getting serious grunt out of those motors.
Thank you Michael. Watching you is like sitting in the garage with my dad fixing cars and bikes before he passed away.
Thank you for the brilliant videos and beautiful memories. Martin
Thank you Mart I appreciate that.
I did not know Robert Bosch came from Taiwan . I did know that Wallmart is Dutch . love your work keepon going.
Getting that oil pump out is one of those times to stop and have a cup of tea.
Something a little stronger I think.
I love watching your stuff!
Cheers!
Coming apart nicely, thanks Mike.
Brilliant! Enjoying this one Michael 👍
What great knowledge you have, a joy to watch!
Great video Michael. I Really enjoy your content and the down to earth way you go about things
Currently rebuilding a 59 C15 engine. Videos like these are always helpful. Keep up the good work
I was shouting don’t forget those two bolts 😝 brilliant project to follow. Looking forward to the next episode.
Really interesting channel. Thank you.
Great video Mike... but wonder if you could have mentioned or briefly stated the size of socket / spanner size each time so we know which tool to pick up rather than trying for size every time, Thank you ;-) Love how you compare also to the later C15F and G and B25 engines, great that you giving us your knowledge. Cheers
I was waiting for the bang! Real drama and tension 😂 Looking forward to next week’s episode already.
Yeah, me too. I pressed apart a good number of Japanese two stroke cranks and had a similar set up. The springiness in the blocking and in the press fittings always add up to it letting go all at once. I was using a jack with 12 ton capacity and the press looked very similar to Michael's - hardest crank I serviced to press apart was a large bore Maico mx bike, it was scary with all that pressure.
The worst one I have done was a Matchless 500, that was one hell of a bang. Then a chap who raced the 500s in the sixties said to set the crank up as normal, put a suitable piece of round bar on the crankpin and give it one hell of a belt with a big hammer. He said the jolt knocks them out a lot easier than the steady pressure of a press.
@@BritanniaMotorcycles ..!!!!
Hello Michael. Following this with considerable nostalgia as once upon a time 55 years ago when a teenager I owned an example of this very model of C 15. I retain a fondness for the BSA/Triumph unit singles, having also once had a Triumph T 20 S. A book I would recommend to anyone with an interest in them is 'The Rupert Ratio Unit Single Engine Manual', ISBN 0 9535098-1-8 on my copy. It covers the entire range of BSA unit singles from the C 15 to the B 50 and is full of useful help and information.
Should have watched to the end before commenting LOL :))
Michael - yes a definite spacer where you said, there was one on mine.
I’m so glad you still call them split pins and not cotter pins. 😬
Mike, there I was sitting overlooking a well known stretch of water, glass of the foaming Brown in one hand and a Savaloy Dip with extra Pease Pudding in the other when it came to me in a flash “image”. You have tried the foaming Brown, the clean shaven and bearded looks, the cap, the coat and the dog. What you need is a small tattoo on the web of your left hand. How about? A small primate, standing on a raised platform. Whilst wearing a Tricorn hat, red trousers a blue coat and a strategically placed piece of sisal. Just a thought keep up the good work. Andy & Flo
I remember seeing Allen Millyard in one of his "how it's made" videos put a crank in the barbeque before pressing out the pins. Thanks Michael for your great videos. I really look forward to them. Cheers.
I am not sure about hww effective that would be as the steel of the flywheels and the crankpin would have very similar coefficients of expansion. Heating is normally only of use with dissimilar metals. Having said that as everything else that Allen Millyard does is brilliant it is worth thinking about.
Kevin Butler those was gudgeon pins out the piston
Fantastic information from yourself and the crowd. I have a B25 with a C15 engine that is my project for next year. Going to do something similar. I will be coming back to this series many times I can see.
Hello Jo. Thanks for watching and i am pleased that the videos will b e of help.
bravo!!
A woman’s compact mirror is perfect for looking up at the bottom of engines along with a flashlight to see what one is up against.
Excellent video as always Michael. It would be good if you could take footage at your friends shop showing the crank being split and then the fix and pressing together and alighment 😁
There is a little bit and I will cover the crank rebuild and trueing.
Liking the case puller Michael, better than the bought ones. Good progress there. We were hiding behind the sofa waiting for the bang on the crank..
As you will see next week it was the jack in my press. More money!!
I know what you mean with spending money, someone mentioned a Rupert Ratio book, can't remember just who, and bam!, another 25 quid I've spent 😂
Hi, Michael, your comment do they have to make these things to be an exact bloody fit, you will find the guy who designed it will never have to either install or remove one, If you had filmed it you would have been able to watch it and return it the same way. Ah well, I have no doubt it will go back.
Great video, as usual, don't know how your subs haven't doubled as I regularly recommend people who want to learn to this channel on how to do engine work they think is a dark art or build a bike in general and it is if they don't know what they doing, the problems and pitfalls, the trick is to learn.
I need to say the pullers you made and level of finish is second to none.
Thank you. With modern cars and bikes I know that they are designed to be easy to manufacture so complete lumps just get dropped into engine bays etc,, but you would have thought that in the 50s someone would have thought an extra 1/8" here and there would be a good idea.
Thank you
Michael, I went for a bit of a walk this afternoon and as I passed the local petrol station the only vehicles on the forecourt were two 250cc old BSA singles, one of them even had the German Hand-Grenade style distributor, both of them ridden by older gentlemen. Reminded me it was Sunday and your video would be here by tea time 👍
Yes they just keep going.
Old Mechanics trick from an old Mechanic - Ball a bit of rag up under the Intake or Exhaust valve, put a socket ( I use a spark Plug socket with a magnet in the end) on the Valve Cap and give it a tap with the hammer - instantly disassembles the valve and the collets are caught by the magnet - cannot put it back together this way unfortunately ! Much quicker and easier than the Compressor and causes no damage. Paul.J.
Hi Michael - really enjoying this project as well as the channel as a whole. I built up a C15T myself in the dim and distant past so brings back a lot of memories. Good to see/hear mention of good references too such as Triumph in America by David Gaylin and also I think the book with the photos that you refer to is Don Morley's? I'm still a BSA nut but all mine are the '71 grey framers although I don't have a single (yet). Stay safe yourself and best wishes from Blighty.
Yes Don Morley it was.
dont forget the grub screw !
Hi Michael,
Great video and those pulled would be really useful
Any chance of showing us all how the oil gets from the pump into the crank shaft and big end etc
I believe there's a one way valve inside the right hand crank case that needs checking as well as the pump etc.
Cheers really enjoy Sunday evening now.
Regards Martin Walker.
I will go though the oil system when I reassemble.
👍👏 Form Bavaria😉
Hello again.
You are right to be cautious when the press break thru the stiction of the bearing and crank. It will scare the &^$#^& out of you and then your set up hits the floor when all that energy is released
The previous owner of my C15 who did a "complete engine rebuild" left a lot to be desired, finding the oil pump wouldn't go back in, he sawed a half inch off the pick up pipe, he used half a tube of orange silicone goo to bodge a piece of plastic tubing in too. I did ask him if he'd cleaned out the sludge trap in the crank and he nodded in agreement, but upon stripping it right out for TIG welding to outer case, I found the said trap was solid with black carbon, it took a four inch wood screw to get it started coming out, the very worst mess I've ever seen on any engine, the rear mounting lug was a mass of puffy white aluminium oxide, no metal there at all. You live and learn.
Funny you should mention the sludge trap. See next week.
Perhaps you heard us groaning and shouting at you to remove those two top crank-case nuts. I thought you were going to try splitting the cases with them in situ! Again, all very familiar from 50 years ago.. Thanks for sharing your workshop. Les in UK
It was close.
I wanted to see how long each screw was coming out casing !!!
10/10AAA
Hi Michael, Another great video, They used to say "Where there's a Will there's a way" Well Will has been sacked it is now Where there's a Michael there's a way! after making that one off puller! great stuff. One question, would it be a good idea to mark the flywheels before parting them for balance when they go back together or is it not necessary? Also is that a sludge trap bolt in the edge of the flywheel. Cannot wait till next week, Take care Bud, Cheers Dave UK.
No need, they only go back together the way they came apart.
Hi Michael, Alpha are still in business. Chris Williams of Autocycle Engineering took on the business and are refurbishing cranks to the usual standard.
Good to know as their old bearing conversions are getting hard to find, and consequently expensive.
That gear change detent spring looks nasty.....
Hi Michael,
You can get valve stem oil seals for the B25, just wondered if you would recommend these or leave as they are.
If the valves/guides are in good condition I don't believe they provide any benefit. I think they tend to hide wear problems.
@@BritanniaMotorcycles thought so, thank you.
I passed my test on a C15 Sportsman in 1970, I got a C15 Star on eBay which I sold at a profit, now I own a Starfire which is my baby, an ongoing project.
Take care friend.
Michael, do you think the clutch nut is the correct internal diameter and the correct threads per inch but the wrong thread profile, angle of the sides of the thread and shape of the corners?
It was someone with a hammer tht caused the problem. The end was mushroomed.
Alpha are still in business in Dudley!
Someone else commented on that. Are they making the various bearing conversions that they used to?
@@BritanniaMotorcycles Yes, still doing bearings and BEs / Thanks for your channel Rick P would approve!
Michael, I couldn't help but get the impression that the drive for the oil pump is likely serviced out the bottom of the sump rather than be pushed out the top or is it the bushing that determines which way it will go? Just an observation. Looked like the cases had probably never been split before - nice work on the case puller, all Japanese machines I used to work on had similar factory supplied pullers, some even reverse puller devices for drawing them back together.
I was thinking of making the crankcase puller in two pieces. One to pull them apart, and another end that uses the crank nut to pull them together. I still might. The hole is sized for the tang on the bottom of the distributor worm drive to stick through to the pump. The drive has to come out of the top.
@@BritanniaMotorcycles Thanks. The reverse puller I used had a ball bearing in the load bearing connection to allow the threading to pull but not try twisting the stationary part on the crankshaft, if that makes sense.
Is the protruding camshaft axle for fitting a tachometer ?
No, it is missing the nut and washer that stop the camshaft from moving sideways in the bushing.
Given free choice, would use a TR25 engine in the C15, or do you prefer the BSA unit ?
Asking as many years ago a C15 was my first road legal bike, and it had the Triumph engine fitted prior to me buying it, for a whole £50 MOT and road tax included. Needless to say it wasn't very reliable, valve guide kept dropping out. Lol
(nothing to do with me revving the nuts off it while trying to keep up modern (back then) 250's
Hah, good read. There's a video on YT of a test ride of a 1970 or so BSA 250 and the owner of it spoke of it having 25 horsepower. I had to think on that a bit - as a mechanic in a BSA/Suzuki/Kawasaki shop and a considerable back history with older 250s like Ducatis and Parillas, the latter claimed to be 26 h.p. and could do 100 mph, I winced a bit that the Beezer actually had the claimed 25 ponies. My experience wouldn't support that claim though I saw the BSA factory MX team racing their 250s at a race at Unadilla, N.Y. and they were certainly getting serious grunt out of those motors.
Don't forget it is a C15 copy.
They certainly hold their own in 250 flat track.
I was going to buy the Rupert Ratio Unit Single Engine Manual off Amazon but they want $784.44!!! Free shipping though :-)
get it direct from www.ratiopublishing.co.uk/The-Rupert-Ratio-Unit-Single-Manual-Volume-1
Amazon isn't always the cheapest option !!! What a difference in price. 😲😧
I see Phil Irving's Tuning For Speed going for silly money as well. I am glad i kept the one I bought in 1969.
Hello Michael good viewing once again. I just want to ask , was there any play in the little end?
No, I mention that next week.
hello michael just realised that you weren't labouring in a shed at the end of a garden in Bolton !! you didn't get your electric tool from B&Q !!!!
I don't think that they have gardens in Bolton. It is Lancashire you know.
@@BritanniaMotorcycles got to have some where to put the toilet cant have it inside ...its rough oop north!
heaters a bit noisy
But it is better than being cold.
Did you ever sell Fred Dibnah a newspaper?
Unfortunately not. I used to love his TV stuff, particularly as I go funny on top of a step ladder.
Michael Waller he was my hero growing up, I named my first child after him!