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[Mr Grumpy]

Reading these posts is incredibly helpful ( as well as scary sometimes as I have my first bullet with potential faults!!!)Simple Tips like the oil filler cap has two positions the tightest being for transport instinct would make me go for tight when of course its the first positioned keep posting folks!

[Norm]

One tooth off the spindle and the pump won't turn

[Norm]

Simon I should have added how I finally found the bit of plastic in the scavenge side After pulling the head and taking it down to our head man for crack testing, put it back together and no improvement, I then pulled it down, couldn't find anything, put it back together, still the same, pulled it down again, still couldn't find anything, put it back together, still the same, then I put a bit of Ajax in through the plug hole, took it out on the road and flattened it in first, into second, flattened it, into third held it flat and all of a sudden the smoke stopped, turned around and went back home to change the oil and in doing so I found the plastic in the scavenge strainer. No problems after that, not that I'm suggesting you do this but in my situation I had just fitted a roller and new piston and I knew everything in there was in good condition, and I knew the big end was getting oil. Anyway the rings got bedded in pretty quickly lol

[simon]

Ajax Norm? Do you mean detergent, surely not the pumice based scouring powder? Funny how these nigglly problems always sort themselves in the end. My spokes for the Ducati wheels arrived today so I'll give the Enfield a bit of time out and then pull it down again. I had a Benelli 650 once that had a two year shed of shame storage before I took it out and realised I'd mucked up the valve timing jiggling the crank case halves together. Fortunately for me I'm not in the profession. A friend of mine used to own a luxury European car mechanical business and he said that it was soul destroying trying to find some silly niggle whilst the owner got more testy and less willing to pay for the hours that were being chewed up.

[Norm]

Simon last week I spent 8 hours fitting a new Albion gearbox end cover to a new Albion gearbox housing, believe it or not, you can never explain that sort of problem to anybody, when the bolt holes don't line up and you sit there with a rat tail file, 4 hours to get the kickstart shaft to fit and work

[Adrian]

Norm, part of an old-fashioned fitter's job was to er... make the parts actually fit! Glad to see you're preserving an old engineering tradition. A.

[Tim NZ]

I have seen examples of Hi Cap oil pumps with identical drillings of the ports of both discs...
IF both disc have identical port drillings there in lies part of the problem.
The difference in port alignment between feed and return discs is only 1/8" but it is enough to have a major effect.
Blocked oil pipe or oil ways through the rockers...

What kills the oil pump drive:
1: Kick back on starting 2: No oil pressure relief in the return oil way.
Every time the motor kicks back the OP drive shaft reverses direction and is pushed forward, jamming the drive! The Interceptors overcame this problem by locating the pump cross shaft with a set screw, REI should have done the same.
Does your engine wet sump at all?
Riding off with a semi wet sump see MASSIVE oil pressures in the return over the rockers. You MUST fit a rocker oil pressure relief valve if you are going to run Hi Cap oil pumps! The cross-shaft is unable to cope with Hi-cap oil pumps and a wet sump!
Engine back fires regularly?
check the ignition timing and retard as need be, and then replace the oil pump drive shaft and worm!

[simon]

Mmmm think I'll return to the original pumps once I've sorted this scavenge issue. Seems to be a needless complication, still sacrifices to the God of speed as Burt Munro would have said. Reading Tim Hanna's biography of him at the moment. What an astounding old devil. S:)

[simon]

Ok so the engine is out and the crankcase split. I have yet to do any decent forensic work on it but there does appear to be some non metallic gritty shit in the oil tank. There are also signs of some significant blow by so the period that I must have ridden without a pump must have cooked the rings although there doesn't seem to be any signs of nipping up on the bore. Will report further after tomorrow.

[Norm]

Simon, only problem any time riding it without the oil pump has bad effect on the floating bush, I don't think it has a roller in it?