Ariel Owners MotorCycle Club

Thanks for that Murray. I've tried soaking for weeks in acetone, hours in a sonic bath and heat cycling as suggested above but have had no luck and now I'm trying to cut them out with a small disc. But as Nev says one slip and I've a wrecked piston! Its nerve wracking and can only be done for a few ...

Thanks for that idea Paul. I've got one but hadn't thought of it. I'll give it a go.
MikeN.

Thanks for your advice, gents. I've had the piston inverted and soaking the rings in acetone for 3 weeks but no luck on easing them. Heating and cooling was no help either so I'm using a small cutter disc in a small 12v hand held drill device to cut out a piece of the upper ring. I'll let you know h...

VB tappet removal 27june219.jpg Thank you for your advice, gentlemen! I feared that after some 63 years in place it would be more difficult to remove than it actually was but with a sleeve and cheap threaded rod it came out quite easily and smoothly. The most difficult part was finding a suitable s...

Dear all, I've this old piston that I hope has a bit of remaining life - if I can only replace the rings! The problem is getting the old ones out. It was running on Castrol R and the top two rings are well and truly stuck; I can't get even a dentist's tooth pick in at the ring gap (probably lack of ...

Dear all, As you can see below I need to replace a VB tappet guide and I seek advice on how its done. It seems to be exactly 2 inches long and if I drive it down into the valve chest to remove it there seems to be exactly the same clear length above it in the valve chest before it hits the valve gui...

". . . as it could allow entry of grit and dirt which would accelerate guide wear ?" No, not at all Bevan! The cunning VB design has everything sealed up. You'll see that the guide's top is within the exhaust port in the expected place and the bottom is within the valve chest. The parallel...

". . .would cause much smoke". Ah yes, that reminds me of a cooling solution I definitely DON'T recommend. As a teenager long ago and far away I had an M20 fitted with clapped out Gold Star racing cams. It went very well but then I had this brilliant idea to improve the barrel and exhaust ...

Bevan, Because the VB's tappets move axially in line with the valves there's not the rocking motion that the OHVs' guides have to put up with and so a clearance in the sidevalves that would seem excessive for an OHV seems to give little trouble for the VBs. It's all very hot in there but with the VB...

On expanding the photos of the rockers (inc the one above) I can see "cut marks". What caused them?
MikeN.