The engine case is open now and it looks like I did no damage. *Happy*

I will discard the wheel rims and buy new ones as re-chroming them would be more expensive and Radaelli rims are still available today. Thanks to Moto Italia I also now own a engine split tool.

Almost ready for splitting the engine.

Now tool for my Aermacchi-tool-collection. 🙂

Before disassembling. Rear wheel bearings: SKF 6204-2RS1

I built myself a pinion gear puller that worked good. As you can see on the last picture the piston rings are totally baked into the piston.

The inside of the engine looks not very good at all. Spark advance is broken and the primary gear is totally worn out. I am pretty sure more bad surprises will come, going deeper into the engine. I also noticed that the left engine cover has a 1971 production time stamp and the right side a 1968. I am pretty sure someone had the engine disassembled before me.

The engine is the so called “ashtray head”. The cylinder and head are designed for the US market. It replaced the earlier, classic Aermacchi cylinder/head. Customers in Europe didn’t like that design much and so it was available in Europe just for a short time period from 1969 to 1970 before they changed back to the classic knucklehead with the 1971 models. In US they kept the ashtray design until the arrival of the 1973 model of the Harley-Davidson Sprint.

Engine crankcase: L988

• 06/16/2013: First oil change at 120 miles (193 Km) – out HD 20W50 – in Castrol 20W50
• 06/19/2013: Re-Tightened nuts and bolts. Impressive how many became lose after that short period.
• 06/30/2013: The plan was to attend an oldtimer get together and market in Ansbach (mototechnia) which is about 35 miles from my home. I made 2/3 of the way, when suddenly the engine cut off (odometer: 160 miles). Luckily that was very close to Aermacchi parts distributor Rudolf Jungjohann. The error was found quickly: The circuit breaker screw came loose and was damaged, so I had no spark at all. We put a replacement screw in adjusted the timing and the bike did run again. Sadly there was no time left to attend the get together anymore on this day, but I did make it home on the bike without trouble (180 miles)
• 07/07/2013: Believe it or not – the kickstand broke into two parts just out of nothing. (odometer: 213 miles / 342 kilometers) Luckily this happened while in my own driveway and still sitting on the bike. Imagine what could have happened, while the bike resting on the kickstand!
  
• 07/08/2013: As I can’t ride the bike at the moment because of the broken kickstand, I decided to disassemble the right engine cover again to replace the oil seal for the clutch hub. Reason: I am losing tiny amounts of oil through the dry clutch. This happens because of my own stupidity, I mounted the oil seal with the wrong side facing the oil. I realized that by looking at pictures I did during assembling the engine.
• 07/08/2013: Replaced the tach drive because of a worn out oil seal. I had a NOS one at home already, because I expected that problem.

Finally back on road. I also bought myself a matching italian-flag-design helmet for the bike. 🙂

The GT once belonged to a fast rider. Those footpegs tell the whole story and it fits well into the picture together with the modifications made to this bike with a later and lighter seat, lighter tail light, missing fork dust-covers, cut-out clutch cover and other modifications – all with the goal of getting the bike as light as possible.
Because of the bad overall condition of the bike I assume the previous owner once lost interest in the bike and had it stored outside somewhere in a tiny Italian alley for decades.
Those footpegs will go directly into the trash bin. I have restored footpegs and reproduction rubbers in my inventory. The engine will get a good cleaning before disassembling and the airfilter will be replaced by a K&N replacement.

It is done, the bike is very handy now and easily fits into a large rack. The hardest part was getting the fork out of the frame. Heat and pure force did the trick. The weldseams look like having been done by an apprentice in his first year. Never seen such bad weldseams on my other Aermacchis.

The tires, rims and spokes will be replaced later. Hubs will be polished and reused. The oil in the front fork – or better what is left – is just mud, but there is hope that the fork may be repairable. The shocks are totally broken and can’t be reused.

Getting the engine out of the frame was easy because of the original Aermacchi “backbone” frame. Somehow the engine also felt much lighter than the 1974 engine, but as I do not know the weight differences this is just a feeling.

There – the idea of the cafe racer is back in my mind…
No, not this time. I will restore it to factory defaults. 😉

So, here we are. I have started disassembling the bike. I have got this small original Ala d’Oro gas tank and seat as decoration in my garage. I couldn’t resist the idea of building a café racer and so I tried how those parts might look. However, I will restore it back to original condition, but ONE DAY I might build a café racer!

Oh yes, those silencers look pretty good. Just a little cleaning of the “Frankfurter Töpfe” and I can right use them again. 😉 Luckily I bought NOS replacements years ago and stored them safely in my basement.

I took some pictures before disassembling as construction plan for a later assembling. 😉

The first step for getting the bike road legal again. I bought the bike without any papers in 2006 and as it was imported in very bad shape from spain it never had any german papers. The officials tested it 2 hours for beeing safe, beeing within noise regulations and so on. I also had them investigating the bike if it is in original condition as it was sold by factory in 1974. a car or bike older than 30 year ins original and very good condition can be registrated as “oldtimer” in Germany which brings some benefits and safes taxes for example.

I did some pictures of the finished bike. I am very proud. It almost looks like brand new with very tiny cut backs. On one picture you can see my special bike trailer which can be lowered to ground and lifted with an air compressor for easy loading by one person only. I just had to modify it a bit as it is designed for bike bikes with wide wheel base like my HD FXDL. The trailer also has pneumatic shock absortion and I love it. If you don’t use the trailer it can be folded and easily stored in the garage!

Finally I received the missing original handlebar switch for light, horn and turn-signals. There is no one in the world who can be worse at soldering than me, but in the end it is mounted to the handlebar and it works good. Thanks to Carl from the US for helping me out!

I couldn’t resist and I took this picture of my red Aermacchis on one of the first “not raining days” in this year after the longest winter ever!

I made a km/h scale and sticked it on top of the speedometer to make it road legal in Germany. 🙂
The local locksmith also made me a copy of the key for the ignition switch, as I had only one ignition key.

Video of first start after more than 6 years of restoration. The bike is already done. Not much to too anymore. Missing CEV169 and tach-drive.

With a NOS main wiring harness there is still a lot of rewiring to do, but so far everything works out great. The original starter relay was broken, but with help I was able to find a brand new one to replace the original Bosch.

I bought a new battery. 12V 19Ah as I started with the rewiring.

Here is a Picture of the bike how it Looks today. There is not so much work left, but the last two years I did not have any time for the bike. I will soon start on the bike again!

So, the engine is done. It is now back in the frame. 🙂

Ready to go back into frame!

Used original alloy trim stripes on the side of the seat. I had to trade them against something else and I bought new T-bolts to mount them. The seat turned out great, but overall it was an expensive fun to get it there.

A saddler stitched the original pattern into the seat-cover and recovered the pan.

Cleaning the valve seatings

The sandblasted, rebored and honed cylinder is installed on the gearbox. The piston is a new 0.2 oversize together with new rings and new seals for the cylinder base.

An oversize piston and rings, handlebar grips, a set of gaskets and a main wire harness

Both compression rings are within tolerance (0.10 to 0.16 in) but the oil control ring is of scale.

On the left side you can see the piston that came with my replacement cylinder. It looks good on the first look, but if you look closer there is no doubt a butcher worked on it. Now I have a usable replacement cylinder but no piston for it.

The used replacement cylinder I bought on ebay. Got it back from bead blasting today. On the second picture you can see parts I am going to send out for polishing and chroming.

Handlebar rechromed and right side engine covers polished to shine.
 

There was so much sand in the cylinder head from sand blasting, I had to bath it several times to get it clean again.

Here you can see the sand blasted cylinder head and the very nice Y-Pipe which I got from Dave.

Right side cover

Here you can see the freshly powder coated seat pan and the reproduction seat cover I bought. The seat cover is professional made but does not have the original pattern on top.

I have removed all parts from the right side engine cover so I can send it out for polishing. The cylinder head need cleaning as well. The oil seal for the clutch basket is a42x56x7 the ball bearing for the advance is a 6203 and the oil seal a uncommon size of 17x32x5.

High precision, fine german engineering for a special tool 😉 to open the inner clutch hub nut.
By the way as I have a 74 SS-350 this is the improved alloy clutch hub which was introduced on late 73 models. It can be identified by the higher number of toothes compared to the earlier steel hub. The late version also needs different clutch plates.

Removing valves, rockers and stuff from the head…
       

Disassembled kickstarter so I can send it out for rechroming. Cleaned the taillight bracket and removed the camshaft. The oilseal is an uncommon size of 17-32-5 and the ballbearing behing is a 6203

Jürgen send me his self made tool for removing the clutch hub. Together with a power wrench I was able to get the center nut lose and to remove the clutch hub. The surprise followed instantly, as for the nut of the clutch shell I need a kind of spanner tool.

I had the lamp housing powdercoated a while a go. The reflector brackets and reflectors are nos. Today I bought a standard aftermarket H4 lamp insert that fits quiet good. The difference is that there is an extra parking light so I have to rember this, when the bike will be rewired.

Received my K&N airfilter as replacement for the OEM airfilter.

After some basic cleaning on the cylinder I noticed some bad scuffs in the bore which almost look like they are the result of rust. I somehow have the feeling that even a rebore and oversize piston wouldn’t compensate – maybe a 0.8mm – but looking for a better cylinder and oversize piston seems to be the right thing to do right now.

I am currently stuck on the engine, because I need to buy a 36mm wrench for the sprocket gear, borrow a clutch holding tool, and ordering a puller with longer arms to get the starter sprag off the shaft.

Today I packed the left side engine covers and the handlebar so I can send them out for polishing / rechroming tomorrow. I also have two ugly seat pans which I will bring out for sand blasting and powder coating the upcoming week. I will use the pan that comes out better.

The piston was removed quickly.

It took me over an hour to get the cylinder of the studs as they were rusted like hell.

Well, I am no expert, but I am pretty sure this starter motor will not start any engine ever again. I am lucky that I bought a new one as replacement years ago, just because I got it for a good price. My replacement starter is the improved version which disengages when the engine fires back.

A NGK B8ES spark plug was installed. Dismounted oil return pipe and lower rocker cover.

Removing the starter sprockets

I drilled the broken pin out of the shaft which was easier than I thought. After that I removed the chain cover.

I    

Removing coils plate.

I removed the clutch hub and plates with my selfmade tool.

A colleague lent me an extractor that worked getting the rotor lose. But somehow I am confused about the shaft, isn’t it supposed to have a notch and a key? Somehow this looks strange. I also learned the hard (hurting way) that it is better to leave the center nut loose on the main shaft when pulling the rotor.

I removed the oilpipe, the intake rocker cover, tappet covers and flange cover

As I am stuck on the left side of the engine as I need to buy or borrow a proper extractor to get the alternator rotor off I turned the engine and trying my luck on the right side. Removed clutch cover, circuit breaker cover, oilstick and speedo shaft.

Then again, I am stuck as I need a proper tool for removing the clutch.

A power wrench did the trick of removing the nut from the alternator (turn to right to open!)

Today I drained the engine oil removed some of the clutch parts and cleaned some parts. I then noticed the kickstart shaft already has some broken out teeth. I have to find a replacement for it.

Some more pictures from removing alternator cover…

I removed the alternator case cover. The case screws are 6 mm x 18 mm (Inbus).

Today I received some dellorto spare parts and so I could finish the work on the carb. The air filter housing is also ready but I do not have a air filter and I do not have the parts required for connecting the air filter housing to the carb. I would bie happy if someone could tell me part numbers?

Is this the correct handlebar for a SS-350? I am not sure where I  have it from, it could be from a Z90 as well and I want to be sure before I send it out for chrome plating.

After more than 2 years in which I didn’t have the time to work on my bikes, I have decided that I will continue with the SS-350. Well, actually I still do not have a lot of time left as there is still a lot of more important work to do, but I am going to take the time!
I took the carb, disassembled it and cleaned it with the ultra sonic bath and some “DREMEL polishing” and the result is not too bad. The carb was very dirty all over but not damaged as far as I can tell. I have already ordered a few new screws and new gaskets which are still available.

Notes:

• Metering Pin: V10
• Low Speed Jet: 45
• Main Nozzle: 265T
• Starting Jet: 70

That seat pan is nothing more than rust. I will trash it and look for a better one.

Almost a rolling basket in Februar 2008

• Disassembling the front fork
• Polishing the front fork. Left side “after” and on the right side “before”
• Redone front fork
• Rear wheel and front fork back in frame

   

The wheels are total makeovers. New aluminium rims, new stainless steel spokes. Hubs are polished to shine again and brake shoes are sand blasted. New ball bearings and seals and new Dunlop K82 tires. I also decided for a 19″ instead of a 18″ front wheel.

The guy who already painted all my other bikes also repainted the gas tank for the SS350. When he sent me the gas tank it was totally damaged by transport and had to be done again. The decals are reproductions made by myself.

The whole frame and a lot of smaller parts are now powder coated. 
I started reassembling with a new steering lock, new ball bearing for the front fork and new turn signals.

The naked frame ready for powder coating and an engine waiting for restoration. The engine is heavy like a rock, so why are people calling these bikes lightweight Harleys?

 

My new motorcycle lift. Never thought I really needed one, but it makes working on bikes much more fun.

First pile of parts after powder coating

I found this NOS original seat in perfect condition on ebay. This is the correct one for a 1970 model. On my bike a previous owner mounted a seat of a 1971-1972 model which looks more modern and also is not so heavy. The 1970 seat is old school style with metal springs.

I collected parts that need to be replaced or were missing on my GT-350. The chain guard is in bad shape and will be replaced by this usable one after painting. The old style fork covers have been missing on my bike. They are not necessary but they were mounted by factory in 1970. Those mufflers are perfect NOS parts which costed me some money. I know, most people replace them by a single exhaust as a one-in-two exhaust just makes the bike heavier, but I like it as factory original as possible.