exhaust port timings

Anything related to Lambrettas... ask tech questions, post helpful info, or just read and learn.
rosscla
registered user
Posts: 4823
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 9:50 pm
Main scooter: Lambretta
Location: Lanarkshire
Contact:

eden wrote:if that barrel in my pic was used with a 58mm stroke the crown would be sitting much higher at bdc. it has a 62mm stroke so ive lowered the port quite a lot!

But that's because you've stroked it and knew you were tuning the port to match the stroke. If you're working a standard stroke, you wouldn't do that.
"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better."
hendy
registered user
Posts: 859
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:34 am
Main scooter: lambretta li 125
Location: Tyne and Wear
Contact:

What I can't understand is why he has cut the exhaust bottom so much lower than the transfer bottom. 5mm! You don't measure it, you can see it!

Seriously, when I installed it I had no idea about any of this, but it's as plain as day now.

In fairness I have the whole engine and can see the piston in situ, whereas he just had bare casings so it wouldn't have been as obvious.
Adam_Winstone
registered user
Posts: 1693
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2012 8:54 pm
Main scooter: Lambretta GP
Contact:

^... yeah, the extended barrel that I said was tuned to the wrong, standard length, measurements was a case of tuning according to figures on a sheet of paper, rather than building the engine and double checking... a case of the old 'measure twice, cut once' would have been a worthy undertaking. If you don't jig it up then I can see how mistakes could be made.

Adam
hendy
registered user
Posts: 859
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:34 am
Main scooter: lambretta li 125
Location: Tyne and Wear
Contact:

I went to see him last night as a new barrel has arrived.

I don't have a photo, so a description will have to suffice:

In the centre of the bottom of the exhaust port, there is a 'notch', the bottom of which is 62mm(ish) below the top of the barrel.

Consequently by the time the bottom of the exhaust port is cleaned up it will be the same as the one I already have. To be honest I can completely understand how someone would make this msitake unless they had the complete engine to work with.
shocky
registered user
Posts: 2139
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:33 pm
Location: cheltenham
Contact:

Im not tuning expert but there are some very basic checks you do before even getting a grinder out and one of them is checking the lower edge of the exhaust against the tranfer port if its miles out you dont even start making dust as you are litrally wasting your time or a customers money if your a tuner
We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm
hendy
registered user
Posts: 859
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:34 am
Main scooter: lambretta li 125
Location: Tyne and Wear
Contact:

The chap who tuned my barrel is now onto his third attempt (it's costing him a lot of time and money now and I'm a softy at heart).

He has sent me the attached photo to show his latest attempt. Is it good enough? Remember that this is a £160 barrel and piston, not a £600 fancy kit.

In my mind I have two choices now: either accept what it is and live with it for a while or get my money back and put it toward a GT186 kit.

If I'm honest I wish I'd just bought the GT186 in the first place, but that's in the past now.

Image

The only things stopping me from demanding my money back are the fact that I feel sorry for the guy and my lack of knowledge about how much of a problem this is.

Will it really blow up and kill my children, or is it just less use at WOT for a full tank?

I'll be speaking with him in the morning, so I'd like as many (informed) opinions as possible before then.

cheers :?
User avatar
scooterslag
registered user
Posts: 411
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:23 pm
Location: Sunny Barnstaple
Contact:

hendy wrote:The chap who tuned my barrel is now onto his third attempt (it's costing him a lot of time and money now and I'm a softy at heart).

He has sent me the attached photo to show his latest attempt. Is it good enough? Remember that this is a £160 barrel and piston, not a £600 fancy kit.

In my mind I have two choices now: either accept what it is and live with it for a while or get my money back and put it toward a GT186 kit.

If I'm honest I wish I'd just bought the GT186 in the first place, but that's in the past now.

Image

The only things stopping me from demanding my money back are the fact that I feel sorry for the guy and my lack of knowledge about how much of a problem this is.

Will it really blow up and kill my children, or is it just less use at WOT for a full tank?

I'll be speaking with him in the morning, so I'd like as many (informed) opinions as possible before then.

cheers :?
Is this bloke a actual tuner/dealer or just a keen amateur? if he's a dealer then he should not be buggering things up on his second attempt, as for his third? if its covered the top ring ok- I'd run it but then I'm just a keen amateur ;-)
The mack daddy on the left!
hendy
registered user
Posts: 859
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:34 am
Main scooter: lambretta li 125
Location: Tyne and Wear
Contact:

scooterslag wrote:
Is this bloke a actual tuner/dealer or just a keen amateur? if he's a dealer then he should not be buggering things up on his second attempt, as for his third? if its covered the top ring ok- I'd run it but then I'm just a keen amateur ;-)
Sort of half way between the two. He runs a small business as a hobby that earns him a little cash. He used to do it full time apparently, but from what I hear he was struggling; it isn't easy running your own business.

However, that's (sort of) beside the point. Is it going to run reasonably well and is it going to be reasonably reliable?

If it fails on either of these criteria then I want my money back.

Personally I can't see that performance would be significantly compromised as the port opens fully but would be more turbulent at bdc. I imagine that this is insignificant as the flow would be disturbed until the piston was exactly at bdc (or a few degrees either side) even if the crown was perfectly flush at bdc.
hendy
registered user
Posts: 859
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:34 am
Main scooter: lambretta li 125
Location: Tyne and Wear
Contact:

Actually, it's more significant than I'd guessed.

From 10degrees before bdc and 10 degrees after the piston only moves 0.9mm (with a 58mm crank) so it is approximately fully open for 20 degrees blowing spent charge through a turbulent orifice when a well made barrel would be blowing through an almost perfectly smooth one.

Is this a big deal or has all the charge left anyway and this period is unimportant?
hendy
registered user
Posts: 859
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:34 am
Main scooter: lambretta li 125
Location: Tyne and Wear
Contact:

I've solved the problem.

Got a refund and spoke to Richard Taylor of gt186 fame.

I'll be ordering my kit next week after he's checked out my crankcase porting.

I feel happier now.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests