The pipe which takes the oil to the rockers (on my 1965 B40) has a bit of a gouge in it (see photo attached.). To give an idea of scale, the outside dia of the pipe is about 4 or 5 mm. The gouge has been there a while (since before I bought the bike), and doesn't appear to leak, or to get any worse, so I'm not overly concerned, but I think I'd like to fill the gouge in some way, given that I don't know how close it is to leaking.
I guess soft solder would be ideal, but that would mean taking off the pipe (in order to avoid a fire.) I wonder if there's some way of repairing it in situ.
Any ideas?
Phil.
Difficult to see how deep it is from the photo.
If it has been there for a long time and is not leaking I would probably leave it. I'm not sure how much pressure is in that pipe with the engine running but as it takes its feed from the oil returning to the tank where there is also an outlet to the tank I suspect the pressure is not too great. I think solder would fill it but a) you would have to remove the pipe and empty it to do it b) after cleaning the area which may weaken it further and heating it to take the solder, you may also soften the pipe so it bends a little easier. You then have to put up with the appearance of solder.
You could fill it with epoxy resin after cleaning it with petrol thoroughly and that may allay your fears of a leak.
You could buy a new pipe. Not too expensive!
Carry a bit of neoprene tubing so if it splits on a run, you have something to repair it with!
Ive just bought a new pipe from Drags for our B40 1965, not worth repairing.
I had a Enfield continental GT in to recomission, previous owner had done bottom connector up without supporting pipe thus twisting tube and restricting flow to rockers. if you have a kink or dent in the pipe , its possible flow could be compromised, and yes, the possibility of breaking through the dent from vibrations.
It appears to be not so much a dent as a gouge - like a deep scratch. Of course when it happened, however that was, it might have pushed the inside of the wall in a bit as well, I don't know. But I don't appear to have any problems so I assume the flow is okay. I'd just like to fill the gouge/scratch in some way, in case the tube wall is really thin at that point. Adrian's suggestion of epoxy resin might be a good idea.
If I were at some stage to consider a new pipe, how does it attach at the oil tank end? It's quite hard to see. There appears to be some kind of braded collar? Is it soldered?
Phil.
If that'e the pipe that connects to the banjos on the side of the rocker cover then it usually connects to a spout on the bottom of engine via a rubber hose secured with jubilee clips.
If you are worried about the dent you could either replace the copper tube with brand new for about £27 or you could cut the copper tube off downstream of the dent and replace the rubber tube with a longer piece propably for less than £5.
Thanks, I've had another look (not taken battery out yet as pushed for time) and it appears there is a spout - a kind of short stub of pipe - sticking up just inboard of the front of the oil tank (near the battery), onto which a rubber pipe, about 2-3 inches long, is pushed. Then into the other end of the rubber pipe, ie the top end, there is the copper pipe which goes off to lubricate the rockers etc. Surprisingly there are no clips on the rubber pipe - why would someone not put clips on? Maybe they have used some kind of glue? Anyway I'm not going to tug at it just now, in case I strain any soldered joint around there. I think eventually I'll replace the tube, but until then I might just give the scratch/gouge a smear of epoxy. Bog standard Araldite adhesive okay, would you say?
Phil.
Personally I wouldnt bother. Cant see what difference it will make. If i was I would either replace it or cut and lengthen the rubber hose.
Phil,
The copper pipe is fitted to the back of the oil tank with a bit of rubber tubing and is just a push fit. As I said earlier, there is not a lot of pressure in that pipe so I don't feel it would break through oil pressure. I would be tempted to leave it but I am sure if you clean the surface well with some petrol, you can use araldite to fill the gouge. Might need to very lightly roughen surface with some emery cloth ( obviously avoiding the depths of the gouge) to help adhesion, but araldite will be fine!
Okay thanks, I've put a bit of Araldite on it.
Thinking ahead, and out of interest/for future reference, if I were to buy the pipe sold by Draganfly, I would need to do quite a bit of bending to get it to meet up at the oil tank end. The final bend would also need to pretty accurate in order to get it to meet up squarely with the rubber pipe there. Excuse my lack of knowledge, but it seems to me that simply bending it by hand, or over my knee, would not be very good, as it would distort the pipe, making it oval instead of round, might narrow the bore and so restrict the oil flow, and might even split the pipe. Would I need to get something like a brake pipe bending tool? (I've never used one, although many years ago I used to sometimes use a Hillmoor pipe bender on bigger diameter tube.)
Phil.
PS the bike is up for sale but what a dilemma, I don't know if I want to let it go (see separate post.) Very hard to decide.
The pipe is quite soft and so long as you do not put a sharp kink in the pipe you should be ok. Similar to bending car brake pipes.
If you want to make a tool, and I did to bend some sharp angles in a brake pipe, get 2 large penny washers and sandwich 3 or 4 smaller washers ( slightly wider than the pipe) in between them and use a nut and bolt to hold the assembly together tightly. You can then bend the pipe over these washers and you will get a smooth bend.
ps you can change the size of the inner washers depending on how tight you want the bend!
a gentle heat would help the bend.
if its up for sale, why worry?
Two reasons: interest; and I'm having doubts about whether I want to sell (as per post in The Star and Garter section)
Okay, thanks everyone, if I'm understanding you correctly it appears I can simply bend the pipe in my hands, without any special tools, as long as I don't make too sharp a bend. Adrian's homemade tool seems a neat idea as well.
I remember years ago annealing copper because it had work-hardened. If I remember rightly, it is heated to dull red, then quenched or left to cool naturally, and you then have a nice workable piece of copper again.
I think copper also age-hardens to some extent? But I'm guessing any one might buy would be nice and malleable.
Anyway, thanks again.
Phil.
just use the heat from your hands, rubbing between hands causes friction and thus heat. otherwise a hair dryer works and not too harsh