This article is a small "rant" about supposedly restored machines that you can buy from supposedly knowledgeable "amateurs."
Too many shoddy, "botched," even dangerous machines pass through the Workshop for us to remain indifferent.
So, beware of "restorations" and "engines rebuilt as new" offered here and there.
Today, I'm using the example of a Solex engine, purchased in good faith by a client and arriving at the Workshop supposedly "ready to run," just waiting for its chassis to hit the road again.
Always a bit wary, we first tried to start the engine on a "test bench"... to no avail.
With no fuel reaching the carburetor, we disassembled the pump and... no diaphragm and no lower ball... ready to run? Really?
Consequently, my client and I decided to rebuild the engine from A to Z, and... it was a good choice:
Cylinder head disassembly... I remind you that the engine had not run: we note that the valve seat had not been lapped and that the valve, very greasy, was leaking like a sieve:
Disassembly of engine mounts: no inner washer... the sliding would have been a bit difficult... I didn't take a picture of the 2 completely worn out Silentblocks... thanks for the vibrations!
Removing the spark plug wire, which seemed very "soft" to me, and for good reason, the inner core is almost non-existent:
Meanwhile, removal of the flywheel cover... with a flywheel whose fins were dented:
Crankcase removal: loose crankshaft, worn bearing:
crankcase side:
and crankshaft side:
As a result, the collar holding the bearing on the crankshaft side is completely destroyed, and the future retention of this same bearing will be very problematic.
Mounting an HD cylinder, ideal for having absolutely... zero performance 🙂
"All bearings changed"... we doubt it when we see the "look" of the one on the clutch side:
a nice hole in the clutch flange... welcome to mud and water...
The ignition coils... also well cleaned:
And finally, the highlight of the show, assembly of incorrect big-end and small-end cages... note the offset in this photo:
and as it should be:
One can well imagine how correctly the connecting rod would have been guided in its rotation!!!
and NO, an HK 1412 and HK 1212 reference do not correspond to what is mounted on a Solex !!!
I'll also skip over the rather fanciful choice of screws... they must have been lying around in drawers....
10mm nylock bolt
10mm bolt
10mm bolt cut down in the dowel hole
In short, a bit of work to make this engine worthy of pulling a proud Solex again.... here it is once finished at the Workshop:
and it works... a little better:
In conclusion, be vigilant, ask for invoices and guarantees before making a decision!