centering china diesel in enfield

[arnaud]

Hi there.
I have future plans to fit the engine in the middle.
Right now the engine is about an inch(or more) out of centre,ofcourse with the heavy flywheel sticking out.
As i understand there are 2 ways to do this and some of you might have these constructions.
1; the' sommer' construction, with the taurus type shaft and a (ball??) bearing inside the inner taurus primary for needed support.
2;The 'priceparts' construction, with a shaft with length between the petrol and taurus shaft, beiing supported by a bush(phosfor bronze) bearing which is, as i understand bolted by the 4 small holes of the rubber seal at that point.
I wonder if the latter construction is durable enough..?(comments please?)

Both contructions make use of the bearing which transfers the pullng force to the aluminium primary case which is only held by the engine through a adaptor plate..
This does not appear solid to me, both by the translation of the foces and the material which has to cope with it.
I can imagine wearing out of the holes of the inner primary, cracking of the latter one or collapsing of the studs/threadholes in the engine or adaptor plate

I was thinking about a longer mainshaft, but original inner primary and a separate beraring house. But have no idea how to give it support onto the frame..
Reflections and Experiences please!

[andrewaust]

Hi Arnauld



Both ideas would seem to be OK, but one would really need to look at it a little closer to make a real evaluation. I'm not using any bearing support on the clutch end of the inner chaincase, just the oil seal which seems fine, but have been thinking of a ball bearing for extra support. Ball bearings need a little lube, the bronze one would need a good splash supply so you would have to make sure the oil in the chaincase was in good supply and clean. If your engine is mounted firmly into a cradle I wouldn't see a problem with chaincase failure.



A;)

[arnaud]

Since there's clutch debris and other hard parts in the primary case oil a bush bearing is maybe not the best option.
I am told there's no (closed)ball bearing with the proper size to fit in the inner primary, but there are so many sizes? However, i am curious how to wedge a ball bearing secure in the inner primary.
But is the thickness of the inner primary case not far too narrow to hold these forces?

[Diesel Dave]

Please also remember that NONE of the shafts I've seen run true....

Especially the 5 speeders as these are made by cutting and welding

So long as you use the diesel inner primary case you can fit a bearing by seating it in some P40 into the casing spigot. I've tried it but you get a lot of drag from trying to keep a bent shaft running true.

My answer at the moment is to let it waggle and go unsupported, the gearbox bearings take a beating but will last about 60,000 miles if run in decent oil.

Engineering wise it's a poor solution, the factory produced it as a bodge for the Taurus with was a 6hp motor.

The best solution is to not use a longer shaft and offset the motor further to the right like the Robin engined conversions, with the Yanma conversions Henry uses a spacer plate and dumping this gives 20mm better alignment so you only need another 20mm for the correct alignment with a std shaft.

I won't start another debate about shaving off the flywheel blades as this would provide more than enough space.

Cheers
Dave

[arnaud]

So i already did the best in your view? i am surprised that the shafts are somewhat crooked!
i've been told some taurus shafts collapsed under the diesel power. another claims he can see it bend when he kicks the bike.
The offset engine has more disadvantages. The oil filter is nearly unaccessable..Also i am starting to get more irritated by holding the bike offset under me..