Ducati Cucciolo

[pete]

i did a trick trying to decarbon a piston. i had tryed every thing i could think of but nothing would cut the carbon. till i tryed glass cleaner for a corn/wood stove. it cut the carbon fast and clean. the only thing that i had to do was oil every thing to stop rusting.

Cool, thanks for that. The carbon looks pretty soft so far, but I'll keep this in mind if it gets stubborn on me...

[daturat100r]

Cool, thanks for that. The carbon looks pretty soft so far, but I'll keep this in mind if it gets stubborn on me...

Just remember if you are not reringing and just decoking to leave a thin ring of carbon around the edge of piston to prevent excess oil consumption.If the carbon aint an excessively thick build up it is best left alone it works as an efficient and necessary insulator for the piston crown.

[kilroy]

I remember my remote control airplane days. We had nasty carbon and castor deposits. Here was my way of dealing with it:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9293431/anchors_9293431/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#9293431

Antifreeze!

[Woodsy]

why have i not seen this thread before?

[pete]

Just remember if you are not reringing and just decoking to leave a thin ring of carbon around the edge of piston to prevent excess oil consumption.If the carbon aint an excessively thick build up it is best left alone it works as an efficient and necessary insulator for the piston crown.

Thanks for the tip! I completely cleaned up my 450 pistons as it was getting new rings and a hone job etc. during the rebuild, so I was going to do the same with this... however I'll hold off until I determine if I need new rings or not.

The ones that are on there now seem to have some nice edges on them still, so I guess it depends if they're still available etc. as to whether I replace them or not...

I remember my remote control airplane days. We had nasty carbon and castor deposits. Here was my way of dealing with it:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9293431/anchors_9293431/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#9293431

Antifreeze!

Interesting! Fortunately we don't have a crock pot... otherwise I might get in a bit of strife... hahaha

why have i not seen this thread before?

Coz you're blind?

Dunno Josh, just not keeping up with it 'ey?

Stay tuned for another update shortly...

[pete]

I got the pull rods and gearbox out tonight.

I'd really like to get the crankshaft out but I need to get a puller to remove the plate that's locking the crankshaft bearing in place.

Anyway, I found a way to use the drain plug hole to get the pull rods out:













And here's the various gearbox components...



There are six ball bearings that are used to lock each sprocket into place in turn for low and high gear, and they are released for neutral.

Look at the mechanism inside the shifting shaft and you'll see a rod with a large end that forces the ball bearings out when they sit in the holes.

Low gear:



Neutral, no bearings locked:



High gear:



I nearly have an empty crank case and then it can get a big clean to remove that sludge from the bottom...

[razor02097]

Cool project man, your making good progress

[pete]

Cool project man, your making good progress

Thanks mate, it's a fun little project. Getting it back together will be the fun bit!

[pete]

Well I got the two jaw puller the other day and I got the plate off the left crankshaft bearing tonight, but buggered if I know how to proceed from there...

I suspect I need to use the puller again on the sprocket and maybe the bearing but I'm not real sure so I'll have to post a message on the Ducati list to find out.







The manual talks about using a bolt to get the right side bearing off the crankshaft, but they don't list the bolt size either, and I'm assuming it's via this hole on the right side, but again I will need to enquire further...

[razor02097]

New tools in the toolbox is always good

How do the crank bearings look?

[pete]

New tools in the toolbox is always good

How do the crank bearings look?

Yes indeed!

The left one doesn't feel like it has much if any free play and it seems to rotate smoothly as well.

I can't get to the right one yet to see how it is.

[landshark]

I spoke to my friend and she said there is definitley some old malvern star frames at her old mans farm. So just send me a pic of the style you want when you work it out.

[olddaddy]

Pete, did these people not like your father???.............Seriously, it looks really cool especially when you consider it was made in Italy right after WWII ended! My first official bike after I got a license was a Ducati 150 (I think) Mustang (I think again) I know you will sort it out and I vote for the project page.

[pete]

I spoke to my friend and she said there is definitley some old malvern star frames at her old mans farm. So just send me a pic of the style you want when you work it out.

Cool, cheers Tim! Was good to finally catch up with you on Saturday too so thanks for making the drive. Just next time make sure you're on two wheels right?

I've been doing some Googling for Malvern Stars of that vintage and it appears there's a 2 star and 3 star that would be suitable going by descriptions but I'm struggling to find good photos. I'll shoot some up when I've located them.

Pete, did these people not like your father???.............Seriously, it looks really cool especially when you consider it was made in Italy right after WWII ended! My first official bike after I got a license was a Ducati 150 (I think) Mustang (I think again) I know you will sort it out and I vote for the project page.

Hahaha yeah this is cool all right... I'm havin' the time of my life getting it all stripped down at the moment. A little more fiddly than the 450 and more challenging as there isn't a workshop manual with step by step instructions. The manual is done by some guys on the Ducati mailing list, so there's lots of play it by ear stuff.

Ducati 150 hey? That'd be cool... I do like the early Duc's for sure, lots of character to be had there!

[pete]

Actually speaking of photos... I got the valves out tonight and while they're not so different from the Suzuki valves in terms of removal, they're a lot smaller and therefore a lot more fiddly...

I couldn't see a way to make Steve's valve compression tool work with the tiny valves, so I stuck with a pair of pliers instead.





The reason there are no photos of me removing the valve keepers there is that immediately after taking the second photo the head fell to the left and the valve spring, one keeper, and the plate on top sprung out... I was a tad stressed for about 2 minutes until I found all three pieces... disaster averted!

I was more careful with the exhaust valve and instead of pushing down with the head of the pliers I gripped the sides instead and was able to do it a lot more steady that way.

Exhaust on the left, inlet on the right:



The faces look to be in reasonable shape but as per usual the exhaust is quite a bit more carbonated than the inlet and looks like it's had a harder life. I suspect however that a quick blast and face by a head shop will get them much cleaner.

And the head as it stands now in need of a good cleaning: