Triton # 2 (T2) 49cc to 110cc & Nearly Everywhere In Between

[90GTVert]

I thought I should update this thread so it makes sense for anyone seeing it that hasn't seen what's up and to make it easier to follow. Plus, a few more details about the scoot.

So, I did go to H2Oi that Friday (Sep 28) as I posted about last. The scoot ran great. I tried to get cars to race me all night, but they suck. lol Did a few little wheelies at low speed, just hopping the front up and coming back down (I can't ride a wheelie). Had a lot of fun.

I ended up riding over 240 miles Friday. Gas mileage was pretty horrible. It averaged almost exactly 30MPG (29.95MPG). Best tank of 31.3MPG and worst of 28.1MPG.

I intended to go the next day as well. I went out and there was a little coolant puddle under the radiator on the right side of the scoot. Maybe silver dollar size or slightly bigger. I checked hoses and they seemed tight. Couldn't find anything obviously wrong. Coolant level was OK. Didn't worry me enough to keep me from going to the show.

I refilled oil bottles and did whatever I needed to get ready to leave. Got my gear on and was all ready to leave when the CVT cover broke as I tried to kick start it.




I grabbed another cover that I had around, a deep cover from a short case. I usually try not to use these because there's less contact between the bearing and the drive shaft because of the cover depth, but it would have to do so I swapped the kick lever onto it and quickly drilled a few holes in the clutch area for better cooling.






That did the trick so I headed out toward the beach in the morning. I was leaving earlier than normal, planning to make a really long day of it. Turned out to be one of the longest days of my life, but I'll get to why later for anyone that doesn't know already.

I made it to Seaford, DE. That's about 20 miles away from my home on the way to Ocean City, MD. I noticed it was running a little warmer than normal at times, but nothing that really troubled me. I went through the town and saw an older man on a 4T similar to a TaoTao ATM50. Of course I revved at him as I went by. Just after that, I noticed that the clutch wasn't disengaging when I came to a stop. The 103cc had enough power to still pull away from stops fairly well, but I pulled over to see if I could see anything obvious through holes in the CVT cover. By then, I was multiple streets away from the scoot that I saw, but of course he rode by as I was stopped and looking it over. Probably laughing to himself about the hot-rodding fool now having scoot troubles.

I saw a few little pieces of belt fluff (what you get when these kevlar belts fail or start to; kinda resembles cotton candy but yellow in this case). Decided to move the scoot to a better spot for working on it to take the cover off and have a better look, but that wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The scoot didn't want to start. I tried for a bit and got nowhere. Decided to just push it to a better spot for now. Of course I live in a flat area and I had to be at the bottom of the 1 hill anywhere nearby with wet grass and no shoulders. Up the hill I pushed, to a gravel area on the side of the road.

I pulled the CVT cover off and found a clutch spring lying in there. Ah, that would explain the constant engagement. The spring wasn't broken, just a little beat up from running into pulleys or the bell I guess. The belt actually wasn't that bad. I knew that I would have to go home to fix the clutch, and the belt looked good enough to get me home so I left it.

Then I had the problem of the no-start. It persisted, so I ended up taking the spark plug out. That was covered in fuel. With a new plug, I got it fired up and went back home. 44 miles of riding, just to end up home to do some repairs.

I took the CVT apart and found that the pin that holds the clutch shoe on had sheared off.




I dug through spare parts and found another clutch with stiffer springs installed. I didn't bother with any tuning, just installed it and called it good enough. I figured it may not work quite as well for launches, but should be OK since it wasn't horrible even with the broken clutch. I believe I changed the belt as well during the process.


While wrapping things up and getting the scoot ready to head out again, I noticed that the water pump was sitting out from the engine.




I thought the bolt must have worked itself loose or maybe I screwed up and didn't tighten it all the way. I was not that lucky though. When I took a closer look, the mounting tab was broken off of the water pump and still bolted to the engine. The stress from having just one large bolt holding the pump also broke the stator cover's corner off.








Crap. I didn't have a spare water pump assembly. I had sold my Prius pump already, so I couldn't even rig up an electric pump quickly. I was immediately defeated and went in the house. No more car show for me.

That lasted a couple of hours. Then I got antsy and was really missing the ride. I decided to go back out to the garage and not let this beat me so easily. I at least had to see if there was anything I could come up with that may let me ride that day.

I ended up using 1/8" thick steel to make a new mounting tab. I took one piece cut thin and bent it in a curve to match the ID of the water pump housing. I drilled the housing and that piece and bolted the steel to the water pump. Then I cut a piece to act as the tab itself. I mocked it up so everything would be where it needed to and tack welded the tab to the curved steel, then took it apart to make a bead across it before reassembling.








Hot damn, it actually worked and I could go to the show! Can't say it was without a hitch though. It looked like the loose cover had damaged the water pump's plastic drive wheel and wore down the rubber pieces on the drive bolts. I figured it would work well enough. If not, I could turn around and come home again. Had to try though.




I went to the car show and it ran great. Temps did get 10-20F warmer than I'd like at times, but nothing too alarming. I assumed the pump drive must be less than 100%, but it would get me through the day/night. The scoot actually ran harder than I think it ever has. It was jumping the front end up about as easily as when I had the racing flywheel and stator on it in the past, and I've never been able to get it to act like that before.

It was not without issue however. I noticed on the ride to and from that I couldn't hold it WOT for long or it would bog like it was running out of fuel. Not a problem for red light races in town, but no very heavy throttle cruising. Still, I had no trouble running 55-60MPH. It was strange though. I had similar issues just before the show, but had them ironed out, or so I thought, with a float height adjustment. Then earlier in the day it flooded. On long stretches is did the opposite and starved. As the night went on in town, it got richer and richer at idle or very low throttle. Sputtering around with idle dropping. I had to pull over at one point and try to lean it out and raise the idle speed. It also died on me in front of traffic after a couple of small wheelies in close succession, as if it ran out of fuel, and then restarted and ran great again. I'm not sure what's up with the carb.

On that topic, my horrible gas mileage got even worse. Day 2 ended up being just over 230 miles of riding and fuel economy averaged 27.96MPG. Best tank of 30.8MPG, worst of 23.3MPG. 23.3 was in town after it started getting noticeably rich at low throttle.


Video from the show is below. You can see it die on me after the little wheelies at about 16:44.




I left the beach at roughly 1AM. Wanted to hang around, but it had already been a long day and the ride home is roughly 2 hours if I keep a good pace. Unfortunately, I didn't make it home as planned. I was 2.5 miles from home when I hit a deer and crashed. Just before that, the coolant temp got up to 160F or so and I slowed to maybe 40MPH or a little less to keep it cooler. The full story and video of the deer crash is in the link below. Long story made short, it was a really hard impact and I broke my shoulder blade in 2 places, 2 ribs, collar bone, and the tibial platea (top of tibia, center of knee) as well as a contusion after a hit that knocked me out for a couple of minutes. I'm still healing from it. Again, check this link for all of the crash details and health updates and such.

49ccscoot.proboards.com/thread/23671/crashed-struck-deer-video-page?page=1


Even being that messed up, I was going to start the scoot and limp it home. I turned the key on and there was no response though. With no headlights and hurt, I wasn't going to attempt to ride. It went home in the back of the truck before I got a ride to the hospital.

Regarding that really long day comment earlier; I started riding at first sometime in the morning on Saturday September 29th. When I hit the deer, it was about 2:45AM Sunday September 30th. I never got out of the hospital and home till late at night on Sunday. No food or sleep for 48 hours or so and all of the injuries made it quite a long "day".


It took me about a month to even really look the scoot over because of my limited mobility. Part of me really wanted to look at it ASAP, but I knew I couldn't ride anytime soon anyway so I waited till I at least got a little better.

The puddle under the right radiator after sitting for a month.




You can also see that there has been coolant splatter all in the area of the radiators.




I'd like to pressure test the cooling system to find where it leaks. I'm afraid it may be leaking from the fan's nylon cable mounts rubbing tubes, but I hope it's something cheaper and easier to fix. I have a pressure tester for cars, but no adapter for the comparatively tiny radiator cap on this.

I'll also need to fix the water pump issue. I could probably keep the busted housing with my fix and replace the drive wheel that's worn and rubber bushings. I will keep it as a spare, but I have a different plan. Immediately after I found the pump to be broken, I went in and ordered a stock housing from a DRR/Apex ATV through g-forcepowersports.com as well as a set of their head gaskets/o-rings to see if they're any tougher than what I've been using from HOCA/Motoritec. I already had a pump rebuild kit around and a Stage6 high flow mechanical pump, so I will try to use those with the stock housing once I'm up to working on the scoot.


Now for the crash damage.

The front end took the hit from the deer.




Looks like the steering stem is bent. When the bars are straight, the wheel is turned and vice versa. I can also see that the forks are at slightly different angles. I don't think the bars or frame are bent. Hopefully just the stem.










Probably the most obvious damage is the headlight and bracket as well as the busted turn signal.








I'll have to make a new 1/8" steel bracket. The headlight housing is shot. Needs new turn signals. The headlight is OK though. I made sure both beams work and I think I only have bugs on the front to be cleaned off.






The headlight was pushed back into the fuse block and some wires were ripped out.






What was left of my front leg shield is busted.






The left brake lever and bar end mirror need to be replaced.






Otherwise, the foot peg cover on the left side needs to be replaced and then it's surprisingly clean considering it crashed on the left side.




Right side and rear appear to be fine.






That should have the thread up to speed on current conditions. Sorry it's a bit of a novel, but we know I like details.

[ryan_ott]

If you get another WP housing check that it sits flush on the case. I seem to remember that I needed a washer under it when I had ran one because I had the same failure. I used a torch to soften the aluminum and spread it into place. Ugly repair but it worked.
Pretty rough mpg, maybe a float or needle valve issue.

[90GTVert]

I've had a box of parts for T2's resurrection sitting on the floor of the garage for quite some time now, so I thought it was about time that I start working on it. In 4 days, it will be 6 months since the crash.




Before I got into taking anything apart, I wanted to see if I could figure out where the coolant leak was up front. That wasn't a crash issue. It was leaking before. There are pics higher up on this page showing puddles under the front and water spots on the radiators and surrounding areas. I've been worried that it could be a leak in a radiator, because all of the hoses were snug and such.

I've got a pressure tester for cars, but the adapters are way too big for the scoot radiator cap connection. I ended up just taking off the hose for the overflow and attaching my 2T case pressure tester to it. The gauge only goes to 15psi, but I thought that would likely be close enough to find out what's up with the 1.1bar (~16psi) system. Regardless of the gauge, I don't think I was gonna get much more than 15psi in there with the blood pressure cuff bulb.



That was enough to make it start leaking.



I found that it leaked in 2 spots; each end of the hose connecting the lower ports of the radiators. Both were tight with a screwdriver and still leaked. I used a ratchet and tightened them more and the leaks stopped and it was able to hold pressure in the system for 30 minutes before I unhooked the tester. I'll just need to remember to do this when it all goes back together.


I checked on the fuse block earlier and realized that it should be replaced. I also realized that I used the wrong connections inside of it. I knew something was wrong when I put it together the first time, but I managed to get it together so I never thought much more about it. Checked it out and found out that I was supposed to use AMP MCP 2.8 connectors in the fuse block. I used MetriPack 2.8 before. $51 later, supplies showed up. These specialty and sealed things are way too expensive. Prob wouldn't be that bad, but I can only find the stuff from suppliers that are used to business to business sales. That means minimum quantities, not usually the cheapest shipping rates, and sometimes small order fees. For perspective, the sealed fuse panel itself is under $9.




Here's a look at the wrong terminals (green seals) vs the correct terminals (blue seals).




I had to replace 4 of 6 wires in the harness because they had been smashed and the insulation was damaged.









It all went together so easily using the proper terminals. lol






I also found that the bracket that holds the fuse block was bent. Hopefully I can just bend it back into shape.




I removed the handlebars, wheel, and the bent steering stem.




I found that the ignition somehow broke in the crash. It looks fine, but the key turns without any sort of engagement. I've got a new ign and gas cap, but the ign has to have the connector swapped to a sealed one and I had the voltmeter tapped into it.

I also found that it bent the bracket for a relay and broke the back of the relay where it engages with the bracket. Pretty sure I ordered a multi-pack of these sealed relays so I should have one around.




I drained the coolant and got the radiators and broken front panel off. I was surprised that one of the 2 bolts for my frame brace was loose. I wouldn't think an impact would do that, but I've been using the brace for 10 years using 3/8" bolts with nyloc nuts and this is the first time I've ever found one loose when I disassembled it. May just be a coincidence.

[Jwhood]

Good to see ya wrenching again brother

[ryan_ott]

Those LED shop lights sure make a difference. Glad to see you getting back to making smoke again.

[90GTVert]

I banged, bent and filed the fuse block bracket till the fuse block would snap into place. Still easier than cutting it off and welding a new one one.




Once I took a look at the old ignition, it was pretty obvious why it didn't click or register when turned.




I wired the new ignition up with connectors to match the harness and tapped in the stuff that I needed. Added a connector between the relay trigger and ignition switched power wire to make it easier to remove one or the other in the future. That was kind of a quick addition after I had the overheating issue last year and wanted a fan.




Then I went to find a replacement for the cracked relay that I showed in the last post. I was certain I had more around, but I searched basically the entire garage. Digging through tubs of parts and shelves and cabinets and wondering why I didn't put them in any of the spots that I normally would. Eventually I found them a foot from where I had been working the whole time in a box on the workbench. Son of a...





I showed in an earlier post that my HOCA water pump was in rough shape. The housing broke and I patched it up and the drive wheel was wobbly and felt loose. Way back when I first found the housing broken, I ordered a new stock housing from a DRR/Apex LC ATV. It was about $50, which seems kinda pricey when a whole assy from HOCA or Top Performance was $80. The problem was that both of those were out of stock so I took what I could get. I also had a Stage6 SSP high flow water pump here. I bought that with a store credit last year as well, before the cover even cracked. I figured I'd try it out whenever the pump needed a rebuild. I picked up a Motoforce rebuild kit at the same time to go along with it. Well, now's the time. To put the whole thing together this was was about $120-$130, but I could have skipped the $45 SSP pump.




The Motoforce kit includes everything you'd need for the typical rebuild.




The SSP pump includes the housing, bolts, and a larger impeller.








Here is the standard impeller alongside the SSP impeller (left).




I heated the housing to about 250F to install the bearings and the spacer between them and that went smoothly. That is, until I flipped the housing over and the outermost (engine side) bearing fell out. At first I thought it was still too hot and just dropped it back in. I made sure it was cool and it still fell out with a tap. My first thought was "JNK bearings... I feel like they were trying to tell me something".




I got the mic out and checked the bearing and the housing. The bearing was basically where I'd expect it to be just about 22mm or 0.86595". The housing was larger than that, at 0.86675". So the housing was nearly 0.001" larger than the bearing. Well that's not gonna work.




I thought about contacting G-Force Powersports about a ~6 month old order and explaining the issue in hope of help. Then I glanced over at the 0.001" steel shim stock that I keep by the press and said screw it I'm going for it. I quickly cut a strip of shim stock to fit, but didn't worry about making it a perfect fit on length as long as it went most of the way around. That's good for about 0.002" (counting it as 2 sides) which would give about a 0.001" interference fit. Sounded good to me.




I had to drive the chilled bearing into the hot case so I knew it was tight. Oddly enough, I didn't even fight the shim. It went right in for me without a hassle. I have done this to crank bearings before and cursed them so hard. Once done, there was just a tiny little tab sticking out. I didn't even bother to trim that because I never even saw it till I looked at the picture later.




You can see that the SSP impeller really couldn't get much bigger and still fit within the o-ring sealed area.




New setup by the old setup. I like the look of this better. Thinking about some ventilation though. I don't want to remove too much rigidity, but I would like to get some air moving in a way because it gets really hot in there. That leaves it more open to water, but the fans that I've always used before this were open and never caused me trouble. Hopefully the larger impeller and load doesn't make much difference in parasitic drag.




When I took apart the old pump, I found the pin that mates the drive wheel to the impeller shaft was sheared off. Part of it stuck in the wheel and the rest missing. That certainly could have been a reason for it running hot. If it was like that for long, I'm actually surprised the engine wasn't cooking. If you saw the H20 vid, I abused the scoot red light to red light and wheelies and burnouts for hours on end at the show, plus the hours of riding to and from and I already knew it was leaking some small amount as well. Of course I don't known when it actually sheared. When the temp started rising and I couldn't stop it, that was literally just before I crashed so it may have only snapped moments before.

[190mech]

I see your "guard dog" making sure no 4strokes get near...The shim stock came through again,this time polishing a NEW turd!!

[ryan_ott]

I think they way the pin mates to the drive is a design flaw. It’s a loose fit and when things wear the pin goes missing and you get no cooling. It happened to me on the Keyway and the pump I have (top performance) doesn’t feel all that great. Would it be a better design to machine your own drive? Gforce used to have a direct drive kit, on a Zuma case it’s even worse because the right side case is deeper so I can’t use the standard drive pins.

[90GTVert]

Mar 29, 2019 19:26:35 GMT -5 ryan_ott said:

I think they way the pin mates to the drive is a design flaw. It’s a loose fit and when things wear the pin goes missing and you get no cooling. It happened to me on the Keyway and the pump I have (top performance) doesn’t feel all that great. Would it be a better design to machine your own drive? Gforce used to have a direct drive kit, on a Zuma case it’s even worse because the right side case is deeper so I can’t use the standard drive pins.

This page is still able to be found, but in case it's not later here's a screenshot of the direct drive that you mentioned.

[90GTVert]

I decided to cut small vents in the water pump cover, one front and one rear. I thought that should keep the cover rigid, but at least let a small amount of air move. Prob won't accomplish much, but it has to stay slightly cooler under there.






Out of pure dumb luck, I had a piece of 1.25" aluminum hex bar here. I ordered a 5lb protobox from online metals (random pieces at a big discount) shortly after I got the mini-lathe and it was in that. I cut off a couple inches of that to see if I could make a direct drive coupler out of it. Actually, more of a test. I would want the final part to be steel, but I figured I might as well try it since I have it around and the aluminum is easier to machine for a test.




So far, I've got what you see below. It is not threaded for the crank yet. I ordered an M12x1.25 tap because I only had 1.5 and 1.75 in M12. Yeah, I know you can thread on a lathe. I keep saying I will, but I haven't got there yet and don't want to start on a piece like this. Anyway, it's too long, but the idea is that once I get it threaded I can test fit and shave it down as needed. Then I'll know what I need to do if I make a steel version or find out if I've got it all wrong and it's not gonna work.








I started the groove for the pin with a hacksaw and filing, then moved on to an 1/8" drill bit. That worked for the aluminum, but isn't going to work if I go to steel. I'd also like to keep the ends closed so the pin can't escape if possible, and that wouldn't work with the sawing method either. I ordered a Foredom H.30 handpiece that uses a chuck instead of a collet to help if I get to making a steel version. I'm hoping to mount it to the lathe, basically as shown HERE. That should let me cut a straight groove and not have to go end to end like sawing. I prob wouldn't do that ($) for just this project, but I figured it may help if I ever need a keyway in something or maybe for drilling into a piece. I broached (think that's the wrong term, but I'm drawing a blank ATM) one keyway into a pulley for the lathe and that process sucked. Extremely time consuming and hard to turn the dials for hours to shave little by little with steel.

I will need a block of aluminum and the hex steel still to move forward. I was going to order that, but I really wasn't trying to spend so much on a small amount of material. I can get the materials needed from onlinemetals for $15... but then they want $33.xx to ship a couple of small chunks of metal. I've been happy with them when I placed large orders to stock up on metal rod for the lathe, but that sucks for shipping 3.5" of 1.5" alum square and 7" of 1.25" steel hex. Looked at metalsdepot, but they don't even have the hex. McMaster may have it, but they never give shipping up front so I could get a bill for $30-40 shipping. I'll have to look around more. Just don't wanna pay $33 to ship $15.

[ryan_ott]

I’ll take one!


You could try here for metal. When I’m in the area I make an effort to stopby because the shop is amazing, any metal possible, any fastener. They have it all. You may need to call or email for a quote their site can be hard to navigate.

www.shopjfi.com

[90GTVert]

I may be able to make it easier to get the material and better in the long run. I cut my groove for the pin across the center of the flat sides of the hex. If I cut point to point I should be able to use 1" hex bar instead and still have room to leave the ends closed. More places carry 1" compared to 1.25", and it would cut down a little bit of weight on the finished product, with a little less machining to make it fit in the flywheel.

EDIT : That may have got me nowhere with cost. The places that I find that ship cheaper charge more for the products so it works out about the same. Puttin' some numbers here for my own reference.

eBay : 10.5" of 1.5" 6061 Al Sq Bar $19.36 + 1ft 1" Steel Hex $18.19 = $37.55
onlinemetals : 3.5" of 1.5" 6061 Al Sq Bar + 11" 1" 1018 Steel Hex = $45.11 (after promo code 2PAC)
metalsdepot : 3.5" of 1.5" 6061 Al Sq Bar + 8" of 1" 1018 Steel Hex = $36.35
discountsteel : 7" of 1.5" 6061 Al Sq Bar + 12" of 1" 1018 Steel Hex = $42.58
speedymetals : 3.5" of 1.5" 6061 Al Sq Bar + 12" of 1" 1018 Steel Hex = $43.40

Looks like eBay wins. Might as well get more material for the same price.

[ryan_ott]

Maybe I’m missing something but if your using steel for the finished product couldn’t you drill through for your 1/8” pin, spot weld either side then face off to length. Seems like it may be easier then freehanding the slot.

[90GTVert]

I think it should be slightly deeper than it would be with just the 1/8" drilled through, but that is a good idea. Prob could have got the aluminum one done quickly that way, but with stuff like this a lot of times I'll just start working on it and see what happens and I don't usually have the best ideas. I did think about drilling though, but actually thought I had to be on the edge more at first (which sucks when your drill press has much deflection) and didn't wanna cut the piece down till I could do some test fits. Like I said, I just kinda jumped in without much thought. Maybe drill and then just open it up to the hole with a cutter in the Foredom mounted to the lathe if I get to a steel phase. I dunno. I've wanted to do the power tool holder on the lathe anyway for quite a while now. I've never been exactly sure of why, but this will give me a reason to play with it.

[90GTVert]

I haven't done a whole lot with the front end since getting it apart. I did drive the new race onto the new steering stem. Made an aluminum adapter to put on the end of a steel pipe that closely matched the OD of the stem so I'd have something to push on the center of the race that's softer metal.







The M12x1.25 tap came in. The seller (suncoastprecisiontoolsoutlet on eBay) sent a drill size chart for tapping along with it. Something I should have handy, but always end up going online to find the info. Stuck that in the toolbox.




Tapped the direct drive prototype.




How it sat as initially cut. No washers under it.




The pin that goes into the impeller shaft to engage with the direct drive or normally the drive wheel is loose so it falls out and slides around. This is annoying when test fitting repeatedly. My first thought was to wrap it in masking tape, but even 1/2 wrap was too much. Ended up putting a piece of packing tape on it and that made it hold in place and made fitting easier.

Speaking of the pin, I'm thinking I should look around for anything available that may be stronger. After all, it sheared on the last pump. Not sure what's out there so I'm very open to suggestions or thoughts. Haven't even done any good measurement yet. I just know it's about 1/8" diameter and 22mm long.


First fitting of the pump had a huge gap as expected.




I decided to first make the groove for the pin a little deeper so the drive could sit closer to the pump if needed. I did that with an 1/8" cutter in a drill.






That let the pump sit just a hair closer to the cases, but mostly it made me realize that I don't have any cutters that are likely to be up to putting a groove in steel in anything resembling a reasonable time frame. I ordered a set of ~1/8" burrs on eBay after I came in last night.

www.ebay.com/itm/BIGTEDDY-20pcs-Tungsten-Single-Double-Cut-Head-Carbide-Rotary-Burr-Set-1-8/123721836095


Then I just kept test fitting and shaving a little at a time off of the drive adapter till I could get the pump up against the cases. I thinned the hex section (from the backside so I didn't change the groove) as well as taking down the overall length. I figured when it's in heavier steel the larger hex area will add more weight and, prob more important when spinning at 10,000RPM, weight that's farther from center. Didn't wanna thin it out too much though. I also thinned the rounded section just a hair as well.


Then I started looking at the fit of the water pump housing to the case. It wasn't great. I'd have areas where there was contact and then a lot of areas where there were gaps.




I went all around the pump with feeler gauges and made myself a little map of what the gaps were all around. I was getting contact on one mounting tab. The other had about an 0.008" gap. Some areas were hitting the case on the rest of the perimeter and others had as much as 0.025" of space.

So then I started thinking about trying to true the case and pump somehow. The cases were obviously untrue in spots. Truing on glass would require engine removal and disassembly. Not gonna happen. Trying to measure and grind/sand and measure and sand and so on sounded like a nightmare.

Then I started to come around to my senses a little. First, if I did get contact all around the two parts would probably rattle. Anyone that uses CVT covers with no gasket has probably experienced this before. In that case, sometimes I end up with a sealant just as a damper on my case so the cover won't rattle. I don't care if the pump is sealed. There are vents plus the cover between the pump housing and cylinder won't seal anyway. So why go to the trouble of truing the case and housing?

I got out a straight edge and the pump housing is actually pretty true. Great. AFAICT the mounts for the pump on the cases are pretty level as well. At that rate, it would make more sense just to use washers under the housing's mounts so it would sit out far enough to clear the bumps and such in the case. I had small M6 washers that were ~0.062" thick so that was plenty to clear any case discrepancies.




I'm not really sure how I would tell with any precision if the case and housing are at just the right angle for the straightest alignment, so I called that good enough.


Then I wanted to do some checks to be sure there was no interference at all happening with the direct drive setup in place. I made 3 marks around the case and housing with a marker.




Then I took measurements with feeler gauges of the gap at each spot without the drive adapter in place. Then I installed the drive adapter and reinstalled the housing. I took measurements at the same spots and they matched up. One was 0.001" off, but it was actually sitting closer to the case so that was either my error in measurement at some point or I torqued a bolt a little different. Great. Then I found a washer that was 0.083" thick to put under the adapter and repeated the measurements. Good again, so even without the washers under the housing in place I should have at least 0.020" of room without a spacer under the adapter. Just wanted to know that it wasn't setup with no room and it's hard to see what's going on under the housing very well.


Here's how the adapter ended up looking after all of the cutting.






Before I went in for the night, I put red threadlocker on the pump housing to hold the washers on the mounts so installation will be easier. I was gonna JB Weld them, but this should hold at least for a bit and let me remove the washers easier if needed.




BTW, I haven't started it with the adapter in place or anything. Mostly because it's not in running condition ATM, but as long as everything is engaging I don't think I'd really know if it's a fail or a win till a good bit of real riding with a steel part. I know spinning the crank turns the pump and that's about it.