Long (sorry) big problem '77 1000

As far as I know they are the stock 77 cams. They look like the ones in the Clymers manual pics. I am looking into replacing that clutch basket. There are no wear marks on the case behind the basket. So you all are saying that those little springs aren't supposed to be slopping around in their little housings? If there isn't supposed to be any movement between the gear and the plate, is it an option to have those rivets welded?

kzmason wrote:

As far as I know they are the stock 77 cams. They look like the ones in the Clymers manual pics. I am looking into replacing that clutch basket. There are no wear marks on the case behind the basket. So you all are saying that those little springs aren't supposed to be slopping around in their little housings? If there isn't supposed to be any movement between the gear and the plate, is it an option to have those rivets welded?

how many miles did the engine made??? you won't feel play in the clutch basket with worn rivets (rivets dont wear out the springs do!!. I had the same problem with that knock. The 2 of the 5-6 ? springs in the backplate where loose ( no tight fit). If your engine has only driven a 100 miles after rebore you might have a blown headgasket or to less valve play

good luck

All the springs are lose in their housings. Do I need a whole new basket, or can they just be replaced? If it was a head gasket, would I still have gotten 170+ psi compression? There were no obvious signs on either surface that it was blown.

did u say the rivets are loose? the rivets must be tight. u can replace the springs with an APE kit, but it means drilling out the old rivets and repaceing the springs and rewelding in the new rivits from the kit. then u send it out to be balanced. thats what i did but i would not recomend it. i would send it to Falcon for a rebuild,$210 i think.

for the basket, i would look here.
kzzone.com/clutches.html

price seems reasonable.

I got a hold of a basket off of eBay. Guy SAYS everything is tight. We'll see:unsure:. BUT, I think I have discovered the performance problem smoking gun. All 4 exhaust valves are bent. While I am very excited to find something wrong, it doesn't make sense that I got such good compression readings before. They all seem to be just slightly bent, but not so much that they wouldn't close. If they are bent from when the E cam was off a tooth, shouldn't I see some signs on the pistons or the valves themselves that they had come in contact? Again, glad to find SOMETHING wrong, but now I just as confused...

it will be very hard to find a stock basket with tight springs .the problem will be that u cant tell if it is better than the 1 u have unless u send 1 to APE or Falcon for a rebuild. Falcan will replace the inner plate,wich the springs rub against and where right through.
u should see a smile in the pistons valve pocket.if they are onle bent a few thow it will still seal. they can be bent straight with a hammer,v blocks, and a dial indiator. i got mine back to within a 1/2 a thow.
if u put thinner in the combution chamber (with the head upside down on the bench)it should not leak past the valve.
how much are the valves bent?
do u have a dial indicator with a magnetic base? they are under $50.u can use it to degree your cams too.

Turns out that when my XFIL had the cams off a tooth, the intake cam was advanced a tooth and the exhaust was retarded a tooth. The intakes were opening and smacking the exhausts as they were closing. All four exhausts were pretty bent. Other than a small battle scar on the edge of the face, the intakes seemed to be okay. However, we decided to replace all 8 with a new stainless set from z1e along with a valve shim tool and sweet z1e shirt;)

Oh oh, here comes the power :woohoo: