Homemade engine tools

[oldjohn]

There seemed to be some interest in some recent posts I made about Bul clutch upgrades, so I thought I might post a few engine related pics that might be of interest too. These are just simple homemade bits that make life easier if you do lots of Bul engines.

First off we have what looks like four bits of 2 x 4 screwed together, and that's exactly what it is. Hardly high tech but very very useful for assembling and disassembling Bul engines. The shafts hang down into the opening so the engine lies flat and stable on the bench. Much nicer than having it wobble around on timbers and worth spending 10 minutes to make.

 

Next is the tool I use to push the crank out of the case. This is nothing more than a piece of 10mm aluminium with a large hole in the centre and drilled so it can be attached to the case in place of the seal housing with some long 6mm bolts. Once it's in place the crank can be pushed out gently with a plain old 3 leg puller. I hate beating on crankshafts and/or wedging cases and this thing makes disassembly an easy and gentle process. Don't be tempted to use a seal housing to do this - it's way too fragile.

 

 

When it comes to reassembly, again, I hate to beat on things. So I welded a nut that fits the end of the crank to a piece of threaded rod and drilled a hole through a short piece of square tube to act as the beam of this puller. If you make one for each end of the crank you can gently assemble both sides easily and centre the crank in the cases accurately.

 

 

 

 

Last one is a homemade clutch holding tool. The clutch hub nut needs to be tight, and tools made from old clutch plates just aren't strong enough. I made this from a piece of steel tube that I hammered into shape and finished off with a die grinder. High rpms tend to loosen the nut and wear the spline in the hub, but with this you can really torque it up tightly.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2017 by oldjohn

[peterb]

What a great post, thanks old john for sharing your brilliant workshop tools.

Was wondering what you welded on the barrel face, crankcase LHS, is it a repair or did you aletr the mounting for a different cylinder?

Bye, Peter B.

[oldjohn]

Thanks Peter. It was modified to take a 72mm stroke crank and a different barrel among other things - not a trials motor obviously but the tools work on any Bul engine.

John

[pschrauber]

Wow not only to the tools but especially to the new crank room and cylinder basement. What an effort I know of only one engine where this was made too to fit a bigger cylinder and crank to a smaller engine block and that was a small serial production of about 50 engines.

I too like the engine stand made out of wood beams. Something I do too for various occasions like wheels, rear shocks, swing arm and so one as they are so easy and cheap to make from left over carpenter jobs and afterwards you can burn them up in the oven producing heat

Edited March 19, 2017 by pschrauber
correction of typos

[oldjohn]

The wooden stand is such a simple thing but the first time you use it you wonder why you didn't do it years ago. Having the case lie flat and stable when assembling the gearbox or when fitting seals and bearings makes the work so much more pleasant. When I'm disassembling an engine I stuff a couple of oil absorbent pads into the opening of the stand to catch any oil that drops when the shafts are pulled out - it helps prevent making a mess on the bench.

[preidster]

Nice post on the tools you made and use.  Straight forward and useful.  I will do the same.  One note you are putting heat to the main bearing area before pushing or pulling the crank out correct?  

Edited February 11, 2022 by preidster