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'74 Eldorado Police

fireflyr

Cruisin' Guzzisti
GT Contributor
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
159
Location
Hart Flat, California
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Picked this up a couple weeks ago in Salinas. I won't be doing a full restore on it, just getting it reliable and cleaned up a bit. It currently is running a strong 750 / 4 speed combo with the 850 / 5 speed needing a rebuild in boxes. Things I'll need so far are: pipes/silencers, left battery cover (black, I have a white Ambassador one that I'd rather not paint), left cylinder head, barrels and pistons. I'm sure I'll find other needs but so far that's it.

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Here's the kicker, there's obviously a white Ambassador out there running around with a black left side battery cover. I need to find this bike and swap my cover for his.

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Lot's of wiring work ahead and an eventual rebuild. It's a gas to ride and has only left me stranded once. Well, 5 times, but it was all on one ride. Funny things happen when points close up and gas tanks don't vent......
 
Yes it was! My first wife & my first Guzzi around 1971/1972.
LOL! No comments on her bare feet or expression she loved to ride & I don't remember the picture being taken so I don't know why she looks P.O'd! Terri Guzzi Terri mini
 
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Made it all 15 miles to Tehachapi and back without breaking down. The Amal carbs are being difficult to tune and sync. There’s a pair of VHB 30’s in the boxes of parts that I may give a go. It is fun to just relax and putt down the road on.

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Had a pretty significant oil leak from the front crankshaft seal. I fabricated a tool to hold the crank in order to back off the nut (copied from Greg Benders website). The tool looked like something off Forged in Fire but worked.
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What I didn’t do was reference the timing mark on the pulley. I have a one in three chance of getting it right but I will have to check it before I button it back up.

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It wasn't too ugly in there. Pretty good for a 43 year old bike.

Yeah, I'll get the real story when I drop the pan. Oil was pretty ugly but no big pieces dropped out of the plug when I drained the oil. This engine (750) was purchased off of CL by the PO to get the bike running. I still have the 850 to go thru but those cylinders haven't lost any chrome so I'm not expecting any lower end damage in that engine. Time will tell. I will still replace the barrels and pistons with a new set on the 850. For now I'm just getting the 750 that's installed reliable.
 
When I tore down the 750 engine that was running and in the frame, this is what I found:
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Lot's of missing chrome. The oil pan was clean as a whistle, so as far as I can tell, the guy who sold the PO the engine cleaned out the pan, installed new heads and sold it as a rebuilt engine. Funny thing is, it ran pretty well. Oh well, I'll clean the barrels up and sell them to some hipster as bookends, or paperweights.

What I've learned from this:
1. If you have chrome bores, stop riding them.
2. A pencil magnet will tell you if you are in doubt. Sticks to iron sleeves, kinda sticks to Nicasil, doesn't stick to chrome.
3. Clean your sludge trap.
4. If you are having problems with detonation, shut her down quickly. As evidenced by the destroyed heads from the 850.
5. Don't trust the old style cam chain tensioner. When they fail they cause the timing to stray and detonation.
6. Sludge kills. It was so thick in the 850's pan it caused all of the above. The engine had been pulled 20 years ago and sat but you can see where lack of oil circulation destroyed the rubber on the tensioner. Oddly enough, the crankshaft, camshaft, bearings and oil pump all looked brand new and within specs. Gotta love low rpm, low stress and sound engineering.

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Old and new chain tensioners.

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new barrels

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Only thing on the 750 I got lucky on were the heads. Only had about 100 miles on them and were identical to the 850's trashed heads.

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Don't forget to stake the plug when you put it back in the crankshaft. Also it may not be a bad idea to use a new plug.
 
Assembly coming along nicely. Rear drive, wiring harness and wheels installed. I put some quick disconnects for the rear turn signal and brake light so I could remove the rear fender easily. Mounts for the Watsonian Monza sidecar are going on next. The front lower mount can be seen below. Instrument cluster and lights are going to be fun.:cry:

Nice to have it on it's feet again.

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nice work. great post.
i frequently use a '72 civilian eldo as an urban commuter. it's getting a little ratty, but i'm reluctant to undertake any kind of molestation beyond the necessary chrome cylinder swap. slow leak on the bell housing. otherwise rock solid. gets me to work in style with unique mechanical assertiveness.
respect that 4 shoe drum.
 
nice work. great post.
i frequently use a '72 civilian eldo as an urban commuter. it's getting a little ratty, but i'm reluctant to undertake any kind of molestation beyond the necessary chrome cylinder swap. slow leak on the bell housing. otherwise rock solid. gets me to work in style with unique mechanical assertiveness.
respect that 4 shoe drum.

Cylinders were the main motivation here too. I'm not painting the tank because I like the look of the old paint, unfortunately I'm still missing an original paint left sidecover. I like them a little ratty but I may have to get a new set of pipes eventually. The ones it came with were painted silver with some funky little silencers.

Post a picture of your bike Ste, I'd love to see it.
 
cylinders are done. also an alternator swap. k/n filters. led headlamp. wider rubber in back.

..come to think of it, i have dicked around with it a bit.

on the other hand, i could rewind it to pretty much stock in an afternoon.
 
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