DIRT TALK

Peace of mind

I thoroughly enjoyed issue 48 and your piece on the 3TA engine/bike project. I’ve spent most of my working life in the auto and motorcycle business, so have amassed a reasonable amount of skills, tricks of the trade and spent time showing other apprentices how to do it.

Please don’t reuse those valve springs, they may look alright and clean up lovely with your cleaning techniques but they are old and most probably getting to the brittle stage; the cost of new items and the peace of mind that you won’t drop a valve on your first fistful of revs will far outweigh the uncertainty.

Your valve compressor: neat as it is, is a real tiddler compared to the chunky equipment used in the trade. Maybe a piece of steel bar welded or sif bronze welded to the outside long