I sympathize with your problems.
When you were at the track days, what rpm did you shift at?
Did you shift while leaving the throttle wide open?
I agree with TNC, you have still have a problem.
I think you have several problems...A cracked sleeve will not throw valves out of adjustment or visa versa.

1. Perhaps too rich fuel washed the cylinder clean of oil & systained high rpms caused piston/cylinder wear.
2. Perhaps your head is cracked at the valve openings or your valves were never installed correctly. To have to reshim your valves every 3-5k is just crazy. Before you reinstall that head, I would have it xrayed or tested for faults.

 

I only did one track day on the 351, and that was the day the sleeve cracked on the way home (the first big bore kit). That was at the end of the season last year and I never got another track day in after getting that first incident fixed. Most of my riding is urban commuting and I avoid even the Interstate like the plague. High revs is not something I enjoy sustaining with this thing.

I wasn't in any way blaming the cracked sleeve for the valve adjustment issue. It had been probably 7,000 miles since my last adjustment at that time and I think it was a matter of coincidence. I've had this bike 30,000 miles now, and I've adjusted the valves... 5 times? It was more frequent when the bike was new, then there was a long period where it never needed it, then it needed it twice in the last 5k miles since the big bore.

The whole head and valves have been gone through and are in perfect shape.

I intend on getting a whole new cylinder when I when I get Kustom Kraft's kit, so any issues there will be a moot point.

Fuel was slightly rich, but nothing like that. And not one mechanic I've talked to or had work on my bike has said that would cause this, especially the ones who've actually seen the damage.

 

Have you or anyone else done a very close inspection of the oil lines on the outside of the engine?...partial blockage, pinched, or obstructed in some way?...or even an oil passage issue in the engine?

 

Sorry to hear of the bad news. I went through quite the catastrophe myself last year when I installed my big bore kit. I actually blew up the cylinder head, exploded a hole through the piston which shot shards into my crank case and bottom end, and cracked the cylinder sleeve. Expensive lesson to learn.

 

Aw, that sucks. This is why I didn't attempt the install myself. There are minor things I'm willing to tackle myself (oil changes, air filter, carb work, tires, chain, etc.), but for anything that involves getting into the cylinder or crankcase, I leave that to the pros. I hope you got your issue sorted? That is a terribly expensive lesson.

 

Yeah everything is back to normal now! Bike has came together nicely. Learning how to tear a top end down is a great thing to learn and I can't possibly imagine owning a bike for the rest of my life and not knowing how to tear an engine down. Bottom end is a different story. I replaced the cylinder head with a head from a 09 that I found on ebay from a bike that was in a wreck in which they cracked their bottom end. Had less than 1,000 miles on it or something crazy. Came with valves, springs, cams, everything. It was in perfect condition. Rather than having them ship the head to me, I had them ship it to Bill to thoroughly inspect that everything was true and valves were in spec. He shipped it back along with a new piston. At this point I still didn't know that the sleeve was cracked. When I found out I was pretty dissapointed because that met that I would have had to wait for Bill to ship me a new sleeve after just having received my head and piston. I went an alternate route and had the local machinist make a sleeve based on the piston that Bill sent me. He was very worried because he didn't think that there was enough clearance in the water jacket for the sleeve to cool effectively.

Everything works great now! Bike runs like you wouldn't believe. I need to dyno this sucker.

 

Just to clarify - that whole debacle was my fault. When in doubt, use a torque wrench.

Also, I don't know if you're familiar with the Marcelino cam mod but in my first big bore kit I did the cam mods and changed up my timing. Probably wasn't a good idea either.

Here's what doesn't make sense in your case. If it was a serious internal issue I don't think that you would have rode for 3,000 miles with no problems. With my blow up, it happened in less than 300 miles. I'll just echo what a few others said and tell you to check through your oil lines, check where your exhaust mounts to the cylinder head to make sure that is sealed. Does the bike sound like it's turning over more easily now than it did before when you hit the electric starter?

 

jhoff, your prior problem is a good example that might support the idea that something is still wrong in laurie's engine...and not related to a bore kit. Even in the catastrophic result of your 351, the rebuild seems to be doing fine. Three failures in this case still seems to indicate an ongoing, undiagnosed problem, and it doesn't appear to be assembly related.

 

I'm weary of repeating myself. The first failure was a cracked sleeve due to a bad batch of sleeves. Mine was not the only kit affected by this recall. As for this time, who knows? Everything (oil system, bottom end, valves, etc.) has all been gone through and found in perfect order. As far as installation, Bill did all the work himself both times. I have it on video. He did it properly.

As far as turning over, it turns over fine, even after it just sat for two months because I could only now afford to get it thoroughly gone through. Pulled the choke and it turned right over. Rode it 20 miles to my friend's house, and now it's a rolling chassis, having been completely gone through.


Sorry, that comes across as sour. LOL *sigh* This has been a very frustrating process. I certainly don't mean to take it out on you guys. I know you're trying to help and I sincerely appreciate your support and good input. Hopefully, this thing will all be solved and back on the road soon.

 

I'm trying to wrap my mind around why the addition of a big bore kit would affect valve clearance intervals.

Interested to see how the Kustom Kraft kit does.

Glad my Bill Blue 351 is trouble-free. Knock on wood.....