valve clearance's 1948 a7 longstroke engine.

[BSA_54A10]

hi there muskrat, haynes manuals used to be good many years ago, they used to contain every detail you could ever want, they had really detailed drawings and loads of photos but nowadays it looks like they just rush them out. for instance, ive looked and looked in this manual of mine and i still cant find any torque rench settings for anything, maybe ive overlooked them but ive read it twice from page to page and still havnt spotted them.
does anybody know what the torque wrench setting is for the rocker cover nuts & bolts as i thought i might as well fix the leaking rocker box gasket before i set the tappets, when i took the rocker boxe's off i found a kelloges corn flake gasket had been used so no wonder it was leaking. all the best muskrat, chicago

The manuals have not changed, you have.
Now you have accumulated enough knowledge to realize that nuts & bolts should be done up to a particular torque.
So now you have the same engineering knowledge as the average Joe had back in 1950 when we did every thing by hand.
If it really worries you then get a copy of "Modern Motorcycle Maintenance" and read the section on fasteners.
THE most important thing is that all of them are done up to the same torque, not to an exact torque number.
Unfortunately this means that all of the threads need to be cleaned and the mating surfaces need to be clean and where necessary dressed flat. This is a long slow process which is out side of the attention span of most now days so  it is much easier to grab the tension wrench then blame some one else when the joint fails.

Back in 1950 you would not have found a tension wrench any where in the BSA factory save the comp shop & design department.
The bikes were assembled with hand tools, no pre-set calibrated assembly tools that are used now days and "torques" were determined by the elbow of the assembler.

BSA's were so over engineered it is not funny which is why so many are still on the road now days so for just about every fastener has a wide range of torques that will work. Modern  motorcycles are designed to close tolerances and components are designed close to the actual material strengths because materials are far more consistent and made to closer tolerances that would have been financially viable back in 1950.

[chicago]

hi there muskrat, haynes manuals used to be good many years ago, they used to contain every detail you could ever want, they had really detailed drawings and loads of photos but nowadays it looks like they just rush them out. for instance, ive looked and looked in this manual of mine and i still cant find any torque rench settings for anything, maybe ive overlooked them but ive read it twice from page to page and still havnt spotted them.
does anybody know what the torque wrench setting is for the rocker cover nuts & bolts as i thought i might as well fix the leaking rocker box gasket before i set the tappets, when i took the rocker boxe's off i found a kelloges corn flake gasket had been used so no wonder it was leaking. all the best muskrat, chicago

The manuals have not changed, you have.
Now you have accumulated enough knowledge to realize that nuts & bolts should be done up to a particular torque.
So now you have the same engineering knowledge as the average Joe had back in 1950 when we did every thing by hand.
If it really worries you then get a copy of "Modern Motorcycle Maintenance" and read the section on fasteners.
THE most important thing is that all of them are done up to the same torque, not to an exact torque number.
Unfortunately this means that all of the threads need to be cleaned and the mating surfaces need to be clean and where necessary dressed flat. This is a long slow process which is out side of the attention span of most now days so  it is much easier to grab the tension wrench then blame some one else when the joint fails.

Back in 1950 you would not have found a tension wrench any where in the BSA factory save the comp shop & design department.
The bikes were assembled with hand tools, no pre-set calibrated assembly tools that are used now days and "torques" were determined by the elbow of the assembler.

BSA's were so over engineered it is not funny which is why so many are still on the road now days so for just about every fastener has a wide range of torques that will work. Modern  motorcycles are designed to close tolerances and components are designed close to the actual material strengths because materials are far more consistent and made to closer tolerances that would have been financially viable back in 1950.

hi there BSA_54A10 altough i take on board what you are saying, i just thought it more prudent knowing very little about bsa's (not a total spanner mechanicly though) to ask if unsure about something before doing something i might regret later and prove expensive to put right. but as far as the haynes manuals are concerned im affraid i stick to my original statement because im sorry but they really are far less detailed than they used to be years ago. all the best fella and no offence meant, chicago

[bsa-bill]

I'm bound to agree with Chicago.
Originally Haynes would take a vehicle apart and put it back together in the course of writing their manuals, the BSA A10 manual seems to be made up of already existing text and pictures, with a bit of conmen knowledge thrown in for good measure (not all of which is applicable to bikes).
But that is not the whole story, I had a Haynes manual for a Ford Fiesta (early types) that was completely wrong in the procedure for setting the tappets, resulted in a very noise rough engine until I reverted to an issue of Car Mechanics to get the right sequence.
Hopefully if I was doing it now I would have enough nounce to realise it was wrong via a few decades of experience 

[muskrat]

 Yes I've been caught out a few times by Mr Haynes.
I believe there's no such thing as a stupid question. Answers yes. If I don't know or are unsure I ask.
I learn something new here all the time, from answers given to others questions.
Cheers

[BSA_54A10]

Firstly I was not trying to be smug or smart, just making a point that modern riders are so used to "dialing in " numbers that they forget what they are doing and how it is supposed to work.

However I was being dead serious about " Modern Motorcycle Mechanics" by Nicholson.
If you have not got a copy, get yourself one. It should be mandatory reading for every one who wants to ride / repair / restore old bikes.
I think the 8th edition is currently in reprint but if not they are easy to come by in the used book market. Any edition after 4th ( 1953 ) will do. He has a chapter about fasteners which has a "table of general torque settings" which you will find reassuring if not use full. Plus every thing else that you need to know about how to decide if a part is worn out, limits of wear for pistons & bores etc, etc, etc.

As for Haynes manuals . I have 3 haynes manuals for A7-A10.
There has been just about no changes from the first edition ( 1972 ) to the most current edition  ( 2000 ).
Indeed the only real difference is the photos in the text are loosing their contrast and the actual photo on the front cover.
The "official" BSA service sheets list torques for the con rod nuts in the text of sheet 208 and these are repeated in sheet 215.
These are the only Torque values BSA quoted for these bikes for the general public. There may have been more detailed dealer service notices but I do not have any before 1968.
The "unofficial" manual for these bikes was originally "the Book of the BSA" then latter "The book of the BSA Twins" both published by Pitmans. Once again the only torque values given were for the con rod bolts.

[chicago]

hi there, cheers bsa bill and muskrat, been quite busy the last week so not really had time to check the forum, just by way of a update, i set the valves to 0.015 and strangly the bike sounded less taperty but was slightly harder to start and didnt run quite as well (bit of a dead spot at low revs), so i re-set them to 0.013 and now back to starting really well and running better  . im just hopeing it will be cool set to 0.013 and not do any damage long term. take care and all the best fella's. chicago

[chicago]

Firstly I was not trying to be smug or smart, just making a point that modern riders are so used to "dialing in " numbers that they forget what they are doing and how it is supposed to work.

However I was being dead serious about " Modern Motorcycle Mechanics" by Nicholson.
If you have not got a copy, get yourself one. It should be mandatory reading for every one who wants to ride / repair / restore old bikes.
I think the 8th edition is currently in reprint but if not they are easy to come by in the used book market. Any edition after 4th ( 1953 ) will do. He has a chapter about fasteners which has a "table of general torque settings" which you will find reassuring if not use full. Plus every thing else that you need to know about how to decide if a part is worn out, limits of wear for pistons & bores etc, etc, etc.

As for Haynes manuals . I have 3 haynes manuals for A7-A10.
There has been just about no changes from the first edition ( 1972 ) to the most current edition  ( 2000 ).
Indeed the only real difference is the photos in the text are loosing their contrast and the actual photo on the front cover.
The "official" BSA service sheets list torques for the con rod nuts in the text of sheet 208 and these are repeated in sheet 215.
These are the only Torque values BSA quoted for these bikes for the general public. There may have been more detailed dealer service notices but I do not have any before 1968.
The "unofficial" manual for these bikes was originally "the Book of the BSA" then latter "The book of the BSA Twins" both published by Pitmans. Once again the only torque values given were for the con rod bolts.

no worries fella. all the best, chicago

[bsa-bill]

OOPS

with a bit of conmen knowledge thrown in for good measure

just re-read what I wrote, bit of a Freudian slip there - should of read "commen"
Just trying to ward off the libel suite

[duTch]

Heya Bill, is 'commen' anything like 'common'  cheers

[bsa-bill]

right on Dutch, so three attempts to get it right seems like Mrs Joyce my old English teacher had me sussed all along

[muskrat]

 G'day chicago, 13thou should be ok. If she starts missing and farting when hot (really hot) then back'em off.
Cheers

[duTch]

Sorry bill but thanks, I don't like to do it but couldn't help it - 'specially after 'Fraudian' reference, just another reason why they didn't like me at school either.

Sorry also it's sliding away from topic but,
  54A10,  Re; Haynes- I've learned to just use any literature as a reference, and try and verify stuff x3. I have their (Haynes) new style of book for my hilux 4x.
 It's a major 'headphark', not sequential but having used it a bit now, becomes easier to deal with.
 


*fraudian=conmen  gotcha?

[chicago]

G'day chicago, 13thou should be ok. If she starts missing and farting when hot (really hot) then back'em off.
Cheers

cheers fella, will do, all the best, chicago