EW350 kickstart shaft and gear rebuild

[916nik]

Hi
I am looking for assistance in finding an engineering firm that would be able to rebuild the damaged keyway on the kickstart shaft on my EW. I would prefer to have the work done in Australia if possible but will ship internationally if required. I have attached a picture of the damage for your reference and any assistance is greatly appreciated.
Regards
Nik

[Alan]

Nik..why not have a chat with the small Sydney based company I detailed in Worldwide suppliers...he loves this type
of one-off job and his hourly rate is very reasonable...He has undertaken quite a bit of work for me to a high standard..

[916nik]

Thanks Alan will give him a call
Regards
Nik

[Doug]

Nik,

I have made these for my machines in two parts; the shaft and the quadrant (good examples are getting hard to find). So an engineering firm ought to be able to make you a new shaft, or weld up the existing spline and thread and re-machine.

I have also made hubs for new kick-start levers using a punch and a hydraulic press. I believe Douglas pressed the splines. The blank is heated to a cherry-red and the punch quickly driven in. In the hub you will see a line near the bottom. This is where the leading edge of the punch started to catch in the pilot hole. So if the firm you engage decide to do the same thing I would suggest making a lead in taper with the teeth before the conical spline proper begins to avoid this, or run the conical portion to an even smaller point than the pilot hole diameter. The hub blank distorts quite a lot (this one has already been skimmed), so make it plenty oversize to allow shaving down to final thickness.



Or the firm can cut the splines in a metal shaper, and avoid the blacksmith work.

-Doug



[fix typo.  -Doug, 26Aug14]

[916nik]

Thanks for the reply Doug. This looks like the path I will need to travel as after an attempt to repair the key way so that I could attend the arrival of the Adelaide to Darwin Veteran rally last weekend the hub on the kickstart lever failed by cracking where the keyway was cut. I will go and have a chat to one of the local engineering firms to see if they are interested in taking on a small job such as this.
Regards
Nik

[Doug]

Nik,

It is a lot of torque going through a small shaft. Not surprising in hindsight that a single key seat was not quite enough.

Thinking about it, I started off using a hydraulic press. However that took too long to get the punch it place and I was loosing too much heat. So after getting the tooth pattern established straight and true with the press, I used a 4lb hand sledge on subsequent heats to get the full depth of the teeth.

Also I would make the teeth on the punch pointier. I think the slight flat at the crest made the job harder forcing it into the hub blank.

-Doug

[kev]

Doug
  I don't see an address on the post or any other name...any chance of buying either the hub blank ith splines in ...or a copy of your die??
all I have is the shaft it fits on...

[Doug]

On the left, below the persons name and avatar are links for sending PM or emails. Also a person's general location, if they provided it in their member profile. All only visible when you are logged on to the forum (i.e., to members only).

No price on the hub blanks or the punch as it was a project was from a long time ago. The post was to illustrate a method, not solicit sales. I did hear recently from someone else looking for the same kick start lever and they had a mate wire electrical discharge machine cut the internal hub splines. This was to be welded to a lever to fabricate a kick start pedal. Just about that point, a good used original turned up on eBay. Point is, there are a couple of ways to make a hub, though all do admittedly involve some machine tools. And kick start pedals for EWs do turn up from time to time, though you may have to start making one to force Fate's hand.

-Doug

[kev]

thanks for that Doug...
  hopin I could just buy a piece

  I,ll keep looking...now made the eye bolts "L" shaped bolt and thru bolts for the cases.......
 and onto making the oil pump gear.. and ex valve lifters...(missed a set on ebay  went for over $110.00)

[roberto]

Hi,
one of my friends made this hub on a wire eroding machine.
If i get an original kick start pedel a promised, you can get this hub.


Regards, Roberto