Its in ? after removing air box then feeding thru from front with a bit of twisting. BUT ? the rear mudguard was offset so i spent ages re-aligning so i looked perfect, but guess what ? the bloody silencer hits it now, so they must all be built offset. Well mines bloody well not , so im trimming the underside edge of the mudguard until it bolts up. If there was a montesa designer about id be tempted to give him a tap in the nuts ?
Im at the stage where its time to refit the exhaust, engine is in and its a rolling chassis. Do i have to start removing parts again ? as im getting nowhere fast and catching all the new paint. Does the cylinder head need to come back off ? Does the rear wheel need to come out ? Im sure when i dismantled the 348 it came out without doing so but was difficult. Hope someone out there has a solution. Cheers Mark
Restoring this 348 (1975) has been fun, still about 6 months away from finishing, but bloody hell sometimes you wonder what montesa engineers were thinking. Like the odd sizes they use, 7mm on engine case ? and getting the gear selection spot on drove me nuts ? but i have to say its been enjoyable
Yes the speedo drive and the other part now replaced by the one piece spacer, its within 1mm of central now and tightens up without pulling on the fork legs. It was difficult to measure but happy with it now. Theres no spacer on the brake side of mine or it would be way off?
Spacer made (34mm) so legs kept true ? measuring was difficult but glad its done, wheel now within 1mm of centre between legs and no distortion of legs.
OK im at front wheel refitting times, and i have these two spacers on the spindle. Everything was kept together so these two did come off, but dont seem to fit correctly. Does the one with a lip fit inside the fork leg ? Both are slightly different outside diameters which seems odd. Does the spindle pull up tight to them before nipping clamp up ? Montesa diagram is useless so hope someone can help. Cheers Mark
Can anyone tell me which way around the two cluch cable fitting go, i cant find the cable at the minute to check, and before i bolt the case on they need fitting. Cheers Mark
Im starting to rebuild my 348 engine and have refitted the gearbox into rhs crankcase, but my problem is the gearlever/selector seems very difficult to operate, how do i know its in the correct position before i refit it all. I put the mark on the end of the shaft towards where it should line up with the selector quadrant mark, but it just doesnt seem right. I know it would operate better when the shafts are supported at both ends but my head says somethings not right. Any advice greatly appreciated. Cheers Mark
Yes i have the other cracks to fill yet but the big chunk was missing and long gone (1976 - 348), im planning to hopefully use the footrest/stop method when its finally done ?
Corroded yokes is a common thing with 348s but there are usually some being broken down for parts in the UK. Be aware that the yokes from a 247 look very similar and will fit, but have slightly different geometry. Both 247 and 348 yokes were made from rolled aluminium plate which lends them to that sort of failure. I saw some NOS 348 yokes advertised a while back in the US. Sorry not allowed to mention suppliers on here.
As for water getting inside things, one of my 348s came with collapsed forks and I found they were full of water. Lots of corrosion on the insides of the tubes.
Was told they are rolled aluminium, when im home i will send you a picture, they are corroding apart in layers
348 exhaust refitting
in Montesa
Posted
Its in ? after removing air box then feeding thru from front with a bit of twisting. BUT ? the rear mudguard was offset so i spent ages re-aligning so i looked perfect, but guess what ? the bloody silencer hits it now, so they must all be built offset. Well mines bloody well not , so im trimming the underside edge of the mudguard until it bolts up. If there was a montesa designer about id be tempted to give him a tap in the nuts ?