<-=- Club Bevel Heaven -=->

I've just had the head of my Monza rebuilt by Pietro at Moto Marino - excellent job but now I have a problem setting the timing. I've drained the oil,taken out the screws on the front crankcase cover and removed the points and the advance, but the cover just won't budge. I've tried tapping with a rubber mallet (gently) but there is no sign of any movement at all. Am I missing something here? Or is there another way to set the timing i.e. with the cam marks aligned and the piston at a certain position?

You could try removing the screw in the end of the points shaft.

If you get stuck I may be not too far away.

Schoolboy error! I didn't realise that the post that the points cover attaches too was also a securing bolt. Timing set now but still won't start: new plug, cap, points, condenser and piston. Spark's ok and it ran ok before the head had a new cam so I'm still confused!
Another day of head scratching....
Many thanks for the kind offer Bob.
Nick.

The timing is a bit tricky, the cam drive has a hunting tooth design and needs to be turned over about 6 times ??, to get all the marks to align. Its easy to get the points 180 degrees out ,firing at the top of the exhaust stroke. What ign system do you have,flywheel AC mag, or battery fed coil?. What was the cause of the oiling??.

I have the timing marks on both bevels aligned (top and bottom) but there are also marks for the points spindle and these are not in line. The picture in my hand book isn't clear where these should line up. The ign is flywheel. The oiling came from lack of seals on the valve stems. The previous owner had done a pretty bad rebuild and let her run low on oil at some point so the cam and one of the rockers had turned blue and needed replacing. Pietro at Moto di Morino did a fine job of the head rebuild.

Getting the marks to line up on the gears behind the points is a bit awkward, if you undo the screw in the points shaft and tap gently you can leave the gears in the case (i think!!) which will help getting the marks to line up, you also need to finish up with the points plate in a mid slot position to allow timing adjustment.

Too late! The gear came out with the case, and I'm not sure where it should mesh with the crank shaft gear. But if the points plate ends up in mid slot, as you suggest, I should be ok .... I think.

Some of the timing dots are impossible to see unless they have been painted, the crank one is like this,best to get them all done in one go.

Up and running now, many thanks for the advice Bob.

Up and running is good , out and about is better!, so few Duc singles on the road. Hope to see it sometime. I joined the Vintage club who meet and ride out a lot. West Kent branch is good with huge variety of bikes turning up. Sometimes 2 Duc singles.