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I’ll be starting the rebuild on my 500 soon and I have a questions regarding assembly lubes. On the face of it, they seem like a good idea, especially if the rebuild may take a month or so as in my case due to time I can spare for it. I’m especially concerned about the lubrication of the big end shells and the large plain bearing on start up which is where I think the assembly lube may have an advantage with it’s viscosity and retention over the oil, but I also have concerns about how well they disperse in the oil and the potential to clog oil ways if they don’t live up to their claims.
Do you guys use them? If so, can you recommend any, and if not can you share any secrets for initial start up, oil priming etc.
Regards
Steve.

I use the same oil as goes in the engine. As long as you also pump some down the oilways, I cannot see it being a problem, as the oil will not take long to flow once the engine has started. Don't forget the rubber thingy on the end of the oil pump! . A month is not long.

The most important thing is probably to change the oil and clean the strainer after not many rides and to bed in the bearings properly.

Have you cleaned out the sludge trap in the crankshaft?

Hi Mickey
Yes, I’ve cleaned the sludge trap (and everything else) to within an inch of its life, not taking any chances!
New rubber thingy ready to go, thanks for your opinion, appreciated.

Regards
Steve.

If in doubt about oil circulation after a rebuild (or a long time standing) then you can always remove the spark plugs to reduce compression load and then crank the engine over on the starter for a period to get oil flowing before going for a start.

I always use a liberal amount of my normal engine oil, and try to put a good amount down the crank nose before assembling the primary drive side.

And a good dose in the rocker covers, down the pushrod tunnels and around the valve gear is sensible too- there is no pressure feed of oil to the top end so you rely on oil mist- so that very first start when cold and dry is probably worse for the top end than the first few rotations are for the bottom end.

Thanks Tom, good advice, I was thinking the same about the top end too, when I get that far!

Regards
Steve.

Never been inside a Morini engine but whenever I have rebuilt an engine I have used a trick my dad taught me.
50/50 mix of lithium grease and engine oil, mix together well until it's like warm jelly then smear a small amount on anything that might be dry for a second or two on start up.

I always use a 1/4inch artist brush to dab it on basically if you can see the gloopy mix you put too much on. All you need is a smear.

Run engine for a couple of hundred miles then do an oil and filter change.