I purchased and am now selling a Le Mans 2 engine , or is it?
Engine number is VF (or could be VE, it’s not very clear) 075214.
Heads are 13.02.22.60 with M6 manifold bolts.
VF engine numbers are for LM 3,.
Would Le Mans head and barrels fit a LM3 crankcase?
I don’t want to mislead potential buyers.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Russell
The obvious big difference between a leMans 2 and 3 engine is that the former is a roud barrel and the LeMans 3 is a square barrel.
Well, that part number doesn’t look like a LM1/2 cyl head.
The right should be 14.02.21.50, the left 14.02.22.50.
There was a 1980 update for LM2 to replace them interchangeably with parts ending in .51.
There’s something just like this in a different thread.
Look up ‘Le Mans Cylinder Head part number’
I’m afraid I don’t know how to post a link to it.
Round fin top end has different stud spacing to square fin👍
Thanks for your comments.
The mystery deepens. The inlet ports are 36 mm as Le Mans heads.
They are round barrel heads and barrels, not modified as some are.
I have rebuilt the engine and clutch meticulously with all new bearings , seals, fasteners, valve springs, rings etc.
I intend to sell but I’m not sure now how to list it.
R
The strip where the engine number is stamped is quite narrow, could it be that the lower edge of the E in VE just missed the metal and so it became a VF ?
Having checked the port size is good. I’d be prepared to guess that the raw castings for the Eldorado heads were identical to the LM ones. If they’d run out of LM castings at the factory I’m sure they’d just pinch some Eldo ones and machine them up as LM, thus having the wrong part number cast in now. Out of interest, is the other ( presumably right hand ) head a similar part number, ie 13.02.21.60 ?
Can’t help you on your listing…
Oh, and as Phil says, they moved the studs on the LM3 ( VF ) to make room to expand it to 1000cc on future models, so round heads wouldn’t fit on square compatible crankcase.
This is the thread you were referring to
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That’s the one, Don, ta.
Re-reading that thread does seem to imply that a number of LMs had those Eldo part numbers on the heads.
I had a LM1, the manifold screws were M6 (all others, T3 etc. are M8) and the eng. No. began ‘VE’. If memory serves ‘VE’ means Le Mans.
It’s possible but it does look like an F when I blow up a photograph of it
Does anyone know if the middle bar of the E in VE engine numbers is shorter or is it equal in length to the top and bottom?
Here is an image of a VF engine number
https://www.bikesales.com.au/bikes/details/1984-moto-guzzi-850-le-mans/SSE-AD-15927194/
And image 56 in this album shows the numbers for a Lemans 1 series 2
Yes, Andy,
RH head 13.02.21.60
Ian Falloon’s Le Mans bible confirms the different stud spacing on the LM3 engine.
I feel safe in assuming that the crankcase is from a LM2 and the heads have ELDORADO part numbers but fitted to the LM. Another thing, the rocker arms are polished, unlike on my other Guzzis.
Thanks for all the input, any further comments would be welcome.
Russell
I’d also add, based upon Greg Bender’s files, that your engine number is about the right number to be a VE, late Mk1 or early Mk2. There seems to be some overlap, given the engines were pretty much identical. I think Don’s right, that’s a badly stamped E, and seeing his auction photo implies that’s reasonably common. In answer to a previous question, the middle leg of the E is about half length, so likely the F would be similar. I’ve not got a decent photo to post.
That photo looks exactly like mine👍
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