7. BSA A10 Wheel Meet Again

Leading up to this point, I had sent several parts up to my favourite chroming company, "Quality Chrome" in Hull, and after 6 weeks they had finally come back beautiful. These included the engine mountings and the front fork shrouds and also the rear sprocket

Earlier in this BSA A10 saga I had mentioned the rebuilding of the wheels, however there were a couple of things that I forgot to include. During the rebuilding of the hubs, all new bearings were fitted along with new oil seals and the hubs were cleaned and packed with fresh grease.

Fitting the new front left side hub cap turned out to be more of a challenge. The old hub cap was beyond rescue, as it was hand painted, rusty and dented. I found a new replacement (British Made) chrome plated hub cap on eBay and was very pleased with the quality when it arrived. However fitting it was a different matter. It should press over the left side of the hub and on the inside of the outer edge are three small pips that need forcing over the outer rim of the hub to hold it in place. No matter how I tried I could not press this hub cap on. I even turned a wooden mandrel to press down on the centre and the edge at the same time, but pressing on it just made the dome of the hub cap flex. I tried some gentle knocks on the mandrel with a lump hammer, but it just sprang back each time and I was becoming afraid that I was going to damage the new hub cap. What I needed was continuous pressure on the centre and around the edge at the same time. I needed a press.

So I took the wheel and hub cap back to my friend who has a hydraulic press, but the wheel (now assembled) was too large to fit in it between its two side pillars. True to form, he came up with an idea. He also had a large milling machine in his workshop. By placing the wheel on the bed of the machine and using the milling head vertical adjustment as a press we managed to slowly push the cap into place until the three pips went over the hub rim with a resounding "click". Beautiful, the hub was on and no damage.

Fitting the front wheel to the frame came next. I had noticed , when stripping the A10, that the bolts holding the front axle cups in place were of different lengths and spanner sizes. Upon inspection it was found that two of the threads in the front forks were damaged and shorter metric bolts had been forced in. I needed to tap out the threads in the forks and replace the bolts with the correct stainless new ones. Finding a tap to fit was a different problem. It turned out to be a British Cycle Thread 26 tpi and guess who had one? The man with the press and the milling machine. Once tapped out the wheel was offered into place and the brake plate located onto its lug to stop it turning when you brake. The two, newly painted, cups were then clamped on with the new bolts and " hey presto" the bike was fitted with its front wheel.


The back wheel next. The back wheel set up is actually in two parts, First you must fit the rear axle tensioner adjusters into the ends of the swinging arms. These are used to hold the axle at the correct distance to keep the chain at the right tension and stop the chain pulling the back wheel into the frame. Then the left side of the hub can be bolted to the left swinging arm complete with new bearings and seals and the newly chromed rear sprocket. The wheel is then offered in place between the swinging arms and finally the right side of the axle passes through the right swing arm and the wheel and screws into the left stub axle . This is actually quite clever as it allows you to remove the rear wheel without removing the chain.

At last, my Rocket Gold Star replica was standing on its own wheels!

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 Copyright K. Hopcroft 03.08.12 All rights reserved
 You can contact me on: hopcroftscoot@gmail.com

My Other Blogs:

1961 Ariel Arrow Super Sport Motorcycle :
http://60sclassicmotorbikes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/1961-aerial-golden-arrow-restoration.html

Miniature Land Rover Defender:
http://miniaturelandrover.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/1-miniature-land-rover-defender-idea.html?view=timeslide

1971 VW Karman Ghia Convertible Car:
http://karmannghiarestoration.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/1-karmann-ghia-retoration-project.html

Motorcycle Trailers / Caravans:
http://motorcycletrailersandcaravans.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/1-motorcycle-trailers-problem.html