With the frame now fully stripped, it was time to separate all of the parts for painting from the parts that need chroming. With the parts laid out on the floor, I was surprised at just how many bits there were. This picture just shows the large parts. On the bottom right, you can just spot a cardboard box with all of the smaller parts. 33 parts in all went to Andy Flinders (Andy Bike) at Ilkeston for shot blasting and painting. I found a link on the Internet giving modern paint equivalents which said: Ivory= Rover ‘White 30-3738 and Gold= VW ‘Hellas Gold’ code L98A. However Andy discovered that whilst Hellas Gold is the correct name, L98A is not the correct code. But true to form Andy has found the correct paint. It's not likely that I will see the parts back until March, but there's lots to keep me occupied.
One of the more interesting finds, when stripping ready for painting was the tool box. This had been cut to accommodate the electronic ignition and 12 regulator control boxes and repaired with a rather fetching Bourbon biscuit tin, riveted in place and then sealed with black gutter sealant that remains sticky and never sets. So I have now had wooden engine parts and biscuit tin body parts. It all adds to the fun of renovation!OK on with the engine strip and the first thing that I noticed was a hole in the engine casing that should not be there.
This turned out to be in the final drive area of the casing, just above the gearbox output sprocket. Obviously a broken chain had become trapped at this point and smashed a hole outwards in the casing. I decided that once the engine was completely stripped, I would take it to Colin Lamb at Gladex Engineering, Ilkeston, and see if he could TIG weld it for me. There were other parts that I had reserved for his attention anyway. The centre stand had been badly repaired with metal plates on the bottom and Allen key bolts welded on the sides, the foot rests were bent and the inner rear mudguard had splits in it that needed welding beyond my meagre welding ability.
Removing the cylinder heads requires a large Allen key 3/8"AF which I did not have, so I went on the scrounge and found that Colin had a full set of 1/2" drive socket set Allen keys which he kindly lent me. The Head bolts turned out to be long tubular Allen key headed nuts, once removed, but they came out quite easily. The heads lifted off OK and revealed two pistons which looked fairly good. However removal of the two separate barrels revealed vertical score marks up the barrels, which means a re-bore will be needed with new pistons.
Next came the removal of the electronic ignition circuit boards. I marked them in case I wanted to put them back. But they just don't look right and I suspect that I will probably buy the correct ones when it comes to the rebuild. They came off easily but revealed more damage. It would appear that the end of the crankshaft has had a grinding wheel on it for some reason. I really cannot understand why!Removal of the primary chain case cover is not quite as straight forward as you would imagine. You first have to remove the chain tensioner which has a nylon adjuster behind a bung at the front of the case. Turning this adjuster does not remove it. You have to screw a self tapping screw into the end of it and pull it out. Once out the case comes off and reveals the flywheel and clutch assembly. Removing the flywheel is easy. Knock back the tab washer, undo the nut and pull, and off it came.
Removing the clutch is not to difficult either. Undo the three spring loaded adjusting nuts and the cover comes off revealing the plates, all of which need replacing. But removing the centre sprocket is a different matter altogether. This sprocket turns the gearbox shaft which spins freely. Somehow I had to hold the sprocket still whilst trying to undo the two large nuts in the centre. I checked and could find no tool that I had that would do the job. There seemed to be no way to jam this sprocket to stop it turning. So I called Draganfly (The Ariel people) and they didn't have a tool either. I thought of welding a smooth plate and friction plate together to lock the inner sprocket to the outer basket. But Draganfly informed me that there were no new friction plates and the old ones would have to be refurbished. Whilst I was on to Draganfly I ordered a 3/8"AF Allen key for myself along with the special extractor tool for removing the crankcase ends. This will later turn out to have been a good idea.
Finally I went on Ebay and ordered a chain wrench, in the hope that I could grip the outside of the sprocket with it and undo the nuts.
The chain wrench arrived and to my surprise worked. Off came the nuts along with the centre clutch sprocket and revealed the thrust washer and roller bearings behind.
The clutch outer basket could then be removed along with the bearing rollers.
Much more engine stripping to follow.
Copyright K. Hopcroft 08.02.14 All rights reserved
You can contact me on: hopcroftscoot@gmail.com
My other Blogs:
1961 BSA A10 Super Rocket Motorcycle:
https://60sclassicmotorbikes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/before.html
Miniature Land Rover Defender:
http://miniaturelandrover.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/1-miniature-land-rover-defender-idea.html
1971 VW Karmann 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
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