5. Ariel Golden Arrow - 2nd Engine Strip

Once the primary drive cover had been removed, another sign of previous damage appeared.

The lug that the chain tensioner fixes to appears to have been welded on. As I've never stripped an Ariel Arrow before, I can not be certain that this isn't part of the original manufacture. But it is done so badly that I very much doubt it and anyway, why would Ariel not cast the lug onto the crankcase end cap during the casting process?. Despite the rather overdone welding, it does seem to be on well and I decided that as this was on the inside and serviceable, I'd leave it.

I removed the four nuts, one bolt and one Philips headed screw from behind the chain tensioner lug ready for the removal of the left side crankcase end cap. This is where the new extractor too that I bought came in useful.

There are two threaded bosses on the end plate into which the long bolts of the extractor screw. An end cap is then placed over the end of the crank shaft and the centre bolt on the extractor is tightened. This slowly pulls the end cap off. I can assure you that this cap is so tight that without this tool you will not remove the end cap without damaging it.

That done, I proceeded to the magneto side of the engine (the right side).

Removing the magneto coils is easy, just undo the fixing nuts and pull it off.








Removing the centre magnet wheel is not too difficult either, although you do need to stop the crank shaft turning while you undo the centre bolt. I found the best way to do this was to pass a bar through both of the little end bushes. As you turn the bolt the bar bottoms on the crank case and stops it turning with no damage. Once removed, a small woodruff key is revealed, which I put away for safe keeping.

Now it's a case of using the same extractor tool  for the right side crank case end plate. The same applies it is in very tight and would not have come out without the tool.


The crankshaft is now revealed and I had to refer to the workshop manual to find out how to remove it. Surprise, surprise, it's in two pieces, held together by a large Alan Key bolt down the middle of the right hand  crank shaft.
I rang Draganfly as the manual did not specify what the size of this Alan Key was and none of mine seemed to fit. To my surprise they told me that it was the same key that I had already bought to remove the cylinder head nuts.

I had already tried that one and it did not seem to fit. But armed with the information that it was the correct key, I tried again and with a sharp tap of a hammer, the key located in the bolt head. The same bar in the little end bushes held  the shaft while I undid the bolt. This bolt is captive in the right hand shaft and once undone, acts as an extractor pushing the two shafts apart. Once separated, it was necessary to rotate the crankshafts until the con rods were at the bottom of their travel. I then had to hit the right hand shaft with a soft faced hammer to knock the left hand shaft out of the centre main bearing. As you can see from the picture, the bearing came with it and the left hand half of the crankshaft could then be twisted at an angle and pulled out of the crank case. Once the left hand shaft was out. The right hand shaft also became free to remove and out it came.

Bad news! The big end roller bearings are shot!. Replacing them does not look like an easy job as it will mean knocking the pins (big end journals) out in order to gain access to the bearings. Finally, with the crank case empty, I could remove the centre double oil seal. This is much easier said than done as it knocks out to the right, but you can't get a drift on it from the left. In the end I had to destroy it and pulled it out in pieces.

Well that's the engine, next blog is gearbox time!

Copyright K. Hopcroft  15.02.14 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

4. Ariel Golden Arrow - Engine Strip

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

3. Ariel Golden Arrow - 2nd Strip

Having removed all of the rear bodywork, wheel, chain guards etc. It was now time to remove the engine. This presented a problem that I had not come across on any other motorbike before. The problem is that the centre stand is mounted on the engine casing
, and not the frame as normal. If I remove the engine, the bike will fall over!

This created a real dilemma. I decided to make a framework out of "Unistrut"  to support the bike frame. This took up considerable time but was good practice for my mig welding skills (which are not great). This involved making two frames which bolted down onto my bike lift and fitted either side of the bike. An adjustable crosspiece then added rigidity and provided support for the bike frame body, bolting onto the two rear shock absorber mounting holes. A quick wooden support under the front of the frame allowed me to remove the weight from the stand and work on the removal of the engine.

That done it was now a simple task of removing the brake pedal and rear forks and all fixing bolts and the engine simply dropped out from under the frame.

Next was the front forks. By removing the two chrome cover plates on the forks, the ingenious trailing link front suspension was revealed. After releasing the clamp bolts, the front axle knocked out reasonable easy and with the brake disconnected, the front wheel slid out between the forks. The front mudguard was next and to my surprise it turned out to be in two sections, not one continuous mudguard.

You can't remove the two shock absorber/spring assemblies until  the cast trailing link arms are removed first. The left one is easy, just remove the bolts and pull it out. But the right link has a bush mounted in it and that has to be knocked out first before the link will pass out between the bottom of the suspension leg rings. The two shock absorbers can now be undone at the top and dropped out from the bottom.

Finally the top yoke can be released along with it's top and bottom bearings and the front forks removed from the frame. By the way, the top and bottom bearings are loose ball bearings in races. Be careful to catch the balls as they fall out of the bottom race, when you pull the forks downward.

The next episode covers the stripping of the engine/gearbox unit and more disasters are revealed.

Copyright K. Hopcroft  07.02.14 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