Squire_Dawson

See you later!

Great stuff. I don't know much about motorcycles, though I'd heard of them being prop-driven, I've never seen one. Fantastic.

I'll be there. Conrad Conelrad has kindly volunteered a lift. If he's early I may well rope him in to help bleed Humber brakes...

The car,as I said, was a Rover owned and in 92' went into the next owners hands who, I am told maintained it diligently. The current owner then purchased it in 2016 (from the Isle of Man)  Only 2 years of MOT history show on the Dvla website....bot with no advisories.
Although the original pack comes with the car there is no other history or invoices etc.... plus no evidence of Cam belt change.
 
Now perhaps I am being picky, but I would like some history, however it appears a good well looked after car. What would you expect this car to be valued at?
 
 

Back!
 
Anyway, thats a sweet looking motor man. Very clean and 99% original. I'd probably say that the wheels are Mk2 Rover 800 items. It's nice subtle mod that doesn't stand out. Many Mk1 and Mk2 parts are interchangeable. In fact 70% of the Mk2 is basically a Mk1 with a slightly different face. The rear sections of the saloon and fastback are not interchangeable. Nice to see it hasn't had the Rover R8 200 grille stick on the front either. They were an awful mod that Rover offered for thier customers who wabted to "update" thier car when the Mk2 came out.
 
Looks like very nice car, I wouldn't think twice about buying it. The 'Si' model was a fairly low spec car, it still had all-round electric windows, electric sunroof and probably remote central locking (though I think this was a cost option)
 
Also, if you find the tank cracked, a Volvo 850 tank will fit.
 
I also had a Rover 827Si with the TWR bodykit on it. Mine was a manual and even had a recaro interior;
 


 
It was a lovely car until someone pulled out from a junction on front of me
 
Got these now:
 
827 Sterling:


 
Early 825 Sterling:

 
820E:

 
827 Sterling:

 
KV6 Sterling:

 
Sadly they are looking a worse for wear because life took over and needed more attention. I barely ever tinker with them.
 
Take a look on Rover800.info if you str after parts or advice.

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The replacement driveshaft assembly was fitted on Saturday afternoon, along with the head-steady assembly, and then I set-up the motor correctly in its rubber mountings.
 
The rubber mounted engine on these bikes is a rather brilliant design, with just two isolastic type rubber engine mounts balancing the weight of the engine and gearbox. One is tucked in under the front of the cylinder head (so the engine hangs on it) and the other is at the back end of the gearbox (supported from under) .   
 
And because these mounts are diagonal (see red line in illustration below) relative to the crankshaft's rotational axis (blue line) ..a large part of the engine's torque-reaction is countered by their vertical component. In short, despite there only being two mounts, their geometry help cancel out the reaction - so very little gets through to effect the balance of the bike.  BMW motorcycles might well have learnt something from this ..as indeed might have most car makers.  Mind you the innovative Citroen 2cv got close, but never had much height to play with.. 
 

 
At the lower-front of the Sunbeam's engine are a pair of rubber buffers, and then diagonally opposite these (see yellow lines) ..above and just behind the cylinder head is another pair, and also a friction-damper.  Rubber engine mounts of course help absorb vibration, but on these bikes the friction-damper also does so.  These buffers & the damper limit the engine's lateral movement and prevent the engine bouncing around on its mounts. I've never seen as simple and ingenious a solution on any other vehicle. 
- - -
 

^ Today I cleaned the frame and touched-in numerous chips and scratches (I might add - these were inherited from previous mechanics). I then correctly adjusted the rear brake and its actuating rods and went around greasing moving linkages ..as is required in vintage bike maintenance.  Finally, I fitted the foot pegs and exhaust system. The down-pipes are different to those taken off  Nudge, but I'm using the same exhaust silencer and flexi-pipe coupling.
 
Two full afternoons work ..and that's all I've got done . huh !   I'd fire me if I could.!
5,400

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Jigsaw puzzle : 1950's 3d stye     . .
 

^ with three very similar bikes now in so many pieces, my task yesterday was to sort what bits goes with which bike. ! ?
 

^ while sorting these out, I realised why Hovis  was so dismantled  ..ding !   
 
.       As someone who's getting old.. this was a matter of some concern, because I neither remember having issues with the bike, nor do I actually remember taking it apart ! ?  Subconsciously I'm worried about loosing my faculties.  But aside from the engine being borrowed for Nudge, the reason it was more stripped than I recall was because., while collating bits for Pudge's restoration - I took the opportunity to have parts of this bike re-chromed.  This was in addition to similar bits off  Nudge, and then also the winches, fairleads and cleats off my boat.  My order for re-chroming was over a 120 individual pieces, and the focus was on Nudge's and the boat's bits .. and so I was not thinking about Hovis.   Phew ..I'm not senile, yet.!
- - -
 
Moving on . . .
 
As I'm hoping to keep three other bikes and not Hovis, it makes sense to cherry-pick parts of this bike, if they might be better suited to one of the others. I can't decide if this is immoral but it is how people end up with particularly special examples of classic bikes and cars ..Anyhow in this instance I'm just swapping this bike's U.J. for one with a painted black finish (ie., putting it back to 'original'). This afternoon's task ..
 

The chrome of the shaft-drive's universal-joint on this bike isn't original, they were always black painted. I hadn't done this 'customising' ..but I'd like it for one of my silver coloured bikes. Consequently I'm swapping it out for another I have in stock, which is also in good condition but for its cosmetics.
 

^ It looks rough but I had kept it as a spare because it swivels smoothly and I'm sure will clean up nicely
 
As it happens, it was a good job I had to remove the one on this bike ..because I discovered three out of four of the nuts holding the chrome U.J. on were not tight ! ..and the tab plates were not turned out to lock any of the nuts. So., the drive-shaft would soon have worked loose    ..not a bundle of fun to suddenly discover when traveling at speed.
 

^ The U.J. fits onto a coupling-flange from the rear-drive unit.  Behind this is a lip seal, and that was weeping. So although I'll be selling the bike very soon, while I'm this close - I thought replacing that seal was the decent thing to do.
 
Out of interest (..perhaps ?), this rear-drive is not a bevelled-gear, as you find in most car differentials, but is a worm drive and gear, similar to that used by the highest quality car makers of yesteryear like Lanchester (who with Daimler Cars were owned at this time by the BSA group, and who also owned Sunbeam bicycles and motor-cycles).  Its advantage over the bevel-drive is that it is quieter and smoother in operation. The disadvantage is that it is not as efficient and so absorbs precious performance.  But then 'The Sunbeam' was first and foremost designed to be the highest quality gentleman's motorcycle. And performance on 1940's roads was of lesser issue.   (..unless of course there were a German fighter aircraft up your tail pipe ! )
 

^ because the sealing face is on the coupling-flange just removed, there's now a gap between the spline and seal - to get a couple of screwdrivers in and to simply prise the old one out.
 

^ I find it useful to record the part number of consumables, both of those being fitted and also of the part being removed (different manufacturers have their own numbers) and then to get another to keep in stock. These need not be ordered from the main stockist (Stewart Engineering, Poole, Dorset, in the case of post-war Sunbeams motorcycles) but from a local bearing n' seal supplier ..for a fraction of the price. That way I save money and generally have such things in stock when needed. It is also far less disruptive when trying to get on with the job.  NB. a photo like the one above showing the seal in question and in the background where it goes is a quick n' efficient way to record those part numbers.
 
Btw., I've noted that Stewart Engineer tend to supply single-lip seals. As far as I'm concerned this is wrong for such a situation - it should be double-lipped, because the inward facing lip keeps the oil inside the housing, and the outside lip is to stop road spray, salt and grit from the sealing face. I assemble mine with a copious smear of silicon grease over and between the lips.   
 
The new seal was duly tapped into place (interference fit again, so no clip) flush with the surface of the casing.  And then turned my attentions to the replacement drive shaft and U.J.   The first task was to separate these two parts . .
 
Unfortunately the drive-shaft's spline was locked one part into the other (..most likely this had been knocked in too far, when it was released from the gearbox / giving a little more clearance for removal). It is supposed to be a greased sliding fit which takes up the difference in distance between the gearbox and the rear wheel hub ..as the suspension goes up and down. 
 

^ The forward end of these drive-shafts are quite lightly built (after all it's only a 500cc motorcycle) and so rather than strike the fitting-flanges directly with a block or hammer, you'll see above I've fitted the correct size bolt, to strike onto the flat of those heads. This saves bruising the drive-shaft with hammer blows and also dissipates the force to all around the mounting hole (whereas the hammer would only have hit the outside of the rim).  As it happens this particular shaft was the tightest I've yet come across, but as soon as I broke its lock the spline slid smoothly. There was almost no grease inside mind    What you see below as wet sheen is penetrating oil.
 

^ the screw cap over the end of the spline is simply to keep dirt out and grease in. Under the cap should be felt wadding and a split ductile-steel washer ..which has to uncoil to be fitted or removed over the splines (see photo).  In this instance the felt had been replaced by a number of fibre-washers. Oh well ! 
 
The spline cleaned nicely on the power wire brush and so did the drive-shaft and U.J. .
 

^ The drive-shaft cleaned back to a smooth surface and given a coat of cold galvanizing (zinc). I find this stuff fills in a lot of the rust pitting and serves well enough as a primer for top-coat paint.
 
And then as it was meant to be chrome plated.. I painted it silver .  .

 
When this was dry I wanted to try something new ..to me..
 

^ this is self-adhesive aluminium-foil tape, which I'd bought when insulating the garage with foil-faced bubble wrap. I carefully smoothed it out instead of chrome, at least along the straight section of the shaft.  I've wound it around in the direction of rotation so it should stay put.  Only when seen in the daylight will I be able to properly gauge whether it looks better or worse than silver paint.  It's certainly neater than the pitted rust and bubbling or flaking chrome.
 

^ at the moment the aluminium foil looks like ..well aluminium, but I think because it is just aluminium it will also polish up like .. polished aluminium !   The U.J. smartened up very nicely, under the power-wire brush and a coat of paint. I thereafter refitted the grease nipple, and also the spline's screw cap with a new felt washer. The spline is coated with lith-moly grease (lithium-molybdenum) as used in modern vehicle CV joints ..as it is supposed to bear shear loads extremely well and is for where maintenance access is generally limited. 
 
I'll fit the assembly tomorrow, but am happy that with the new seal, a properly serviced spline on the drive-shaft, and the bolts tight and tabbed over - this Sunbeam will be good to go for many years yet.  And despite swapping out the U.J., the drive-shaft is very much neater than when I bought the bike. 
 
That's all for tonight. I hope it's been of interest and I bid you a pleasant evening.
Bfg.

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Evening all
 
I had a particularly frustrating day today, nothing at all to do with working on the bikes, but mucking me about so much that it was 4pm before I could get on with this engine swap.  But get on I did . .
 
Say hello to Hovis,
 

^  ..whose been resident in my living room for longer than I care to remember.  Fortunately he sleeps standing up and so I don't have to share my couch.
 
My first task was to get his own gearbox ready to be fitted back onto his engine (matching numbers an' all). 
This is where I started ..
 

^ looking into the bell-housing, the sheen and splash of oil is typical for two reasons. The first being the in-put shaft seal has gone hard over time &/or was damaged when fitted, and then the assembly of this front cover plate is wrong insomuch as under the nuts are star washers.  Originally they were flat plate tabs with turned up / locking corners.  
 

^ The problem with star washers (..and also split locking-washers) is they don't seal, so oil from the inside of the engine, gearbox or rear drive seeps up passed the studs and then isn't stopped.  The seeping happens because the oil level is above the stud &/or because things heat up when the bike is running ..and the air inside expands and so under pressure pushes out of any gap.
 
Generally, when I refurbish one of these gearboxes (open it up and check everything inside, repair as necessary, and replace every seal) I also drill a small hole behind the clutch cable's boss. Into that I glue a tiny piece of pipe to serve as a breather tube. This is into the top of a low splash zone, by the kickstart mechanism, so it doesn't leak.  However as I'm no longer going to restore and use this bike I'll not refurbish the gearbox.  But because I know a breather is needed - I'm leaving the top two nuts of the front cover with star washers. Expanding / contraction of air can vent passed those. I changed the star washers of the lower six nuts for plain washers bedded onto engine sealant.       
 

^  with those washers replaced and the inside of the bell housing cleaned up of oil and grit, I extracted the old input seal.. This is simply done by drilling a small hole, screwing in a self-tapper, and pulling on that. The seal is an interference fit and there's no clips holding it in place.
 

^ When fitting the new seal it crucial to protect its lip from being slit by the splines (which fit into the clutch).  An offcut of plastic bag wrapped around the splines is enough, and it's quick to do.  The seal slides over the plastic until it reaches the machined sealing face of the shaft. The plastic is simply pulled out before the seal is eased/pushed and then finally drifted into place  (NB. I use appropriately sized old-fashioned box spanners as tubular drifts).
 

^  suitably cleaned, Hovis' gearbox is at long last reunited with its engine.  I'll have to check sometime how long it's been and how many miles I've put on that engine since it was fitted into Nudge.   I have two more lightened flywheels, one for Nudge and the other for Pudge  ..machined and ready for their reassembly, so this one and the clutch remained undisturbed.
 
From the previous and above photo.. you might have noted the (relatively huge) aluminium casting of the bell housing. This is a heat sink for the rear cylinder and back of the engine ..which of course is somewhat sheltered from the cooling air flow around a motorcycle . 
 
Many in-line and square-four motorcycle engines have been tried but almost all of those suffer from the rear cylinder(s) getting too hot, particularly those of pre-unit gearbox construction.  Earling Poope, the innovative designer of these Sunbeams, had this neat solution which, if thought about at all, might be assumed to be part of the engine's art-deco styling or else simply a copy of car design. To further dissipate heat from the rear of the cylinder head - he also positioned the cam-chain tunnel with oil return full-width across the back of the engine ..so that cylinder's heat would literally be washed away down the insides of the aluminium engine casting.  He was clever dicky !       
 
On the early (his original) S7 - the access cover in the rear face of the bell housing (removable to see the flywheel and set the ignition timing) had open-louvres ..so hot air within could escape. This air was of course being swirled and fanned by the spinning clutch and flywheel.
- - -
 

^ Hovis is my youngest ..so understandably a little shy
 

^ looking a totally different type in black and with a dual seat.. If it were not for having no final-drive-chain he might easily be mistaken for a BSA. 
 
Converting to the twin seat updates the bike's styling from the immediate-post-war-look of a rider's saddle, possibly with a separate rear-mudguard-mounted 'fanny seat' ..so was incredibly common in the late 1950 and early 60's. Indeed I believe Sunbeam even offered it as an option.  However very few Sunbeams have retained this 'period' feature.  It seems today's owners much prefer the older vintage look .
..So can I say this is a 'Rare'  bike ?       
 
Although restored many years ago I'm pleasantly surprised at the excellent condition of the engine and gearbox castings. In contrast, Nudge's original engine has numerous broken cooling fins ..which will be a challenge to restore to anything like correct and authentic.
 
While the engine was out and with clear access I thought I'd address an oil weep. .

^ The hard-cornered cover with x3 Allen head set-screws and the pipe out of its underside face, is simply an after-market cover for the engine breather.  Originally the breather vent was just a slot open to the air flow ..so anything that came out of it splattered down the front of the engine and then blew back into and was subsequently baked into all the cooling fins.  A rubber or plastic tube fits onto this brass pipe, and is taken down the frame tube to underneath the bike ..where the crankcase vapours are vented.  When noting this oil smear I had assumed the cover or its pipe had been leaking, but it seems the oval cover to the right (which fits over the end of the overhead camshaft) was seeping.  I've removed that and cleaned the surface up again and will try re-sealing it tomorrow.  In the meantime the front of the engine was cleaned of its oil spill.
 

^ by 6:45 I was carefully easing the engine and gearbox into Hovis
 

^  that'll do for this evening .. I'm hungry !  The original 1955 engine and gearbox assembly is back into the frame. The two rubber engine mounts are loose fitted with their bolts and so carry the weight and the lifting block n' tackle is loose.  The rest is just careful alignment and reassembly of the ancillaries. I have no idea why all the bike's wiring is out. It was so long ago, and so many bikes later that I really cannot remember.  Never mind it's pretty easy so it'll go back in next week. 
 
Until next time, I bid you a good'n 
Bfg

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^  Exactly one year on.. and the Sunbeam restoration discussed above has not moved-on at all.!       Its frame, forks, engine, etc.,  are all still apart and here in my sitting room.  In short, the work I’d paid for on this bike's engine was so upsetting that it smothered my enthusiasm.   
 
Mind you (..regarding this particular bike) Parcel-Force making a balls-up of delivering the Loctite 294 ‘wicking threadlocker’ didn’t help my mindset either. I'd ordered it from the States (..to seal around the leaky cylinder sleeve inserts),  and was appropriately charged the customs duty ..but then they sent the parcel back to America.!.?   It literally took 3 months of  to’ing and fro’ing.   
 
Anyway., I picked myself up and moved on with other projects, from mid-March one year ago - that kicked off with fitting batteries, wiring and interior lights to my boat < here >  in OtherBoatshite.
 
Project Status : Sunbeam's Restoration - Stalled,   but full-steam-ahead on Boatshite. 
- - -
 
So one year on..  Am I now back to work on this bike's restoration ?  Nope sorry, not yet.  But I had four other Sunbeams, a Norton Commando, and a BMW K75 motorcycle which also called for my attentions.   The first of which was a Sunbeam 'basket case'.. In short an assorted pile of bits which roughly constituted most of a bike ..needing full restoration and assembly.  That was sold first.
 
Next was the K75 Ultima., which I put back on the road - last June, after having been laid up for seven years. I briefly discussed that on The Bikeshite Thread < here >  and then a few months later I had a couple of silly bills from the boat-yard so again needed to raise some money. The BMW was put up for sale and sold in September.
 
And then just a couple of weeks ago, on that same thread < here >, I shared a little of what I was doing with the most elegant 'Katie'..  She's an early (1948 model) Sunbeam S7 which I'd very much like to keep.  I thought to update that thread with further reports, but with their focus on mopeds and modern bikes ..well I just don't feel like me n’ my old bikes fit in there.  So if y'all don't mind - I'll just amble along quietly in this corner.  
- - -
 
Shockingly this January - the storage rent on my old boat hiked big time (250% !) and without fore-warning. That was particularly upsetting because I already walk a financial tightrope. So this year I need to get the boat back in the water,  move to live on it (..to save paying rent on a house + poll tax, etc.), and then I need to get out of this marina.   The plan is to buy a 20ft container,  and although I’ll have to pay rent to store it in a field somewhere, I reckon it’s necessary for me to get over the emotional brickwall of having to sell up ‘everything’..  In short I can keep three bikes, plus a whole bunch of tools, some furniture, and some personal possessions and books. 
 
However, because of the bill increase - I'm also running out of money ..But I do still have five motorcycles (..these are my savings).  So two of those need to be readied and sold. 
 
As two of my Sunbeams are sisters. The S7-deluxe restoration was the subject of this thread, and aside from being 'The Coronation Bike' in all her sparkling splendour, is within the family is known simply as 'Pudge'.  Her somewhat slimmer S8 sister's name is 'Nudge'.  They are both from London*, with less than six-weeks in age between them, each dressed in Polychromatic silver, and I have a close relationship with them. Then I'm also especially fond of 'Katie'.  So it'll have to be 'Hovis' my traditional in black 1955 Sunbeam S8,  and 'Norton the Commando' to find new caring homes for. 
* Pudge's registration is NXN 530 first registered the day after the coronation of ERII,  and Nudge is NXN 791 registered the following month,
so ..as the Sunbeam were the flagship bikes of the BSA group, it's quite conceivable that they might both have been featured in the same London
motorcycle dealer's show-room window during the Queen's coronation.
 
Both the Sunbeam and the Norton need recommissioning before they can be sold, but that work for Hovis is the easier / lesser amount. My target is to have her ready before the end of this month.  So here we go . .
- - -
 
Over the years I've owned quite a few post-war Sunbeams. The first was ..oh so many years ago, when I were a student.  And then, in the past decade I bought a barn-find project bike called 'Gas', which I got running but then sold to a close friend so that I might afford  Nudge.  In turn, she became my daily ride to and from work, and at weekends for cross country jaunts, and then again on holiday from Suffolk to Dorset (..all the way without going on a motorway or dual carriageway), or to London.  However.., very soon after I got her, her big-end failed (..having been mechanically restored by a member of VMCC).   Alas, the quickest way of getting the bike back on the road was to swap engines with another Sunbeam S8 I had acquired and was rebuilding. That being Hovis.  So the just rebuilt engine went not back into Hovis but into Nudge.  And now that Hovis is destined to find a wealthier new owner - then it's only right that the engines be swapped back into their rightful frames. . . 
 

^ of course Nudge lives inside during the winter, she's family.
 

^  Oh., Nudge "has left the building" !
 

^ ah, she's on the boardwalk 
 

^ saddle bags off ..she's looking good. And what a nice silencer !
 

^ Oh yes, nice and trim behind
 

^ a little turn for us
 

^ getting down babe
 

^ takes the weight off., and set aside those electrical boxes
 

^  Nudge.. please be careful ..do remember you are 66 years old in just a few months
 
That's it, nice and easy

^ Are you sure that's how you dance the fandangle ! ?
 

^ Phew, ease the load.
 

^ I say, isn't that your gearbox Nudge ?  We'd better let Hovis have his engine back and we'll put the gearbox aside for you.  Now whose lightened flywheel was that ?      
 
That's all for tonight Folks.

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Not much progress on the Sunbeam this last week, not least because the fork seals took 10 days to arrive. This was not the fault of Stewart Engineering who posted them on the 5th  (I'd ordered them on Saturday 3rd) but the post office, who seem unable to prioritize (..first in first out) the backlog of post after a little winter weather ! 
 
..And then when they did arrive (this morning (Monday 12th) they were single lip rather than double ..and so I need to send them back !  That really p'd me off because I firstly wanted to get on and to quickly wrap-up this little job, but also because single lip seals are not standard nor correct, and Stewart Engineering should know better.
 
This is one of those situations where the seal both keeps oil in the component and dirt out.   This is because it is quite easy, as the forks pump up and down, for gritty road dust to go in between the seal holder and the fork shroud - to where the spring is.  From there it drops down onto the top of the seal. Add a little road water spray and you have grinding paste. A single lip seal acts as a funnel to guide the dust onto the fork slider.   And as I live on a farm, down a dirt track (very dusty in the summer months) - this is a very real issue. 
 

^ This shows how the single lip seal would funnel dust/dirt directly against the fork slider, resulting in rapid wear. To the bottom of the photo is the original seal from these forks ..with its double lip (red arrow) which is there to keep the dust / grit out.
 
Stewart Engineering do have a double lip seal, albeit with rubber around the outside of the seal - which will be a much tighter fit in the seal holder. They've offered to replace these single-lip type ..so I am now awaiting those.
- - -
 
The other thing I ordered was Zinc / cold galvanising spray paint from Toolstation, as I wanted to protect from rust those parts of the stanchion which sit under the fork shrouds, also the fork springs, inside the seal holders, and inside the fork shrouds.  I've used this cold-galvanising on my Ami and like the stuff.  Unfortunately they too couldn't mange to deliver as promised I wanted to get these painted ..and radiator dried hard, long before reassembly. So, anticipating the seals arrival at any moment, I went out specifically to buy some (over-the-counter) ..another 2 hours of my life lost !
 
Naturally I'd checked these stanchions were straight when I first dismantled the forks ..just in case I needed to have them straightened or to replace them.  Checking is done by simply rolling them on a flat kitchen-counter and seeing if there were any wobble at the end. These were fine.  And also I had visually inspected for pitting, scoring &/or wear of the sliders themselves. Again these are in really good shape. 
 
Tip : if scored or pitted the ol' boy trick is to solvent clean that scratch and apply nail varnish (cellulose paint) into it.  Once dry the surplus can be sliced off with a sharp razor blade or rubbed off with fine wet n' dry. The varnish fills the void and stops oil leaking passed the seal. It also takes away the hard / sharp edge which would otherwise damage the lip of the new seal.  I've done this in the past and it works fine. I've also used Araldite (epoxy glue) to do the same.    
 
Next was to clean up the areas to be painted. They'd already been power-wire-brushed, but I use spray carb-cleaner as a convenient cleaning-solvent prior to spraying, and then mask up the screw-threads and places where the stanchion fits into steering yokes, and of course the fork slider itself.
 

 

^ The chemical pickling used in cleaning and re-chroming these seal holders has left rust inside them. This was wire wooled to remove the loose and then cold galvanised (below).
 

^ The insides of the fork seal holders and fork shrouds were each cold galvanised.
 
So that's all I have to report so far.  Not reassembled just as yet, just a little more checking and painting done ..and a lot of waiting.
 
Bfg
2,980 views

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As a point of passing interest ;  you'll see in the 2nd & 4th photos of the previous post and again in the illustration below that the S7-deluxe forks have a thread (and large nut) some 6-1/2" from their top. Immediately below this is a taper on the stanchion.  This is because the S7-deluxe stanchion's taper  fits into the lower steering yoke, and the large nut very tightly secures it.  The steering's top yoke is adjusted to the steering head bearings before the clamp around the stanchion is tightened.   Conversely, the BSA / Sunbeam S8  stanchions have a taper at their top, which sit into the top yoke.  This taper is pinched up by the fork's oil filler cap.  The lower yoke simply clamp onto the stanchions.  I've always thought the S7 forks felt nicely solid compared with those on the S8 ..perhaps this might be attributed to the difference in securing them.
 

 
Moving on..,  You might also have noted in the last photo of my previous post  what looks to be a shiny split washer for the nearer fork assembly, but not one for the other. 
 
Oddly when I noted this on Friday it was positioned between the seal and the seal holder.  I phoned Stewart Engineering (the Sunbeam people) and spoke to Rob who said it was a shim used on some forks to take up end float, which is only there when the fork is fully extended ..and so most folk don't bother refitting it.  I didn't quite understand why it should be just there then ?   
 
Although it is absent from most parts diagram you can see one in the middle of the illustration above .. from an original workshop manual.  This is a shim which may if required  be fitted in between the bush and its circlip inside the fork lower  ..to take up any slack, perhaps from machining tolerances.  It would also be necessary if a thinner gauge of circlip is used.  ie. it has nothing to do with the seal or seal holder. But if that bush were to move up n' down - then it would wear against the inside the fork lower ..and become prematurely loose.
 
The following might show a little clearer where it goes.  .

^  The long bronze bush (normally fitted on its stanchion) is pushed in the fork lower.  The ring-circlip (bottom of photo) sits in a grove (red arrow) to hold the bush in place. If there's any slack inbetween the bush and the circlip - then a shim of the appropriate thickness is fitted .   
 
It's easy enough to check to see if there is any end play (which there should not be) with the bush off its stanchion and dropped inside the fork lower and the clip replaced.  Any longitudinal movement (..measured with a feeler gauge) is removed by fitting a shim.  I trial reassembled those bushes into my fork lowers and fitted the best ring-circlips I have ..and there is no discernible slack.  So why that shim was there but in the wrong place remains a time capsule mystery.
 
Btw those ring-circlips have a reputation for being a sod to fit.  However they require no special tool, just a regular screwdriver, but there is a technique..   Place the clip in the end of the fork lower, rotated so that its end is appropriately near the notch used for prising it out.   Then with hand firmly over the end of the fork lower to keep the clip in place ..tap the screwdriver down and inwards near the end of the clip.  This pushes the clip down and onto the smaller diameter ledge that its groove is machined into.  Repeat a little way around ..so then most of the clip is resting in the smaller diameter.  Continue around once or twice more, and then the clip is easy to slip into the groove.  I can do this on my own with the one hand holding the screwdriver blade in position and at the same time stopping the clip from coming out again. I lightly tap the handle with the hammer in t'other hand.  No circlip pliers are used.
- - -
 
I then turned my attention to removing the masking tape and cleaning up the screw threads of the other fork lower.  This side's seal holder went on very easily compared with that on Friday ..taking just a few minutes.   Refitting the wheel spindle however was a different matter altogether.   
 
NOTE to self : Check these wheel spindle threads are free and easy - BEFORE sending the fork lower off to be painted.  I got away with it this time because the paint was good and dry, but still I had to be very careful, using a folded cotton sheet to protect the paintwork even from the clean Formica bench surface.  
 
The coarse left-handed thread of the wheel spindle, even when using the correct tommy bar,  turned  in almost two-and-a-half turns before locking up tight !  I'm fortunate insomuch as I had two spare rear axle spindles with good threads on them. These,  although longer, use the same oddball left-handed thread (on the S7-deluxe) as on the front.  I used the slackest of these to sweat in as far as I could, then I used the second to get to the same number of turns in, and then went back to the correct (shorter) front wheel spindle ..sweating it (literally) to get to the same number of turns in yet again. . 
 

^ After an hour or so, this is as far as I'd got. The arrow shows the surface stain of where it had been screwed in while the bike was parked up for years within a damp garage.
 

^ six threads in ..half way !
 
Some hours later, and quite a bit of perspiration despite an 18" extension to the Tommy bar - the three spindles ..one after the other gradually re-rolled / re-formed the thread inside the fork lower. . 

 
Success.  Now with ease and a 6" Tommy-bar I can tighten the spindle in. 
 
These spindle should be easy to fit and to pinch up with the bike's normal (small) toolkit Tommy bar. No great effort need be applied - because both front and rear wheel spindles are then clamped to prevent their coming undone.
 
Bfg
2,827 views

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It's been a long time since I worked on this Sunbeam..  I'd otherwise been busy with restoration of the Ami-Super, and when that was on the road (mid-last year ..although still needing a lot of cosmetic work)  I stepped across to build a new water tank and to start the rewiring in my old boat.  But now that the weather is most conducive to staying in the house I thought it time to muster some motivation to work this bike  (I'd lost all interest following the disappointment of the work I had paid for with the engine) .. 
 
So the first job was to dig the bike out from under the bench in my lounge, which was piled high with DVD's ..and then to remove the bench so as to more easily get the frame out and sort components into sub-assembly type piles. Aside from the rear-drive hub (which I'd rebuilt some years ago) and the gearbox - the bike was totally stripped down for repainting / re-chroming.  Subsequently I'd only reassembled the centre-stand and part of the brake linkage assembly.  Other bits were just loosely hung to sort and store them out of the way.
 

^ unburied (..if that's a real word ?)  and in the process of sorting into boxes of engine, frame bits, electrics, rear drive and shaft-drive, gearbox, forks, handlebars and levers, etc.
 
I decided that today I'd tackle rebuilding the forks.  I don't know if I have new seals or not, but I do know that the forks were completely stripped - so the fork-lowers and shrouds might be painted.  The painted bits have ever since been sitting in the corners of my bedroom, for safe keeping. ..that was probably five years ago ..so hopefully the paint will have hardened by now !   
 
So again the first task was to gather the bits.. 

^ this is a very rare bike, insomuch as it is an S7-deluxe ..painted silver rather than the usual pastel green. I speculate this was done by special order by the London dealer as a showroom display leading up the Queen's Coronation in March 1953.  The bike was first registered on first day after that holiday.  The post-war Sunbeam was possibly the first motorcycle to be production painted with monochromatic paint (now known as metallic).
 
I removed the masking tape, from where the painter had cover the threads,  and set to cleaning those threads of any grit blasting that might have got in. The chrome plated seal holders are being replaced by others I've had re-chromed. Its inside screw thread is super-fine.
 

^ It took me an hour to get the two parts of just one fork to screw together smoothly.     But it's a job that has to be done carefully ..tightening 1/8th of a turn and backing off again as required. I did this by hand so as to not damage the paint or the chrome.  If they were to get stuck firmly together - partly on, partly off and seized - I'd be cussing.!   I must have undone this thread completely a dozen times to wipe it clean and to apply fresh 'copaslip'.  
 
Tip :  if the items do get stuck together : use a (suitably padded) shaft through the fork-lower's wheel-spindle hole for extra leverage and the rubber grips used to open jars in the kitchen, positioned 1" from the threaded end, to grip and turn the chromed seal-holder. 
 
Note :  On re-assembly, there is a leather seal to be fitted, rather like a piece of 1/16" leather (square in section) shoelace,  that sits between the chromed seal holder and the painted fork-lower to prevent direct edge-to-edge contact of the two parts.  I'm guessing it was originally glued end to end and then pinched in place by the seal holder.  Fortunately my forks still had theirs in place and are in good shape to be reused.  Stewart Engineering do not supply replacements for these leathers but instead recommend the use of silicon sealer to seal the thread, perhaps in conjunction with a piece of natural fibre string in place of the leather seal. 
 
I next turned my attention to the stanchions, which now needed even further dismantling - to replace their oil seals, to de-rust the springs, and to clean those screw-threads. . 

^ you can see on the nearest stanchion that I've removed the chrome seal holder.  I just pull the seal-holder downwards sharply ..and the seal gets stopped by the bush on the stanchion ..knocking the seal out easily*.   The seal is left on the stanchion, and to remove / replace it - the nut on the bottom of the fork has to be removed, so that the bronze bushes might first be removed.  These nuts have only been on there for 65 years.
 
This nut has a hole through it, has very narrow flats, and is rounded to fit inside the fork-lower, so getting a (1 - 3/16") spanner to fit and undo it wasn't going to happen.!  I grip the nut in a vice with the stanchion vertical, and used a big pipe wrench to turn the stanchion off the nut.  Naturally that pipe wrench was used near the top of the stanchion (inbetween where the fork yokes fasten to it) and not where the seal runs up n' down.  Don't even use the pipe wrench on the middle part of the stanchion because during reassembly the seal may be pushed up this and a shard (from where the grips have dug in) might damage the new seal. 

^ nut, bushes and seal removed. springs and stanchion cleaned up on the bench / power wire wheel.    NB. when that  nut is removed the bottom bush still tends to be stuck on.  However the long upper bush is a sliding fit, and this can be used like a sliding-hammer to gently knock the bottom bush downwards and off the stanchion.  
 
* If you have the seal-holder off the stanchion, and only then realise you need to get the seal out  Then the seal needs to be drifted out with a tube inserted from the other end.  Despite having a 'mature' workshop.. I don't have a suitably sized (35 - 36mm diameter) drift.  However, I do have a thick washer of that diameter, which I drop in and centralise to the seal, as a 'size adjuster' for a length of 1" diameter tube positioned over this - to be used as the drift.  So, with the seal-holder standing upright on the wooden bench - a confident tap with a bit of 4 x 2" timber on the end of that 1" tube.. and the seal is out in a jiffy. 
 
Tomorrow I'll get on and clean the fine threads of the other fork-lower and see how far I can get on with this. I'm motivated again now. 
 
Bfg
2,710

Video update of shit that happened ages ago:
 

Aw shucks, thanks JeeExEll but it was nothing really. Tools and materials were "in stock", I had the evening spare and the good Cap'n was only a short drive away. Anyone prepared to run two old Triumphs from a busy Glasgow street with no money and limited tools deserves all the support we can give. The world needs more people with those levels of resourcefulness and optimism   

blackboilersuit ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
A star, who helped a 'Shiter mate who was skint broke and in genuine difficulty. At short notice.

Assistance has arrived. Picking up a diaphragm clutch plate this weekend, so hopefully next week, I can have another go at engine/gearbox interface. Plan is to pull the gearbox out, mate the two, then stuff them in with hoist assistance. Plan to get the rear wheels up on the ramps to assist with dangle angles - new hoist has a leveller bar.

Those rudimentary things must've been humiliating for the people forced to use them. They remind me of an L.S. Lowry painting, 'The Contraption'. Lowry stood transfixed as this thing creaked along the road, the occupant caught him staring and swore and cursed at him as he jerked past.

I guess we are all a bit like reformed ex-banger racers who now spend their time lovingly restoring Farinas and Mk2 Zodiacs......

Miss_155 has a couple of Dinky aircraft,a Gloster Meteor & a Lockheed Shooting Star.She collects things she likes,with no particular theme 
 

 

 

Yep, that's what I've always done too!
 
Oh and tailfins in 1973.....

Might be a shadow of what they once were, but they were certainly still fins!

i've had a couple of new additions to the collection.
 
first off, a massive slab of Detroit's finest land yacht. though been the 1961 model year '62 series, this one got the smaller tail fins.well smaller than the 1959's were. a couple more model years and the tail fin would be no more...



 
next i bought this, one of Ford's "3 Graces", a mark 1 Ford Consul. this is an early Corgi (1956-ish i guess that was about when Corgi car's started) complete with (working-ish) friction drive. not that there is much drive from it, as it can bearly pull itself along, never mind adding to it the weight of the diecast car! 


 
then to go with the British and German dispatch riders i got a while ago, i have managed to add an american Sherrif riding a Harly Davidson to the mix. as with the other two, this is 1/32 scale.


 
and finally, mainly cos it was cheap. and cos it really appealed to me, this, a Dinky Hawker Hunter. the Hunter is i think one of the most perfectly formed aeroplanes ever built. the chap i got this off also had a Gloster Javelin, which at the time i bought the Hunter it didn't appeal, well come forward a few minutes i thought, what the hell, it'll be nice to have that and the Hunter.... AGGH NO TOO LATE!!... someone else had bought it, so something else for me to keep an eye open for!



the pictures of it are blurry cos its really really small!

Some older regular wheels lesney cars now,
Started out with these,
 

 

 

 
Ended up like this,
 

 

 

 
"You like these then smoll Eddy?"
 
"Yes,m8"
 
"More your era?"
 
"No M8,its 'cos I look less smoll beside 'em"
 

One more reliant pic from that mag...
 

'Relax in a Reliant' from Motorcycle Scooter and Three wheeler mechanics June 1969
 


 

Don't really know what you're moaning about, tbh.
I was advised to say 'No comment' all the way through my police interview.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Never got the job.