Garage Diary : Sunbeam Motorcycle resto's..

[somewhatfoolish]

Spring washers might have been the answer in 1946, but threadlock or stiff nuts(if available in the relevant thread) would do a far more reliable job now.

[Bfg]

 

 

12 hours ago, Bfg said:

. 

This is its gauze filter .. for when one adds  oil to the engine.   For me it's inconceivable to pour so lumpy an oil into an engine that this coarseness of mesh would stop bits from getting in.! 

I was wondering about this, in regard that it might not be a filter at all, but rather a basket for holding something which in time dissolved ?   But what compound might one add to engine oil ?  I'm thinking along the lines of something like lead in petrol ..before unleaded ..as an anti-knock or else to make it more slippery ..like bath salts.    I  might add though that the dip stick goes down into this gauze tube, so whatever it might be, there was not a lot used.  

Ok., just possibly I'm over thinking this.

[Bfg]

7 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Spring washers might have been the answer in 1946, but threadlock or stiff nuts(if available in the relevant thread) would do a far more reliable job now.

You make a good point and in many instances I would wholly agree with you ..but thread-lock does tend to rely on both inside and outside threads being clean of oil and 60 years of inside-engine-stained embedded grime.  I use a bench (rotatory) wire brush to clean into the threads of bolts, but the inside threads of a used nut is not so easy.  Likewise thorough cleaning all around a stud's thread can be very awkward when the stud is shrouded in such a bearing housing.  

I've used new spring washers here because they are 'springs' which tension up over a complete turn and a half ..and that's not a  does work or doesn't  scenario like thread-loc.  

And I further agree with you that there are other types of locking nuts - that would have been acceptable in such an environment (especially where new nuts are used).  In this particular this instance though - the spring washers have a thickness which raise the nut a little above the surrounding face and the plain nuts have a full depth flat - which makes getting a spanner on (almost) possible !   

Below shows the nyloc that was, and the very limited access to get either a socket or spanner in, and then the fractional depth of  'spanner flat'  on this type of of lock nut. 

[somewhatfoolish]

Degrease with a whazz of aerosol IPA or contact cleaner. I find threadlock is quite tolerant of residual oil as long as things aren't dripping, especially the gooey non-permanent ones.

[Mally]

I'd agree that a new spring washer should suffice, since its lasted so long without falling off.

I have also used threadlok on CWP's.  Also on  Zetec flywheels, where the threads go right into the crank oil ways, its impossible to get all the oil out, but it's well stuck when you undo it.

 

[Bfg]

On 5/23/2019 at 7:57 PM, Bfg said:

That'll be all for today but I do have a few other tasks done to share. .

..last discussed was aluminium filling in a stud hole in the sump and retapping it.    Well it's taken a little time before I got back to this topic but here goes. .

This was the sump with standard (albeit clearly replaced) gauze oil filter,  as opened up after the first time this engine seized ..now determined to have been caused by the oil feed drilling to the crankshaft not having been cleaned out by the prior-owner when he rebuilt this engine.

 ^ the black donut shaped magnet on the filter is something I had added. 

Although I designed and have successfully proven a disposable-paper-oil-filter conversion on these bikes..  I've chosen not to use it on this particular 1948 Sunbeam.

The two negatives of that filter conversion are ; a sump extension is needed to fit the tall filter in, and also 20/50w oil is used - which is less viscous when cold than the straight 50w specified for these engines.  And that thinner oil doesn't dampen internal engine noise as well.   Hovis my 1955 Sunbeam has that oil filter mod ..and although it will last much longer with its very much finer oil filtration - it's also noticeably noisier.   As this bike is pretty close to being to museum standard, I decided to keep it visually standard (ie. without a sump extension).  

So my object here was to replace that coarse gauze filter with a finer one. .

the old coarse gauze removed (un-soldered) ready for the new gauze.

^ Instead of being flat I folded the new (finer) gauze into four corrugations, which of has over double the surface area of the original flat sheet.  The four corrugations correspond to the ribs in the sump so that oil  will flow between them.

^ with the engine upside down the filter plate (again with magnet) has the fine gauze soldered on.   It is very secure but not very pretty I'm afraid because I used a hot iron and tabbed it down rather than risk burning a hole in the brass mesh with a blowtorch).   The ribbed sump plate goes over this (actually under it, when the engine is the right way up !)  and the wet-sump oil comes in via the slots in both sides of the steel filter plate.   I'm happy with that

- - -

With the sump refitted and carefully torqued up to a massive* 6ft-lb (well.. they are only 1/4" studs) and I set the engine back upright, then set-to cleaning up the cylinder head gasket faces.

^ only cleaning up was necessary here because the cylinder head was fine, compression good etc, before I had the bottom-end problem.

^ I re annealed the copper head gasket, then used wire wool on this to clean the oxidization off both sides.

^ all looking pretty and clean, but the more interesting feature of this engine (designed in 1946) is it not only being an ohc (look MUm no pushrod tubes) but that these combustion chambers use 'squish effect' - which in layman's terms means ; in the final moments of compression the air-fuel mixture is squeezed sideways into the more confined space around the spark plug.  Accordingly when that spark is fired ; its flame front has deeper combustible mix and just 2/3rd the distance to travel (..relative to a flat top piston and combustion chamber). 

The stud pattern can be clearly seen, including the often forgotten one inside / forward of the timing chain chimney (..it and three other studs are screwed into the block so their heads are accessible to put nuts on).         

And so here we go . .

 

^ Note the cylinder head nuts & their washers in place between the fins ready for the cylinder to be lowered a little further. 

 

^ timing chain hooked up with wire, and that awkward but all so important cylinder head nut inside the timing chain chimney being fitted.

With the head on, the timing chain top sprocket was set in place (pinned and bolted to the end of the camshaft). The valve timing is set to number 2 cylinder, and then the cylinder head nuts were appropriately tightened.

The engine was then pretty-much-ready to drop back into the bike's frame..   But that's enough blogging for tonight..

I bid you a good evening.

Bfg

 

[somewhatfoolish]

4 hours ago, Bfg said:

The two negatives of that filter conversion are ; a sump extension is needed to fit the tall filter in, and also 20/50w oil is used - which is less viscous when cold than the straight 50w specified for these engines.  And that thinner oil doesn't dampen internal engine noise as well.   Hovis my 1955 Sunbeam has that oil filter mod ..and although it will last much longer with its very much finer oil filtration - it's also noticeably noisier.   As this bike is pretty close to being to museum standard, I decided to keep it visually standard (ie. without a sump extension).  

It's not thinner? Straight 50 is the same viscosity at running temperature as 20w50. Multigrade may well  be noisier at cold start though.

[Bfg]

^ Isn't that what I said ?  "which is less viscous when cold" 

..which let's face it - is when you most hear a motorcycle engine.   ie., Start the bike, listen as you do your jacket up and put your helmet on, and then ride away.  Conversely when I stop, I turn off the fuel, kill the engine,  get off and put the bike on the stand, and only then do I remove my helmet, etc.  

no ?

[Bfg]

All polished up and looking nice  Hovis  now has a most amicable new owner.   He'll collect or else I'll deliver on Sunday afternoon.

   ..and I have some money towards my project Tr4. ! 

 

In the meantime Katie is back together and sounding very nice, but a little dusty and borrowing the fuel tank off Nudge while her own tank is repainted. .

Oh and for those who remember the issues .. the voltage regulator off  Nudge  fixed her lack of battery charging ..so all in all is getting very close to also looking to find a caring new home. 

I've put this fuel tank on so I can do the first 100 miles of running-in  (she is fully road legal) ..so that I might get the cylinder head bolts re-torqued their second time.  

Pending decent weather I'll start riding this weekend and into next week.

 

[Bfg]

It seems like longer since I posted here.,  but it's only 11 days ago.   Lots been going on and the ol' mojo has been kicking me down frequently..  

I mentioned last time that Katie now carries Nudge's petrol tank while her own is being resprayed.  Unfortunately the contacts I had for paintwork couldn't be arsed, and one had packed up business to go n' work for someone else.  So I had the choice  1.)  drive an hour to drop the tank off with someone who I'd used before, but who is quite expensive and has a slow turn around, and even then the work is not without fault.  2.) use a company I'd never used before nor had any recommendation for,  or 3.) do it myself. 

Regarding the latter.,  I don't have spray equipment, am inexperienced and have issues before with paint reacting, and the rattle can paint off the shelves is usually of the type which dissolves at the first whiff of petrol.   So naturally ..this is the option I chose !

^ This paintwork  looked good after I cut it back and polished it up, but when I was adding petrol from a jerry can a little splashed over.  I wiped it almost immediately but it had already stripped the paint away.  (..the rusty dusty on the tank has nothing to do with it, that came after I'd remove the tank to work on it). 

So I went on Bikeshite thread and asked for advice.  I think (unless I missed a reply) only Jazoli bothered to reply or had any advice, and he said use 2k lacquer and to wear a decent face mask.   I looked on-line and found 2k paint doesn't necessarily mean two-pack (chemical curing) paint.  Further looking lead me to  ProXL < here >  @ £60 / ltr   (NB. don't buy - these cans are only 200 ml).   This is a two-pack paint in rattle cans.   A bit more searching led me to ebay seller car-colours-online  which offered the same paint at £33.90 / ltr  (..in 500 ml rattle cans).   This company is a small old-school shop in Stockport, Cheshire so I spoke to the chap there (James ..who i think is the owner).  He was very helpful and reassuring with his "how to paint" advice.  Although not listed on ebay he also mixed a 2k (air drying) satin black paint,  and also an etching primer to go over cold galvanising spray paint (zinc). 

So this is the route I went with ;  one can of ProXl UltraEtch  "an all purpose epoxy etch primer" (air drying) 500ml.  x2 cans of 2k satin black (400ml each)   and x2 cans of ProXl two pack clear lacquer "extremely scratch and petrol resistant" (500ml each) costing £80  ..I really hope this works well !

In addition to deciding and ordering that - I cleaned out the tank and used POR15 tank sealant inside . .  

^ vigorously shaking, rotating the tank with an assortment of bolts effectively clears surface rust.  A wash out and thorough dry and the tank is ready to seal.   

^ As you can see the tank was in pretty nice condition, so it needing a re-paint was upsetting.   Naturally masked off to seal with the POR15. 

After a day or two to cure and harden I tackled the outsides. . 

^ I really didn't want to take the tank all the way back to bare metal but I carefully flattened the paint to remove the top layers of black paint.  The original primer seems stable ..although the mottled nature suggests the red-oxide was sprayed and not flattened before the light grey was applied and that hadn't been flattened before two different types of black paint were applied.  The black had been applied very thick to flatten down and cover up the underlying geology.   I took it down just enough to get rid of the unstable top layer of black and to cut the remaining underlying black to be very thin.  Then I used cold-galvanising spray paint as an inert layer.   

^ over a seven day period the tank was given more coats, as I used this paint as a filler layer to fair the surface.  Inbetween times the tank sat in the back of the car baking in the sun. 

And then today the spray paint arrived, so this afternoon - after a final rub down with 600 grit wet n dry,  I tried the etching primer. 

^ although it barely shows in this photo I very lightly sprayed the inside cheek of the rear of the tank, just to see if there was any reaction.  All seemed good after 10 minutes.

^  so a light spray over the whole tank..  This is as recommended by James the supplier.   Again it was left 10 minutes to "touch off". 

I subsequently sprayed the tank three times, with 30 - 40 minute intervals inbetween to build up a decent layer, which I'll need to rub down before applying the black.  

One light coating and then the three decent layers will I think do.  This rattle-can performed well and the paint was easy to apply.  The above  photo was taken with the camera's flash so it looks a different colour but you might see.. the present finish is very similar to an eggshell.  Within minutes the paint is touch dry.  It's now 4:30pm and I'll leave the tank untouched for the rest of the day to harden ..and then overnight too.  Tomorrow I place it in the back of the car to thoroughly dry in the closed-car-in-the-sun heat.  I want these solvents to thoroughly dry out  before I apply the black paint.

So that's it for today.  I'm still a little anxious re. achieving an almost pro finish ..but now hopeful. ! 

I bid you a good evening

Bfg..

[Jazoli]

Looks like you are getting there, patience and good prep is the key, and it looks like you have both, looking forward to seeing the finished result. 

[5speedracer]

So nice to see the engineering and the skills involved here. Not a sensor in sight!

Sent from my Redmi 4 using Tapatalk

[Bfg]

" Not a sensor "   huh.. our 'beams are not so primitive..,  they  have an ammeter and low charge warning light, as well as low oil pressure sensors, as well as the traditional audible warning signal of  splutter, splutter, splutter, eek. to tell you when you've run out of petrol  ! 

[Bfg]

update on tank paintwork from this morning ..

^ firstly a very light rub down with 600 grit wet n' dry ..because the paint finish was satisfyingly nice from the etching primer this rub down was as much as anything to clear away any unseen dust or overspray.  Literally I wiped over the surface very lightly until the water flatted across the surface rather than beaded.

Funny stuff this etching primer.  I probably used 450 ml of paint with the tack and three coats ..and the finish was great.  Very nice paint to work with.  It then soon felt hard and tough,  but it rubs down really easily and the water runs while doing so are more darkly coloured than the paint itself.   So very easy to rub through (as I did in one place on the underside of the tank) and seemingly a resultant very thin covering.  

The tank was paper towel and then air dried, and wiped over with tacking skin (a clean hand)  to make ready for  BLACK paint . .

  

^ black tentatively applied as a light tacking coat to the inside first.. 

No issues after ten minutes so I continued  . .

^ light tacking coat all over,  and left to air dry for 10 minutes

at which point Bucketeer turned up on my doorstep to deliver some hubcaps to me ..and to pick up some computer stuff for Beko and LightBulbFun.

Kindly he and Chris were prepared to wait a few minutes ..as I was keen to follow the same paint procedure as James (the paint supplier) had recommended..

Spray I did.

^ this is a little later ..after Bucketeer had moved on to the next stage of his triangulated tour of East Anglia,  where the gloss of this satin paint had matted off. 

But to get a decent covering (opaque black) it needed multiple coats. In fact although just a 5 gallon petrol tank - it took almost all of the 400 ml (a complete rattle can) for this one coat. Thankfully I bought two cans of the stuff.  

I had hoped the finish would have been less eggshell than that ..but this is the way it dried (only soft touch dry after about 45 minutes).  Although nice weather there's a northerly breeze so it's not a hot day here in Suffolk, so I'll now leave that to dry and harden a full day before I lightly flatten it and apply a second coat (can).   As the man says.. you need to be patient with this painting game ..and not pick off an airborne seed that lands in your paintwork with a hard finger nail. !

..perhaps I should write a dumb persons guide to how I learn ?   

Bfg.

 

[Bfg]

.

One step forward, one step backwards.. you'd think I were learning to dance..

^ the first coat (400ml can) of black was not opaque enough to cover the light grey etching primer supplied, there was an underlying bloom.  So after two days in the summer heat to thoroughly harden it was rubbed down again ready for the second coat / can. .

^ despite the paint I was pleased with the clarity of reflection when rubbed down and wet (with water). .

^ second coat of black went on better with a smoother surface.

^ again, after another two days in the hot sun, prep'ing again for clear lacquer

^ sod it under the surface a white spot. 

what do you do now ? when you have no more paint, and getting it would take another two days.

Nothing to loose by rubbing it down to see if I can get passed it, down to black again.

In doing so another three tiny white spots appeared ..where are they coming from ?

I cut those back until barely visible but I dare not go any further otherwise.. who knows !

^ That'll have to do.

^ pull the plunger in the base of the can to open the valve to the two-pack's hardener.  Rattle for two minutes and don the face mask again..

^ first coat of clear lacquer was going well

. . . but before I'd even finished getting it wet on the top face ..

^ another speck of dust.   At first I didn't know what to .. but not to touch it.  So I put the activated two-pack paint in the bottom of the fridge and put a heater on the tank . .

 

^ fan heater needed to accelerate the drying. in June ! ? 

Then it was a matter of waiting 45 minutes and ..

^ another visitor.  Using the macro setting on the camera shows up the orange peel I'm managing to achieve.  Gee, I should get a job with British Leyland..  oops too late !

^ following a very light rub down of those dust spots. I tried again.  this time with the garage door closed.  

No good ..more dust particles. you can see one's reflection near the filler.   I think the spraying must build up static which draws dust particles to it.  How do you prevent that ?

Rattle can is back in the bottom of the Fridge.  Heater back on to warm / accelerate drying of the paint, although with two-pack I'm not sure how much difference it makes.

Ok .. it's another hour later, so time for me to rush out to the garage again to see if it's ready to rub down (again). And then try the clear lacquer (again).  Perhaps by now it's gone off. ? 

Bfg    

 

[Bfg]

.

I think I've 'xuxked it up..!     I waited an hour with the heater wafting warm air over the tank before very lightly rubbing down the dust particles. But then the lacquer appeared to bloom and it went a fine crinkly finish.  More heat to dry the water (from the wet n dry) and the bloom disappeared (or was it that I'd just turned the tank around to face the wall ..and so the lighting was different ?). 

you've got to ask yourself one question "Do I feel lucky? " Well, do ya, punk?   So I then dumped another layer (approx 150ml) of lacquer all over.  But that's two hours since I open the valve to hardener, and I have no idea what the working time of this paint is, once activated.  It'll either work to flatten everything again or it will simply make things very much worse.  So, on the one hand I'll be able to cut and polish it when properly hard, and on the other I'll have to let it thoroughly harden and then rub it down until I'm back to something flat and stable.  

A good painter has I'm sure been through this learning curve many times until it finally sunk in .. Don't Touch when things go tits up.!   ..me I'm a total novice at this game, so how can I expect to get a decent result first try ?

 

^  1/2 an hour later it looks better than I might rightly have hoped..

^ under the harsh light of a spot lamp  - the occasional reflection of fresh dust plus a good amount of orange peel.. These ought to cut back and polish out once the lacquer has thoroughly hardened  ..So I'm hopeful. 

That's it for this evening. I'll leave the heater wafting more warm air over it for an hour or two ..and then tomorrow we'll see if I'll be wanting that .44 Magnum to finish the job. !

.

[Bfg]

.

Looks like I mighta got away with it..  

Yesterday evening's arty image entitled ' Sunbeam Sunset '

Limited edition prints signed by the artist etcetera.. 

Today., warming in summer morning sunshine..  

..which by one o'clock was pretty darn hot !

The clear lacquer is far from perfect ..but then nor is this 71 year old petrol tank.  Once hardened for a day or three ..then I'll flat it back with 1000 and used-1200 grit before hand compounding it.   I'm sure any imperfections will bother me but I'm just so glad I didn't have paint reaction issues or blistering.  So, as long as I don't ruin it now, I think I can live with it.   I'll then leave it another week to harden before sealing it up with a hard polish.

Bfg

 

[Bfg]

..

Not much happened this past week ..due to back issues leading me to be laid up for four full days.  Got back to doing some work on Katie yesterday ..with her wheels n' tyres.,  and lightweight tasks like black smithing !

In short ; the wheels on Katie had been restored* donkey's years ago ..with heavy paint layers over the deeply-rust-pitted rims, hubs and spokes.  Added to which the front is hugely imbalanced and wears a correctly specified Dunlop 4.50 x 16  ..from 1971 I think.  The rear is an Avon SM MkII 5.00 x 16" ..which is just 1/4" wider than standard, and is a positively modern ..from 2004.  Most likely the inner-tube is from then also. 

^ it doesn't look so bad in the picture but there are some places where the spokes seem pretty wasted despite the heavy paint layers.  So what do I do, replace the innertubes and ride on rust pitted wheels and old tyres or else swap them out. ?  Perhaps I'm getting soft in my old age but I don't trust 'em ..even for dry-road running-in speeds.  So for the well being of the skin on my limbs and probably much more, and the likelihood of real damage to my wallet - I chose to swap 'em out. 

 

^ I had three spare wheels to fit an S7 or the S7-deluxe ..each in this sort of condition from years in storage.  I chose the best two,  even though one of those had a buckle in the rim ..and needed several applications of heat n' hammer to get it somewhere close to true.  From experience I know the big fat 5" x 16 tyres at a low tyre pressure are not ultra sensitive to a bit of rim wobble.  Seems to me that within 1/8" works fine,  although I will use the best rim on the front, and they will be balanced as best we can.

^ This is the better of the three, although here with just a first coat of hand-brushed paint. 

And this is the one that had a bent rim. It's now had two coats of hand brushed Hammerite, and is presently sitting in the back of the closed car, parked in the sun, to bake dry.

Tomorrow I'll rub down the newly applied paint on other wheel and give it a second coat.  By Monday the paint ought to be hard enough to have the tyres, with new rim-tape and inner-tubes fitted. 

So that's all for today, and yes after this light exercise  ..I can feel my back this evening ! 

Bfg.  

 

[Bfg]

.

" 'k off coming in here,  giving us work and making us think"  seems to be the attitude towards paying customers nowadays.

Took the wheels, tyres and tyre clamps into Orwell Motorcycles, here in Ipswich on Monday, for the tyres to be fitted with new innertubes, rim tapes, and to be balanced. The appointment was for 10 am the following morning but rather than get there through morning traffic and then hang around waiting, I dropped them off the afternoon before. They'll text text me when they're done.  Fine. I thought they'll just slip this job in sometime ..whenever someone's got five minutes spare.

It took until Wednesday before I got that text, only 24 hours later than expected, but nevertheless I went down then to collect.  The tyres had been fitted but the wheels hadn't been balanced.  I had specifically asked them to do so because these old wheels are darn heavy, were never quite as true as modern wheels are,  have seen 70 years of service, and have a tyre clamp on one side.  Aside from that is particular early model of Sunbeam S7 doesn't have dampers on the front forks, so you might imagine what patter might develop if the wheels are unbalanced.   Ok so they then did that.  I had cleaned and repainted the wheels, and even cleaned the tyres, so things ought not be too much of a task to fit a tyre to each of two rims. £80+ please !

Ok they did supply the inner-tubes and the rim tape but still I was a little surprised.  Oh and the tube's valve is much smaller than the hole in the rim, so " I fitted an oversized washer to prevent the valve from dropping inside if you have a puncture sir "

^ oh that's nice*   There's a nut under the washer, sitting inside the hole, and then this washer which actually has the wrong size hole in it anyway, and then the top nut. 

I removed these and then deflated the innertube so as to rotate it around, so the valve was central to the hole.. 

..and then fitted a rubber grommet. .

I then used a stainless steel penny washer with the right sized inner hole, and bent it up on one side so as to not dig into the rim, added a second washer to provide a flat for the nut, and reassembled it.  At least now the valve is clamped in place as it was intended to be.

Clearly not concourse when recorded with a camera flash in close up, but now fine for a rider.  

Tasks repeated for the back wheel's valve. 

I also changed the wrongly sized spring-washers on the tyre clamps and touched in the bright silver rim weights with black paint, before fitting these wheels onto Katie. 

This is a 130/90-16 front tyre ..as the nearest size yet affordable tyre to the correct 4.50-16 specification.  As such it's a tad wider but smaller diameter than the rear 5.00-6 Avon SM MkII tyre I have on the back, and it's a much more appropriate round profile for the front.  Admittedly not period looking but I hope a little safer than the 1971 Dunlop ribbed which was on this bike.

So despite pathetic service and quality of work from Orwell Motorcycles, Ipswich ..it is another job done and dusted.

.

[brandersnatch]

.
" 'k off coming in here,  giving us work and making us think"  seems to be the attitude towards paying customers nowadays.
Took the wheels, tyres and tyre clamps into Orwell Motorcycles, here in Ipswich on Monday, for the tyres to be fitted with new innertubes, rim tapes, and to be balanced. The appointment was for 10 am the following morning but rather than get there through morning traffic and then hang around waiting, I dropped them off the afternoon before. They'll text text me when they're done.  Fine. I thought they'll just slip this job in sometime ..whenever someone's got five minutes spare.
It took until Wednesday before I got that text, only 24 hours later than expected, but nevertheless I went down then to collect.  The tyres had been fitted but the wheels hadn't been balanced.  I had specifically asked them to do so because these old wheels are darn heavy, were never quite as true as modern wheels are,  have seen 70 years of service, and have a tyre clamp on one side.  Aside from that is particular early model of Sunbeam S7 doesn't have dampers on the front forks, so you might imagine what patter might develop if the wheels are unbalanced.   Ok so they then did that.  I had cleaned and repainted the wheels, and even cleaned the tyres, so things ought not be too much of a task to fit a tyre to each of two rims. £80+ please !
Ok they did supply the inner-tubes and the rim tape but still I was a little surprised.  Oh and the tube's valve is much smaller than the hole in the rim, so " I fitted an oversized washer to prevent the valve from dropping inside if you have a puncture sir "

^ oh that's nice*   There's a nut under the washer, sitting inside the hole, and then this washer which actually has the wrong size hole in it anyway, and then the top nut. 
I removed these and then deflated the innertube so as to rotate it around, so the valve was central to the hole.. 

..and then fitted a rubber grommet. .

I then used a stainless steel penny washer with the right sized inner hole, and bent it up on one side so as to not dig into the rim, added a second washer to provide a flat for the nut, and reassembled it.  At least now the valve is clamped in place as it was intended to be.

Clearly not concourse when recorded with a camera flash in close up, but now fine for a rider.  
Tasks repeated for the back wheel's valve. 
I also changed the wrongly sized spring-washers on the tyre clamps and touched in the bright silver rim weights with black paint, before fitting these wheels onto Katie. 

This is a 130/90-16 front tyre ..as the nearest size yet affordable tyre to the correct 4.50-16 specification.  As such it's a tad wider but smaller diameter than the rear 5.00-6 Avon SM MkII tyre I have on the back, and it's a much more appropriate round profile for the front.  Admittedly not period looking but I hope a little safer than the 1971 Dunlop ribbed which was on this bike.
So despite pathetic service and quality of work from Orwell Motorcycles, Ipswich ..it is another job done and dusted.
.

Orwell Motorcyles, there’s your mistake right there. Main dealer is usually rubbish at jobs like that. I know you’ve dealt with it now but in future consider Kingdom Motorcyles in Leslie Rd Ipswich. Dom the owner really knows his stuff.

[plasticvandan]

That tyre is .kin horrible,but understand why you have chose it,to me it's like the queen wearing Nike.

as for the charge for fitting,unreal,my local custom shop charges £10 a wheel to fit a tyre,new valve and balanced.£30 if you bring the bike and they have to take it out.obviously tubed tyres I do myself.

[Bfg]

.

" like the queen wearing Nike."     ..God Bless her cotton socks.

Must admit I would struggle to fit these tyres myself.  I can and have done an innertube replacement on the Sunbeam S8 with its skinny 18" wheels but I couldn't manage with these heavweight 16" tyres,  and certainly not without scratching a load of paint off the rim when battling with tyre levers and jumping up and down on them to get the bead to sit straight.   And no way could I balance the wheels nearly as well as a dynamic machine.  So although taken aback by the unexpected cost.. I can live with their 1/2 hour labour charge.   I guess its simply that my financial outlook is a decade out of line with today's prices and workshop overheads..    

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I suppose you've seen the S8 based "Fourbeam" ?

Also, interested in how well the hammerite works on the wheels, I have a set of scabby but serviceable CB200 wheels I was thinking of doing similar with, they don't have to be overly pretty as I'm going for a "street scrambler" or flat track look just as long as they are presentable at a few paces....

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

[Bfg]

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Well it been a long time since I wrote on these pages..  reason ? ..well cutting to the bottom line - it's been a really crap year for me ..where everything I touch has been one frustrating hassle after another.  Of course when one thing goes wrong - you might cuss, but then the following day you get back on it ..and sort things out.  But when that happens day after day, week after week, month after month ..well for me - the old mojo progressively goes down and down until all interest and motivation is sapped from my soul. And then to even go out to the garage for an hour is an effort.  That's the downhill I've been a heading for the past 6 months, and so I'm very much down in the dumps now.  I'm presently of the mindset that I'm going to sell every flipping car and motorcycle I have, and even my boat - so that one day I might have absolutely bugger all that needs fixing !   ..and no more "prospective buyers" to fuck me about.

Anyway that said, the weather's been good this year.

I finally got 'Katie'  my '48 Sunbeam back together and riding again, but the carburettor kept flooding out of the float chamber. After several unsuccessful attempts to resolve the problem I replaced the float chamber and drilled a tiny hole lower in that chamber so that if it did flood then it wouldn't flood into the engine through the carburettor.

^ Silver coloured petrol tank is off Nudge,  used for testing while the black paint on Katie's own tank was properly hardening.  

Moving on and road testing : after five miles the (low) oil pressure warning light started coming on, and then more or less stayed on.  Odd thing was that it would come on at high engine revs and then flicker out at lower engine speeds.  That's contrary to what I'd expect, ie., increased pressure from a gear driven pump at higher speeds ..so I reckoned it must be the oil-pressure sensor.  I took a chance and limped the bike home  ..hoping with all my will that it wouldn't break something or seize.  I then swapped that the switch and yes, that was the problem.

My next ride was almost uneventful, but the engine seemed to be getting very hot, so again I limped home.  I then retarded the ignition.  For my next 5 mile ride that seemed to help ..but the engine was leaking. 

Hands up - I'd made a mistake with this. I'd done it before but my mind hasn't been on the job and I forgot.. The problem is with oil seals, which were originally steel cased and are now covered in rubber.  And if the seat is shallow, such as on the rear engine cover on these bikes, the little sod squeezes out again. .

Engine out again, gearbox, clutch and flywheel removed ..and there we are - a rubber covered seal that's popped out again.  As these are the only seals available of that size - it needs to be glued in.  I was rather* annoyed at myself for making this mistake.

All back together and the next test ride revealed the dynamo wasn't working properly. You may recall I had issues with this before and thought it was now sorted (after having replaced the voltage regulator) but apparently not.  Back home I removed it ..yet again (for whatever reason some of these are a bitch of a tight fit !) and took it to a local alternator / starter motor repair shop. They couldn't find anything wrong with it, so I sent it off to Stewart Engineering (again). They had it before and said it checked-out OK. This time they said the armature caused the 'growler' to vibrate at a certain angle. That indicates there's a localised fault and the darn thing needs rewinding. And because that's a hand worked job it costs a lot..  £200 just for the tiny armature.  

As it happened, my annual holiday this year was a weekend at the Triumph (cars) inter-club meeting, held at Stratford on Avon.  While there I spoke to a trader selling refurbished dynamos for Triumphs, and asked if he could do my tiny little motorcycle one.  "Don't do motorcycle stuff mate  ..but if you give us a call next week I'll find you a number of someone in London who does".  Great - Thanks.  So the following week I called them (the place in London) and they do the rewinds for Stewart Engineering.  Their cost is £125 + VAT   ..so 25% (£50) cheaper.  I had Stewart engineering send the dynamo back to me, which cost £11.02 for the postage (ParcelForce) but they didn't charge for testing it.  I then sent the armature on to the place down in London ..which with additional insurance cost £6 for it to be couriered (MyHermes).  

The seat on this bike is cantilevered and mounted on rubber.  The pivot was slack so the saddle wobbled side to side (very disconcerting) and the rear rubber blocks had perished with age ..and had been glued back together again by a prior owner.  Those rubber mounts were a different height from one side to the other,  so the seat was lop sided. And this I could feel the twist in my back within just a few miles riding. If I were to ride the bike - the saddle would need correcting, otherwise I'd be suffering. 

New rubber blocks shaped and glued and refitted.  Again not a two minute job.  I then rebuilt the front pivot mounting of this saddle, to take as much sideways movement out of it as possible.  Thankfully it now works as it should, is square and doesn't wobble all over the place.

In the meantime I put Nudges' dynamo onto Katie, for a further test ride.   I've now done a total of 35 miles ...before I pulled the engine apart again.!

The new head gasket is blowing, despite my being very careful in torquing it down (twice) after the engine had heat cycled.  That was annoying enough., but also the bike was also bellowing out light grey coloured smoke. For those not in the know - that indicates burning oil (..black smoke is running too rich, white smoke on a water cooled engine is likely to be the water jacket leaking into the cylinder bore).  Burning a lot of oil, and I know the cylinder bore and rings are good, means that the valve guides are shot.  The cylinder head had to come off again, and had to be taken to the engineering shop (Scholar Engines - Norwich Road, IP14) to be skimmed flat and for new valve guides.  Two of the four valve guides fitted were cracked. 

That little two week job took over four weeks and cost £372.48 !   For cripes sake, its only a twin cylinder OHV cylinder head !  Perhaps* I misunderstood when they said to fit the valve guides, recut the valve seats and lap them in - was £35 each  ..but instead the refacing and lapping the valves is billed extra ..as is the recutting the valve seats.  On top of which was another £58 for using a valve compressor on four valves and cleaning. Of course those prices are plus VAT.  So all in about £150 more than I had expected.

Well there is nothing I can do about it, but smile politely at the lady and pay the bill.  Remembering similar misunderstandings and delays I've experienced before with this particular company - I think that puts the nail in the coffin  re. my using them again.  It's time for me to look elsewhere. 

I've now got that back but haven't yet refitted it.  While waiting for this I've been getting on with repairing / recommissioning my 850 Norton Commando.  More on that next time.

Bfg.  

 

[Bfg]

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Again a long time since I last posted here,  but I haven't left the country ..yet !  

Not much happening in my garage right now, as I'm waiting upon the machine shop to do the big-end regrind, to lighten the flywheel, and to replace the valve seats in the 'spare' Triumph TR4 engine I'm rebuilding - so instead decided to get on with sorting one of my Sunbeam's engines so I might at least put one bike back together.

To recall..  this engine is from my twin-cylinder OHC Sunbeam S7-deluxe 500cc. It has an air-cooled cast aluminium crankcases with steel liners. A few years ago, because I was very busy with another project - I passed it over to a professional to rebuild (..supposedly with an agreed price for labour and as a fill-in job).   I was out of the country for just two weeks (working on the Citroen Ami-Super) and came back to a bill already over twice the agreed ..and with the engine totally in bits.  I immediately halted the work, paid the bill and collected it.  I was polite but very disappointed that he had not kept to our agreement.  Still I thought "OK all the cleaning and machining is done - I'll just need to reassemble it". 

However, when I saw what had been done and the sloppy standard of workmanship - I was less than impressed.  I set to reworking things, and after a drain-down test decided to scrap the cylinder-head which he had said was done.  Upset, I moved on to examine other parts.  Another of the things he'd done, or said he had done by the engineering company, was to replace the scored rear cylinder sleeve for another. The replacement was a used part but a good one, and with honing was of the same dimensions as the forward cylinder. 

To my mind it was odd that its location peg didn't line up. One such peg, for each sleeve, is used to ensure the sleeve's cutout clearance is aligned to the valves.  OK, no big deal - he had used a front cylinder sleeve in the rear cylinder ..and so had drilled a new hole for its location peg.   Me being me., I needed to be sure the sleeve was sealed in the block.  It was not.!   Unlike our Triumph engines - the head gasket doesn't seal around the top of the sleeve ..so had he ..or I,  assembled the engine - then there would have been no compression on that cylinder. 

I was faced with the awkward choice of taking that sleeve out again ..to properly seal it,  or to try and seal it from the outside.  If there's such a thing as 'normally' - I would have removed it. But these sleeves have a tendency to crack when they are removed, and also this had been fitted and then the gasket face machined.  I felt I dare not run the risk of taking it out and then trying to get it back in exactly the same place.  Nor did I wish to replace it for yet another ..which in turn would mean the cyl. head had to be skimmed again !

I researched a locking compound which would withstand the temperatures involved and which was formulated to be wicking.  Loctite did one but I couldn't buy it in this country, even through themselves.  So I had a pot shipped from the US.  Unfortunately UPS had made a mistake and even before it got to me it got sent back.  It then took almost two months before it was sorted and I received what I had ordered.  By which time I was so annoyed ..that (for it's own safety !) the engine was put away.  And I moved on to doing something else.  Next week, that would be three years ago.!

This weekend, being frustrated with not being able to get on and rebuild my TR4 engine, I pulled the Sunbeam engine back out and decided to get on with it. . .

 

Rear cylinder sleeve (above left) with a double dam of blu-tack  all the way around the crack between it and the engine case.   To the right hand side you can see the forward cylinder sleeve with its locating pin (dowel) and the cutout clearances for the valves ..which prevent the head gasket from sealing the two parts.

^ photographed from the rear, with and electric fan heater warming the aluminium crankcase (to about 30 deg c.) to encourage it to thermally expand, and a glass jar filled with ice water and wrapped in a wet tea-towel push fitted into the cylinder's bore - to encourage the sleeve to contract.  The dam is filled with VHT wicking Loctite and the whole case was vibrated (using a block sander underneath) to encourage the fluid to wick down inside the crack. 

After the first three or four refills to the top of the dam, the fluid stopped draining away.  It was left overnight and although the Loctite was still wet today, it hadn't drained away any more.  The engine block is now sitting on top of the radiator to keep it warm, and to try and dry that fluid.  

I'm hopeful that this 'fix' will work, otherwise the engine will have to be dismantled again and the sleeve removed. 

Only time will tell. !

Pete

[Flashband]

Always thought it's a pity BSA didn't use this engine with the original crossflow cylinder head mounted conventionally across the frame instead of going down the A7/10 route.

No dig at yourself in anyway but who BSA thought was going to buy in numbers an expensive British BMW in the cash strapped post war years is baffling.

[Bfg]

3 hours ago, Flashband said:

Always thought it's a pity BSA didn't use this engine with the original crossflow cylinder head mounted conventionally across the frame instead of going down the A7/10 route.

No dig at yourself in anyway but who BSA thought was going to buy in numbers an expensive British BMW in the cash strapped post war years is baffling.

In answer to your first point .. imo there were two issues with the Sunbeam engine.  First was that it is a short stroke engine and so although capable of tuning to go very fast (given decent fuels) and to be very smooth - it was never a particularly torquey engine  ..and post-war British bikers either needed an economical commuter bike (like the Bantam) or they needed lots of torque to pull a family sized sidecar (very popular in the 1940-50's).  Second was a shortcoming in the design., insomuch as the barrels were cast as part of the crankcase and the bores too close together to take out to 650cc.  So the A10 was a better workhorse.

In answer to your second point .. Sir Bernard Docker, the chairman and major shareholder of the whole BSA group of companies.  A fuller explanation may be found < here > 

Pete.   

 

[Flashband]

3 hours ago, Bfg said:

In answer to your first point .. imo there were two issues with the Sunbeam engine.  First was that it is a short stroke engine and so although capable of tuning to go very fast (given decent fuels) and to be very smooth - it was never a particularly torquey engine  ..and post-war British bikers either needed an economical commuter bike (like the Bantam) or they needed lots of torque to pull a family sized sidecar (very popular in the 1940-50's).  Second was a shortcoming in the design., insomuch as the barrels were cast as part of the crankcase and the bores too close together to take out to 650cc.  So the A10 was a better workhorse.

In answer to your second point .. Sir Bernard Docker, the chairman and major shareholder of the whole BSA group of companies.  A fuller explanation may be found < here > 

Pete.   

 

I think you sum up nicely one of the major issues with the British bike industry that they were designing for the past not looking forward

While cheap utilitarian transport such as the bantam/dkw would sell, even in the post war years any market or industrial analysis would have shown everyday cars were about to get more affordable yet sports bikes will provide a hit most cars can't.  In addition add 2 more cylinders and you've got a 750/4 long before Sochiro

 

[Bfg]

Personally I feel that the British bike industry did exceedingly well in predicting where the market was going in 1944, and where they might each compete.  After all it is difficult enough for any business to project market demand for five or more years at the best of times, but while still in the midst of a World war - it has to be so much more difficult again.   BSA made light cycle cars up until the war and also owned Daimler which of course not only made cars but whose chassis and mechanicals were also under buses. They were the biggest bicycle manufacturer in the world, and their motorcycles were mostly very good sellers ..because they met those consumer's needs.  For BSA to go back into car manufacture after the war would have put them head-to-head in competition with numerous other car makers ..from this country.  Even throughout the 1950's the great volume of new registrations was still with motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars.

True the Sunbeam had been cast into a mould which was soon unfashionable and inflexible to change without massive reinvestment, but even the S7 model lasted 10 years of production ..to 1956.

Triumph motorcycles got it right in 1938 with their 350cc Edward Turner engine but the rest of the bike was unexceptional.  Still that engine was easily tuned and the post-war Speed-Twin's were lightweight bikes - which resulted in sporty performance. Heavy mudguards and headlamp cowls were removed and the barrels were changed for even better power to weight performance. They were a hit in club-level competition (a very popular weekend sport after the war).  70% of Triumph's bikes were shipped abroad, mostly to the USA ..and then they really landed on their feet - when their bikes were seen on the silver screen ..but that wasn't for ten years (c.1955).   Norton did well with decent build quality and their long stroke engines. They were favoured as sidecar bikes with trade and breakdown services. But they really hit the mark when they developed the Roadrunner forks (developed from AJS ones I believe) and combined that with a duplex frame with swinging arm rear suspension ..but that was 20 years after the war (c.1964 ?).   Ariel, AJS, Matchless, Panther and others mostly survived the massive changes in fashions and technology between 1940's and the late 1960's.  And so competitors from Europe or the US didn't take much of a percentage of the market share.

Only in the latter half of the 1960's did Japanese motorcycles really make an impact. They too started off with commuter bikes, but also developed inexpensive but quick 2-strokes. Their post-war investment in press machine tools and die-cast aluminium parts meant their production tolerances were relatively excellent, as was oil tightness and reliability.  But from a marketing point of view they were pretty low profile in Europe until their turning point - the four-cylinder motorcycle.  Only from the early 1970's (some 25 years after the war-time market prediction & decisions) did the British motorcycle industry fail to keep up. 

They knew they had to rethink how bikes were built, but as always lacked the necessary capital (thanks to 60% taxes levied on UK business) to re-invest in plant and tooling,  and then (1970's) they were also overwhelmed with industrial disputes.  I imagine the old-school management rested their heads in their hands in despair ..and retired.  After all - why fight a world war and then give the enemy money to rebuild their factories.!  ..without investing in your own ?   And why struggle to keep a business alive and to employ tens-of-thousands, when those employees were on strike and at the drop of a hat would pay more money for a shiny new import rather than buy their own-made product.?   

No, I feel industry (and not only the bike industry) were being kicked in the bollocks by successive governments,  and as hard from below.!   Corners were cut,  quality became shyte (as the war-time factory machines wore out) and innovation dried up because there was no-one able or willing to invest ..in large part because the British public had lost its national pride and was enticed by all that glittered from the Rising Sun.

 

[somewhatfoolish]

Industry did most of it to itself; Bert Hopwood was there and wrote the book. Complacency, lazy management, intransigence of unions laid the groundwork and the short-termism encouraged by various governments discouraged investment and finished the job.