Off Yer Rocker

...and so it begins.

This is one of the rocker boxes that will be used for the motor in Skankweasel, no point in showing the pair of them as they are pretty similar. The rockers will be lightened around the adjuster boss and ball pin areas only, the rest will be blended where needed and polished in accordance with Dwain Taylor's suggestions. The rocker spindle shown here, is the early type without the "O" ring on the drive side end, it also shows slight mushrooming on that end, so it will be replaced.

Realised, when it was too late, that it would have been easier to slacken the adjuster nuts off while they were still in the boxes. Rather than risk damage by clamping the rockers in the vice, I slipped a 2 metre length of 12 mm tube through the pivot bore, this provided enough leverage to allow the nuts to be loosened without damage or drama.

Skankweasel Loses His Head!

The head is being sent down to Eric at the Historic Engine Company for him to work his magic.

The inlet rocker box mating face has obviously been skimmed at some time, clipping the guides in the process.

Combustion chambers are in great shape, although one inlet seat is sitting deeper than the others.

This picture was meant to show the standard inlet ports but it hasn't quite worked out. In standard form the ports are very smooth and of even cross section down their length. Don't know if Eric will feel it can be improved upon, we'll have to wait for that answer.

BRITISH LEGEND IN HOLLYWOOD MAKEOVER SHOCKER!!!!!!!

May well come over as a tad partisan here, but if this don't move ya in some way then get yerself to the Hospital and get 'em to search for a pulse.

Came across this beauty whilst dating engine numbers. The work of Franz & Grubb out of 

North Hollywood, this '59 Bonnie has got it all going on inside as well.

Sorry, ain't interested in any whining about a drop in the cooling efficiency of the head and cases, this is something to aspire to.

Thanks to Dan at F&G for use of the pics

Of course an all alloy Tiger 100 motor could be even shinier still.........................

Triumph Tiger 110 Dynamo Hum

Picked up the dynamo for the T110 after Chip had worked his magic. This is the home of the Prince of Darkness' glow worm farm, they're all in there, locked up at the moment just waiting for the chance to get out and light up the world.................or not!

There's no doubting it will work as well as it did in '54 but they must have ate more carrots back then!

Chip can recondition or supply dynamos outright, give him a ring if you need life putting back in your Lucas.

Tiger 110 Barrels On

Pitons fitted, tappet blocks complete with "R" followers installed, and newly 2k'ed barrels sitting pretty, don't worry about the hose clip it's just there to stop the idler pinion going walkabout. Got the head to refurbish next, although that can't go on until Chip has worked his magic on the mag and it goes back on and gets timed. Far easier and more accurate to measure the piston position before top dead center when ya get square above the piston crown.

T110 Bottom End...........

............................ coming back together. Got a few hours in up at Geoff's today and got the bottom end "buttoned up", the crank journals were good but it's had new shells and mains anyway. Kinda takes the guess work out of it, plus there's no-one else to blame if there's a problem later on. Had to smile when Geoff introduced his con rod protectors, apparently an idea he saw in a 1958 copy of Motorcycle Mechanics, just a couple of toilet roll tubes dropped over! Most of the best ideas are the simple solution.

1954 Tiger 110, Jewel out of Africa

Came across Fouche's blog whilst trawling for stuff on the Ton Ten, it's got to be among the best sites out there covering the rebuilding of a Trumpet motor. The execution and documentation are top notch and it's detailed to the nth degree.

Check it out HERE

Fuel/Air Homogenisation

Guess that it's time to start thinking about some method of getting a petrol - air mix in where it's needed.
Still got the 626 Concentric that was on there 30 odd years ago, complete with period gold plated screws. That would probably do just fine, just as fine as all the others that are doing just fine out there in fact.
On the other hand ............... this bad boy is available new from Burlen Fuel Services, current owners of the AMAL marque.
Set up to whatever spec is required it'd be rude not to get one............. doncha think?

Progress in a back steppin' stylee

Got four new bolts for the inner corners of the rocker boxes, this allowed the boxes to go on and be torqued down, finished. These seperate rocker boxes tend to catch people out, they are used to seeing a one piece cover on the top of Beezers, and sometimes claim that it must be a Triumph top end grafted on.

The dynamo is not fixed as it can't be locked down until the motor's in the frame, as it passes through the front engine plates. This is where a problem was spotted after getting to this stage.
When working on these motors there are two things that must be remembered, firstly the two studs at the rear of the cases, seen in the picture below, must be inserted before the case halves come together. Check. Secondly the dynamo retaining strap and through bolt must be fitted before the timing side goes on. Oops!

Not too much of a disaster as now everything has been fitted and proven on the timing side it should not take much more than an hour to whip it off and fit the strap. Other than that and the need to score some slotted cheesehead cover screws, the motor itself is pretty much complete.

Now it's time to get the clutch and primary sorted out and the gearbox bolted onto the back of the cases.

Master Of Sparks

Picked the mag up from Chip on the way home tonight, looking as good as new, if not better. All internal parts have been replaced along with the pick ups and the end cover, should provide years of sparking fun. Really happy the way the mag and dynamo have turned out, they follow the look of a good clean restoration, which hopefully is how the bike will turn out. Rather than a bucket o' bling custom queen that shouts "Look at me !!!!!!" understated quality is the targeted result, hoping to get the rivet counters saying they like it, however begrudgingly!!!!

Top End Locked Down

The 20p Woodruff key arrived on Friday, fitted with a light rub of the ol' wet 'n' dry paper. With the cam pinion fixed in place it was now all systems go on getting the top end nailed into place. The gudgeon (wrist) pins fitted beautifully into the new honed small end bushes, felt more like a hypodermic plunger going down as they went through with a dose of oil. After a bath in boiling water the pistons were fitted along with the new circlips followed by the barrels. This needed a deft bit of handiwork by Johnny with a couple of big hose clips as ring clamps to get the plot into place. Base nuts on and tightened, the crank was spun by hand, difficult to say how good it felt, and how good it felt cos it felt so good.

The head was whipped on and torqued down, the period BSA service sheets are a bit vague on this point, probably because shed mechanics back in the day weren't expected to have Torque Wrenches. What they do say is tighten it all down in a diagonal pattern until it's really tight and then go round it all again for an extra grunt on the spanner! We give 'em all 25 ft/lbs seemed plenty tight enough.
Waiting for the mag now, which is ready to pick up, and a breather cork and it can all be buttoned up ready to go back in the frame.

Talkin' about my generation.........

Picked this up from Chip last night, it's the old dynamo (generator) fully refurbished and cram packed with sixty of Joe Lucas' finest watts, ready to pierce the darkest night with laser like intensity. Chip's details are up on the top right if you need anything doing along these lines. Keep an eye out for a post when the mag comes back.

Big Bush !!!!!!

Nah, not the bushy beaver type of bush ya bunch o' pervs!

This is the bush that supports the front of the intermediate timing pinion. Bore wise it's all good with no appreciable slack showing on the spindle when fitted. The problem is that the case will not close up to the main crank case with the pinion fitted, it's being held off by this bush. Had it out and cleaned it, better but still not right, needs to be skimmed flat, only the slightest amount taken off to bring it back to true should do the trick.

Bottom End Rebuild

Stripped the bare crank back out of the cases to install the refurbished rods. Much smoother operation this time, with none of the fit problems encountered on the last attempt. Changed the drive side main again as well, the first one had no maker's name on it and came in a nondescript white box. Didn't really feel comfortable with that, so an RHP bearing was scored from SRM and that now resides in the case and seems quite happy there.

couldn't get any further as the Woodruff key for the cam timing wheel is nowhere to be found. Access must be left to hold the camshaft over towards the timing side when fitting the gear, else it gets pushed in too far and the nut cannot be started.
Otherwise all good, get a new key and the top end can go back on, all steps in the right direction.

On the way back up

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Watched this last night, never heard of it before, but it is a sheltered existence here at Quaff Towers. Crackin' movie, liked it lots.

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On the other hand it's good news on the A7 front. Frame was dropped off at the stover's this morning so that is under way now. Bonus feature, SRM phoned up and said the rods and other bits are on their way back, so the motor can be attacked in earnest at last. Oh yeah, and the gear selector return springs turned up in the post.

Thinkin' Inside The Box

Got most of the gearbox back together yesterday, still need a few new screws and odds 'n' sods to button it up. Never the less it's shifting through the ratios like a shiftin' fool so it's all good. Strange thing is, that there's long sleeve nuts on the four through studs holding the outer covers on. The couple that are still there are a bit battered but when I try to get hold of a new set nobody knows what I'm going on about, They all reckon they should be long reduced hexagon nuts, but definitely not sleeve nuts. Mind you there is a gearbox listed for 1948 - 50 only, could be that.

Fear not, the blue Hylomar will be gone when it all ready to rock an' roll.

Sneaky Little Look

Johnny threw a bit of a curve ball this weekend. Smiffy brought the head back, freshly painted in two pack black, on Saturday. Johnny slipped the valves and springs in, and I was none the wiser until yesterday. Took the opportunity of piecing the shiny bits together to get a preview of things to come. Still waiting on the rods so it is only loosely assembled, but all in all not too shabby.

1951 BSA Engine Specs

The pages above are from a small book entitled "BSA Motorcycles for 1951 - DATA BOOK. Private and Confidential"
From that it must have been a dealers only publication, not for consumption by the paying public. The thing that is interesting is the figures for the B34, they are identical to the B33, even the alloy head and barrel are optional extras! On the other hand, the B34 GS is a completely different beast, very much a customer specced bike individually built to order. This must have been the case as the permutations available with cams, compression ratios carbs etc. would have made it impossible to have done it any other way. So it is then, unless the cases are stamped GS it ain't anything special and it certainly did not leave Small Heath as a Gold Star.

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As you can see along the right hand edge of the second page this book contains virtually every specification for all 1951 BSA models. If you want to see any other pages leave a comment or mail me.

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Better Than Good

Tried to phone Chip yesterday, looking for the fabled Gudgeon Pins. After a couple of failed attempts, the penny dropped, 29th of January, Kempton Jumble, that's where he'll be then. Chip's the sort of bloke that may well have an odd pin or two at his disposal, a phone message and another call this morning revealed that there were indeed a pair to be had. Went 'round there and then it just got better, the pins were still in the pistons and the pistons, with the rings, were still in their boxes. Seemed a shame to remove the pins and break up the set, and when the crowns were read it said +0.020". Which is, coincidentally, what is written on the ones back at Ironworks HQ, the deal had to be done and was soon sorted.

Comparing them to the existing set show them to be at least a ratio higher compression, so a little more bang for the buck as well. Not sure whether SRM will still need the pins, as they are new and therefore the exact same diameter as a later A7 0.6875" so any new little can be honed to that, I would have thought. That remains to be seen tomorrow though.

Chip's main input to the cause is reconditioning Lucas Magnetos and Dynamos for both singles and twins, and sends them out in a fully restored condition. If you feel that your ride could do with better sparks or fitter Glow Worms in the front, he can be contacted on +44 (0)1462 623687.

To clear up any confusion........................

................ about yesterday's post about stripping the gearbox and not knowing anything about it's history. The gearbox being rebuilt is not this one, this is the one that was originally in it when the bike was built up 30 years ago. Apologies for some of the rough fixings used, that happened in the intervening years and better discussed over a pint than go into it here.
The box currently being worked on, is another one I picked up along the way and it seemed a better option than having all the chrome stripped off of this one. Some bits of the gear change and kick start mechanisms will have to come from here though.