Did a bit of painting and polishing today… painted and lacquered the clutch cover, and rear spring, and put a coat of lacquer on the cam belt covers which I had decided to carbon effect dip… not everyone’s cup of tea I know, but I like the look… The silencers came up really well! there were a few marks on them that would have niggled me so I decided to polish them. as an aside, while the spray gun had some lacquer in, I finished off some cheese boards I have been making as Christmas presents for friends... its got me a few brownie points with the wife which I desperately needed [laugh] [laugh] the fruit and spices are encapsulated in clear casing resin.
Started the rebuild… first job was to put the frame on the engine, easy job, I held it, my wife popped the bolts in! I then fitted the headstock bearings, which I have replaced as there were small sighs of pitting, and they are cheap. I pulled them in rather than use a hammer, which also means you can give them a good tighten and bed them in nice and hard against the register. Its starting to come together… Was also playing around with the image of the engine…
my wife will often say I am definitely on the spectrum :lol: :lol: today I fitted the side stand and noticed there was more play than I liked... so I made a new bush, and bronze thrust washer as I knew it would niggle me if I didn't!
Its funny how to me progress seems slow, but when you come to put it all together you realise that all the little jobs you have been doing over the months are now paying off as it becomes an assembly job! One thing I have done in the last few days is to check the loom over… its in great condition apart from one area… It looks like someone has fitted an alarm at some point…, and someone has subsequently removed it! they didn’t do a bad repair, but I hate the tape over bare wires, and I wanted to check the integrity of the joints, so I pulled the soldered wires apart and re-soldered them, and covered the join with shrink wrap. To finish it off nicely I took the terminals out of the blocks with my terminal removal tool. this is a fantastic little set of tools, and very cheap to buy.. I have lost count of the times I have used them over the years! that meant I could use some braided expandable sheathing which most cars seem to use these days. it means it can go over the terminals and then fit tight on the wires. this is finished off with some hear shrink, and if you use the glue lined stuff it makes a good repair. probably my last update this side of the holiday... Merry Christmas!
thanks! back after the break... I did relent and have a few hours in the workshop! next the hydraulics … I stripped everything down and cleaned the callipers and master cylinder up. the callipers came up well, but the anodizing on the master cylinders were poor… so I bead blasted them and have decided to leave them silver… All the seals were perfect, so I have reused these. I cleaned the callipers up in petrol with some very fine scotchbrite, being very gentle, they came up a treat. looked at the switchgear and although its in great condition, the plastic sleeving was tatty… so I used some of the braided stuff, and some glue lined shrink wrap to finish it off… the braided stuff expands a lot, so no need to remove the terminals off the wire which is a bonus.
Great job. I’m doing something similar, I'm at the primary drive part, trying a three leg puller this afternoon but I don’t think it’s going to be man enough for the job. Your tool looks spot on.
can I suggest that you don't bother with the three leg puller... it just wont cut it and you can end up doing damage... where you based?
starting to go back together, I am pleased with the way the exhaust and silencers polished up… Polishing always hurts my wrists these days… must be getting old
Now that’s easy on the eye. Slightly off topic sorry lads. but where can I find the little blue doodaa on top of the fork station's one of mine has gone awol.
Time to start up soon… I am always aware that a rebuilt engine needs oil at first start-up, and while I always fill the filter before I screw it on, the oil cooler and pipes are empty, as are the oil ways, and the oil pump. I have therefore always used this method of giving the engine the best start in life I can and inject some oil into the system via the oil pressure switch port. I used to do it on many of the race engines I have built in the past and it was always satisfying to take the oil filler cap off and see oil seeping out the rocker shafts or cam bearings. Either way I always turn it over until the oil warning light goes out… which unless you prime the oilways can be a worrying amount of time!
well it started first time! I screwed in my oil pressure gauge and it went up straight away… sounded nice! I like to start builds on a dummy tank if I can…. I made that tank over 40 years ago, its started a few engines! its still got an original laverda tap on it!
Loving this build mate, cracking job. The interim tank is great, I do the same but don’t have a trusted “tank” with history. Last time I hung a funnel/tube and poured directly.
I think the can is around 42 - 45 years old! its caught me out a few times as the lid seals well and I forget to loosen it, which stops the flow!
Great thread! Great job too Buzzer! This is a bike you will neither want to ride (cos it will get dirty!) or sell!
been out of action for almost 2 weeks... strained my left hand, taking off a lid off a jar of all things, so thought it better to rest it... getting there now... sigh of getting older I guess... Started preparing the tanks and bodywork for painting… I know the tank hinge on the monster is a weak point, and it did show evidence of being strained… I didn't want to paint the tank and find out it soon failed, so I decided to take the bracket off and strengthen the area and TIG weld the bracket back on… I normally have tanks blasted but the guy who does it for me is off with Covid at the moment, so it may be a while before he is back, and I don’t trust anyone else after having some shocking jobs done in the past….
