1956 INDIAN TRAILBLAZER PROJECT
The project I've chosen is a bit of a rarity: an Indian Trailblazer 700. As I said, I'm not here to make Allan's life easy. Yet he comes good. The tinware is mostly present and in pretty good condition – one advantage of American imports is that they haven’t usually seen much road salt. I notice that the headlight brackets are a bit battered but I'm surprised to find Allan has reproductions of these, along with everything else I could need to overhaul the forks. He also pulls out all the parts for a typical engine rebuild – including a spare head, barrel, crank and crankcase. With the majority of parts common to the Super Meteor, it's clearly going to be difficult to catch Hitchcocks out so, rather than keep trying to think of more obscure parts, I decide it makes more sense to ask Allan what Hitchcocks can’t supply, rather than what they can. “The missing Lucas SR2 magneto cover is a problem at the moment and I can’t help with the speedo – it’s an American Stewart Warner but I think repros are available in the States. The other difficulty you’d face is the correct pressed metal tank badges. I’ve seen some cast alloy copies, but they’re not really right so I’m thinking about getting some made. The thing is, over the years our customers have become more fussy and near enough just isn’t good enough any more – it has to be right.” To be honest, Allan, if that’s all – and after what I’ve seen today – I honestly don’t think it’s just your customers who are determined to get everything right...