IN THE WORKSHOP
Swapping between classic and evo is always fun ... so I'm told.
If young Thurston feels he can blame me for the sudden appearance of a 450 Kawasaki in his workshop, then equally I can blame him for putting the IT up on my workbench and hauling through the bits in the box ... So there, Jerry!
There have been some bits and pieces arriving for both the official projects in my workshop and other bits for my lad's Fantic 201, as well as some movement on what is being called 'Official Madness' or 'The Sidecar Thing.'
The coronavirus currently affecting the whole world has put the launch of the sidecar project on hold for the time being and those unsuspecting 'volunteers' for the chair remain blissfully unaware of the peril they were in. That's not to make light of the seriousness of the virus and all of us here at Cdb hope you are all remaining safe.
Looking at the Project Triumph at first, a number of tasks have been tackled head on. Now I'm not going to deny I've had to work up the courage to do several of these tasks as, for a number reasons, they can go horribly wrong and take up more time than they should.
There is also the issue of pristine parts having to be modified ... First of these is the new rear mudguard.
Since starting this project I've tried to use up bits I had in the workshop, rather than lash out and buy brand-new things my reason being is that not everyone has a pile of cash to fling at projects and most enthusiasts have to budget accordingly.
I'm also assuming enthusiasts have a few bits and pieces lying around or at least have some mates who are looking to off-load their rubbish ...er valuable classic bits.
In my pile of old bits are a number of preused alloy mudguards, all of which are front ones ... temporarily I used the steel - well steel and rust to be honest - rear guard from my 650, it's been lying around since it was replaced by an alloy guard a few years ago. It looks horrible, and the cost to refurbish it would probably be more than one of the new replica parts available from Triumph parts suppliers. In a conversation with Allan Hitchcock about some dog-leg levers he had in stock I mentioned the need for a rear guard and he had a shop soiled one available.
This has been in the workshop for a long time, all secure in its plastic bag and several times I've picked it up intending to fit the thing in place but there's something about an undrilled pristine mudguard and having to make the first drillings in it.
However, there comes a point when in
order to do other tasks the one holding things up has to be done.
An oil tank has to be made for the modified sub frame as a standard one would have to be radically reworked in order to fit, so to have the rear of the tank match the curve of the mudguard the mudguard had to be in place. This was not to be a casual five-minute task. ..
Time was created and the workshop door locked to prevent any interruptions. The old mudguard taken off, it was stuffed away so there would be no temptation to give up and reuse it. A few lengths of old electrical wire were laid out - an easy way to hold the guard in place, yet allow it to be quickly adjusted unlike a tie-wrap and up went the guard loosely in place.
Now, the standard rear tyre on the base model 3TN5TA of the early Sixties which this project is built from is a rather slim profile 3.25in x 17in one, the 5Tagot a 3.50in wide one, the Mitas supplied rear tyre is a much wider enduro type which in modem tyre speak is 100/90 x 18in. There is just enough clearance in the swinging arm for the rubber and as I didn't want the new guard getting in the way I had to tread carefully.
With blocks of wood for support and plenty of wire, the guard was put in the correct place and first drilling would be the front bit which goes behind the engine and on the swinging arm. Obviously there has to be a bit of clearance here or the swinging arm bridge will catch on the guard, there also has to be a bracket in place to hold it. There's nothing fancy about the bracket, it being little more than a piece of thin steel bent into shape and fitted to the engine mount bolts.
With a 6mm hole drilled in and transferred to the guard the front bit was fixed. I did leave enough space for a rubber washer to go in so the guard could deal with vibration without splitting. With this in place I could move the back end of the guard around so it looked correct with the wheel position. Of course the lifting handle, as it's termed in parts catalogues, was out ofline, the original 3Tadoesn't have one of these because all this area is covered in a pressed steel fairing and this lifting handle came from a 650 belonging to a mate who pulled it apart then lost interest, sold it and found the handle some months later.
Anyway, to fit the guard as it was wouldn't be right, luckily all it required was a bit of bending on the lugs - four goes on and off until I was happy with it then the lugs needed bending slightly for the guard curve. In place, held with wire and blocks, marked correctly, removed and drilled. There will be another mount under what will be the seat, but as of yet this isn't decided and in any case I've not got a bit of steel to make a bridge, but as soon as this lockdown is over. ..
In order to fettle up an oil tank I need to make a wooden former so someone other than me can weld the aluminium sheet to the correct shape. Making this former involved lots of cardboard templates and scraps of plywood to build up a buck.
Again there's nothing fancy about this and it is easy to do; I have a band saw available to me but a coping saw and Surform file will do equally well and it just needs patience.
One issue I have had trouble with is finding tank fittings. The alloy tank on my BSAB40HAS all sorts of fittings for oil feed and such like which I seem to recall were available from someone who advertised with a magazine I edited years ago but can't for the life of me remember who. There is available in the spares a genuine 650 tank and the oil filter feed from it will do, but that means robbing bits off it and hopefully the tank - from a 1965TR6/T120 - will sell on to allow the purchase of other stuff. So, if anyone knows where oil feeds and such things can be bought, please let me know.