Project Norton

Forget images of sitting at a bench, building an engine. Reality is somewhat different…

It’s back on track! We start the bottom end, vapour blast the carb and find what’s next

After taking a break of several months from my Norton ES2, I thought I would be looking at much progress, quite quickly. I was wrong. Despite ‘stepping back’ and just having a break, the problems were still there. So it was time to take stock of the whole project and see if a plan could be devised.

Once I’d cleared a bench, all the parts, old and new, were laid out so I could see what we had. This was bought as a part-started project from a gentleman who was able to finish it, but wouldn’t be able to ride it once he’d put all the hard work into it, so he had decided to sell. It was stripped and some new parts were included, as well as some used spares, but I had never owned an ES2, so I wasn’t sure.

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY MATT

THANKS TO HUTCH AT HTE MOTORCYCLES AND JAMES, MATT AND CHARLES AT BDK RACING FOR THEIR HELP, KNOWLEDGE, PISS-TAKING AND HOT BEVERAGES

Laying everything out I instantly felt more in control and found some parts I didn’t realise I had – two sets of wheel bearings I could put into the new wheels we’d built, along with brake linings and springs for the drums.

Then there were two roller bearings that looked like main bearings, but I had to be sure. The part numbers matched those with mains from Norton parts people RGM, but there are three main bearings, two roller and one ball race – so where, or why are there only two? And I also need to find out the crank float tolerances.

BODYWORK

I’m still struggling with the bodywork and how it all holds together.

The front is fine, the tank just needs rubbing down, but the toolbox that fits on the left-hand side has a million holes in it, none of which seem to match with holding the frame. Other than pulling someone else’s bike apart, I’ve just got to keep investigating.

The rear mudguard is new and has no holes drilled, so that is just waiting for me to find the guts to line it up with photographs I have and make some holes! I have half of the braces for it but I need to buy a couple of ‘hockey sticks’ that will help get the right position.

I have all the engine plates, but I am not sure about the right nuts and bolts – I suppose it will become apparent when trying to fit them whether they are lurking in my huge pile of random fixings…

ELECTRICS

I looked into the electrical system for the first time. I’ve been lucky so far with my bikes and my BSA – Honda et al have given me no troubles with creating a spark, timing or charging. The Norton’s mag dyno system seems to be all there, but it is in one hell of a state. Turning the mag shaft feels horrid, dry and stiff – though at least it is complete.

The dynamo is in pieces and looks like it was dug up from a garden, but the regulator is there. It will end up costing me a lot of money, but I want to see what is involved and how repairing/renovating a system is done, so now is my chance!

I’ll also look into modern electronic systems, but with half the folk I talk to for them and the other half dead against them, I want to know more to make my own mind up. Luckily, one of the members of the Norfolk Norton Club makes ignition systems, so I’ll beg his brains. As far as the rest of the electronics are concerned, the previous owner had bought a loom, minimal though it looks, but I’ll have to buy a headlamp and a rear light – although I have found a Lucas lens!

CARBURETTOR

My Amal 376 monobloc was complete, filthy and, I’m guessing, original – well, if the filth and cobwebs had anything to go by. Hutch kindly put it through his ultrasonic cleaner, but it was still dirty, so I used a friend’s vapour blaster. This industrial set-up took some time to master, such is the force of the water and the glass beads, but it’s the time it takes to initially set up the pressure, water and mix of new and used glass beads (it’s actually a fine powder) that takes the time. Lastly, a special ‘secret’ solution is added, which helps give a more shiny finish – without this the vapour blasting can give a dry-looking finish, like the more abrasive sand-blasting.

I started with the basics and worked my way up to the body of the carb. If anything I was not brave enough and I had to go again on some parts. You also have to get used to moving a part around in your fingers while wearing extremely thick rubber gauntlets! This is okay, until you drop a piece that somehow, in a chance in a million, finds a small gap in the mesh surface and drops into the murky water below, where the pump, heater and pipes live. There’s 45 minutes of my life I’ll never get back, looking for a part I couldn’t locate. Damn.

Once rinsed thoroughly with water and blown out with an air gun, the parts looked like new. I especially like the way the top looks with its brass collar. Yes, you could buy a new carb, but they’re more than £200 and the original has a slightly course casting finish to it that I think is more in keeping with a 1954 bike. And what’s the point of having an old bike if it’s all new?

THE ENGINE

Oh, the engine. There are two things with the engine. I have not rebuilt a vertically-split motorcycle engine before, so I have no experience and there aren’t any manuals that deal with the type of full rebuild that’s needed. That and I don’t have the money to make any mistakes. So yes, I am being a little hesitant.

The tappets are waiting for James to

TIG weld the worn faces with stelite, as they had worn through the hard chrome finish. Then the crankcase needs tappets (I call them cam followers) and tappet tunnels installed before I go further. One broke as we removed them, but luckily I picked one up at Stafford last year. On closer inspection, though similar, they were slightly different, which would give an issue when fitting the pushrod tubes, so Matt machined them down in the lathe. It’s now a case of getting the oven on to cook the crankcase to get the mains bearing outer out, then put the new one in and the tappet tunnels dropped in, with tappets fitted already. Phew!

And while the oven’s on, the head can go in so the valve guides can be replaced. The bike came with new guides and valves, so that’s another problem solved!

Further down, Matt took my +0.030in piston and barrel and measured the tolerances. Nothing too bad, but there was a small amount of oval in the barrel, so the honing tool was brought into action. I now have a perfectly round barrel with the right tolerance for the piston and nice cross hatching to boot. New rings are on order, along with a gudgeon pin and clips.

I couldn’t do this without my friends and their knowledge. I hope I learn so I can help others like from those I’ve benefited from. This time next month I should have made more progress – and maybe even the bottom end together! But then again…