Norton ES2 – Part 2
In the second part of our Norton lockdown special, Stuart's ES2 is finished and gets passed over to the family
“The magneto points gap was checked at 12thou, then the piston set to 5⁄8ths BTC with both valves fully-closed (on the inlet stroke)”
TWO WEEKS LATER I WAS BACK IN the garage fitting a recently delivered set of clutch plates and associated springs from Norvil.
Surprising, but this simple job turned out to be quite a slog. First problem was there appeared to be too many plates; that is, if I attempted to fit five fibre and five plain as per the manual's instructions. Unfortunately, adding a fifth fibre plate prevented the clutch drum's securing circlip to be fitted. So I had to make do with four, otherwise the clutch might fall apart! I could only assume that new fibre plates use a thicker material than their original counterparts, thus packing out the assembled clutch.
Second hassle was that the clutch lever arm inside the gearbox's end cover refused to ‘adjust'. So I removed the lever (worm) mechanism for inspection. It was soon apparent that the clamping bolt had seized and was preventing the lever from actuating against the clutch pushrod.
Once sorted, I then treated the clutch cable to a bath in light machine oil and ended up with a beautifully operating clutch!
I could now turn my attention to timing the ignition. The magneto points gap was checked at 12thou, then the piston set to
5⁄8ths BTC with both valves fully-closed
(on the inlet stroke). The advance and retard lever is then set in the full advance position, with correct ‘ignition' achieved by checking the (clockwise) rotating points are just about to open. Being a nonsmoker, I used a test bulb as opposed to the customary sliver of fag paper!
Dodgy earths
Next day I decided to test out my rewired electrics by introducing a charged battery. My first surprise was a complete absence of power to the horn, headlight, tail-light, speedo light and dip switch – although a tell-tale beeping from my multimeter confirmed that power was reaching the ammeter.
This wasn't entirely unexpected because the new pattern wiring harness bore no resemblance to the manual's electrical diagram colours, so there was an element of guesswork when I rewired. However, I knew from experience that most connections were correct. I'd also previously tested all the circuit light bulbs. My meter also confirmed that power was reaching the dip switch, but apparently not the lights; so there was only one possible explanation: poor earthing! This was confirmed by continuity testing each component in turn – I was aghast that all of the above components were failing to earth.
Suspecting the ES2's thick coat of black paint, I first removed the tail-light and scraped away paint from all its surrounding nuts and bolts – back to bare metal; this included the interior of drilled mounting holes, a tedious but important task. I also replaced nyloc nuts, which can exacerbate earthing problems. The headlight, horn and speedometer light were all similarly checked – it was trying but gratifying work as each ‘cleaned' component blinked on in turn.
More exhaustive work
My build was now edging towards completion; but I'd learned poor Matt was experiencing grief with Project Norton's bottom end. Meantime I was having troubles of my own after discovering both the rear suspension and kick-start were in the way of connecting the silencer to the front exhaust pipe! It was apparent that the exhaust system I was attempting to fit was not suited to a plunger ES2. I was gutted with the potential delay and pinged off several pictures to illustrate the problem to AMC. Robbie to his credit popped over to check the ‘boob' before sanctioning the purchase of a new system.
One week later the correct exhaust and silencer arrived, but predictably required some ‘modifications' before I could fit them. The front exhaust pipe was too long to slip inside its matching silencer due to fouling an inner baffle. The only solution was to cut 100mm from the pipe's tail end. The silencer's mounting bracket slot was also too small to accept the original mounting bolt – so much filing was required to achieve a good fit.
Adding a new front brake cable was the last job of the day – but then the cable adjuster refused to screw into the brake plate eye! Closer inspection of the eye revealed yet another crossed thread and what should have been a five-minute job turned into a two-hour marathon!
Wheel and hub were removed and the eye was repaired using a sacrificial bolt and grinding paste. By cutting two vertical slots up the bolt's thread I made a temporary tap – then by threading it through the eye accompanied by smears of fine grinding paste, I made an effective repair. Unfortunately, the new brake cable turned out to be too long. Another step back perhaps, but once the wheel and hub were replaced, and the cable shortened, it fitted like a glove.
Then my good friend Dave turned up with ‘Stan the man' – a four grand electric induction heating box that could straighten a bent footrest without removing it from the bike. Once Stan was fired up, Dave held what I could only describe was a ‘magic wand' to the footrest's shank and in seconds it began to glow red hot – I was astonished! A bit of oomph was all that was required to true up the offending footrest. Exhausted, I retired for a well-earned beer. Tomorrow I would attempt to start up the ES2 for the first time in over 50 years.
The fight back!
I went over the bike testing every nut and bolt before securing the battery inside its rubber box. Next I primed the engine oil feed line with fresh oil before filling the oil tank (the sump had already been primed with fresh oil). Oil was then added to the primary case and the (leaking) gearbox was topped up. I filled the petrol tank with fresh fuel. The ignition timing was already set and a few prods on the kick-starter had produced some promising sparks across the plug's electrode. The only ‘guess work' would be carb settings to induce a successful firing.
I had now reached the exciting culmination of any build or restoration: Would she fire up? Would oil return to the oil tank? Will the reconditioned dynamo and voltage control box produce a healthy charge? Would the new clutch, ancient gearbox and untried brakes behave on any debut ride? It was time to find out...
I closed the choke, retarded the ignition lever and opened the unique ‘Easy Starting' device mounted on the carburettor. I then opened the petrol taps and tickled the carb... suddenly fuel billowed out of the chamber cap and began to dissolve the lovely gloss black paintwork I'd spent hours T-cutting days before. Obviously the float had stuck, flooding the carb, the bike and the pavement!
Both the oil tank and the primary case were now dripping black-stained goo onto the pavement. It was a depressing sight and I surmised the owner had failed to use petrol-proof paint when painting the cycle parts. I hurriedly shut both taps and soaked the damaged paintwork with oil, hoping this might dilute the fuel's corrosive effect.
Panic over, I decided to give the ES2 a few test kicks. The second kick produced an aggressive kick-back and a puff of blue smoke, the third almost removed my foot when the kick-starter flew back with violence. She was certainly alive, but consistently kicked back, suggesting that the ignition timing was too far advanced.
My friend Mike arrived on his Matchless G80 and had a go at playing with all the handlebar lever settings, before kicking and puffing furiously in commendable effort; but he too was intimidated by the aggressive kick-backs. The engine refused to catch. Then the left fuel tap began to leak profusely. Defeated, I rolled the ES2 back into the garage.
“I had now reached the exciting culmination of any build or restoration: Would she fire up? Would oil return to the oil tank?”
Next day I awoke with fresh ideas but with a limp! I had chewed on the problem overnight and wondered if I had set the timing with the ignition lever retarded, instead of advanced. On checking, indeed I had – silly me! Replacing the fuel shut-off needle and float cured the worst of the fuel leaks. Fitting dowdy washers to the fuel taps also helped – as did wrapping plumber's PTFE tape around the tap threads. Fresh fuel was siphoned into the tank and I was ready to go again.
With all the control levers appropriately set – i.e. ignition fully-retarded, choke on, and the easy starting device set halfway, I flooded the carb. Pulling the valve lifter I eased the piston over TDC and I kicked, hard. Nothing happened. I tickled the carb again and on the second kick the engine caught and immediately began to rev its nuts off! Backing off both the choke and easy starter restored calm – although a bit of advance was required to keep the warming engine from faltering. A wonderful sight was that lovely clean engine oil was returning to the tank.
As I warmed the engine the carb began to spit back with increased throttle, indicating a weak fuel mixture. Adjusting the air metering screw made no difference; only with full choke applied would the carb stop spitting. I cut the engine and removed the carb in order to raise the needle and enrichen the fuel mixture.
Once restarted the carburation improved, but setting a nice tick-over remained elusive, so I adjusted the tick-over/easystarter screw and found a passable, if lumpish tick-over. It was time for a debut test ride...
With the lever set at full advance, I pulled in the wonderfully light clutch, selected first and gently upped the revs before thundering out of my car port and onto the open road. The booming exhaust and crisp sounding engine were a delight and I was soon up into third and feeling very at home with the fluid gearbox – although admittedly the gear lever proved to be a bit of a stretch and I was forced to resort to the classic ‘heel & toe' method of selecting the gears.
I was thumping along at 40mph and well into countryside before I noticed the speedometer was working, but unfortunately the ammeter wasn't registering any charge – ‘Damn it', I cursed, ‘...not quite home and dry yet'. The engine however was responding very well and I opened her up to 50mph and into top gear, gliding effortlessly through the greenery with not another vehicle in sight.
There was no chatter from the tappets or any other weird noises to worry about – this was fun! The abundance of gut-wrenching torque and low-down grunt of the ES2 was quite astonishing and I romped effortlessly around the back roads exploiting the tall gears. There was no sign of any reek, so I felt delighted that the DIY cylinder honing had resulted in a smokeless exhaust.
From a steady gallop the brakes hauled up the ES2 with ease, but the front on its own was no match for the rear; however I'm confident that as the miles stack up, the brakes will improve. Before long the high(ish) handlebars were becoming tiresome and I began to feel uncomfortable unless I sat well back on the saddle – I vowed to change them for a standard set as soon as I returned.
Some final tweaks
Next day I changed the bars for a standard set and all the cables and controls sat more comfortably – as I would no doubt, on our next outing. I suspected the archaic Voltage Control Box was the likely cause for the absence of charge. My meter proved that power was reaching the VC box from the dynamo but was failing to reach the ammeter or the battery. So with the engine running I plumbed in a temporary rectifier and up popped a steady charge on my meter – problem solved. I stripped the box and carefully cleaned and filed all its three electrical points. Once the original box was reinstated, it too produced a healthy charge.
Edging ever closer to the finish line I was aghast when the kick-starter suddenly went limp – pointing to a broken return spring! Sure enough, when I removed the kick-starter and its spring cover cup out dropped the spring in two pieces – so another order winged its way to Norvil. I should mention that it was a real grind to fit a new spring, requiring the fabrication of a bespoke drift (nylon WC pipe), protective gloves and several thuggish blows from my hide hammer to persuade the spring back onto its seat.
Still unhappy with the misbehaving carb, Amal sage Michael at Surrey Cycles suggested I drift out the carb's inner jet block and check that all its (miniscule) air drillings were clear. A job worth doing I was assured in order to restore that elusive tick-over. I also ordered a new main jet, air screw, throttle valve, needle and gasket set in the hope of further reviving the carb. I was aghast at the visible wear and tear on the old throttle valve when I compared it with the new one – no wonder the carb was sucking in so much air!
Once all the new parts were fitted I noticed a big improvement on the road, but on my return the wretched carb still coughed when sitting with its engine ticking over. Only by retarding the ignition and adding a whiff of choke could I restore the ES2's lazy tick over. Unfortunately, the old trick of raising the throttle needle by a notch didn't seem to help much either – so I guess a new carb might be a future requirement... but that would be at the owner's discretion.
Home run
An ease in lockdown rules a few weeks later meant that I could meet up with Robbie in Abernethy and present the running ES2 to its enthusiastic owner, Stevie Wells. Three generations of the Wells family turned up for the occasion. It was a heart-warming moment to witness the genuine emotions as the family were reunited with their great-grandfather's pride and joy. I also learned that a young Stevie had fulfilled a lifelong dream to own and ride his grandfather's superb Norton.
The icing on the cake was being presented with a commemorative mug and a bottle of Malt for my help in returning the ‘Wells family heirloom' back into the arms of this caring family. I look forward to seeing Stevie out on his splendid ES2 exploring Fife's scenic coastal routes, much as his grandfather would have done several decades before him.