FH - getting there

 A few minutes in the workshop moves the project on a little bit: the speedo drive locating pin has arrived from the AOMCC gearbox man:

It fits in this hole:

A look at the carburetter reveals that the float chamber gasket is actually there, but that the drip shield is a little distorted and a bit loose, which probably caused the spitting back. The main issue, staring us in the face (and highlighting the perils of long-term projects) is that the carburetter needle is still in the box of bits!

The engine idles now.

By the way, I have changed the 210 main jet to a 260:

A couple more problems are revealed - the inlet rocker oil banjo is loose, and the magneto earth button doesn’t work. The inlet banjo is an easy spanner job; the cutout requires a bit more investigation.

FH - a little more progress, and a big step...

 Well there's been a little bit more progress today. First off, I've finished the second of the finned exhaust clamp bolts:

Secondly I've been talking to people in the club about tyre sizes and whether I can get my desired tyre (Avon RoadRiders) in the size that I want. Having a look at the distance between the tyre and the chain guard reveals around 3/8" to 1/2" but also that this tyre, an Avon SM Mk11, is actually a 325-19. The front tyre, a Dunlop TT100 by the way is a 90/90-19 or 3.60-19. They are both from the 1980's.

I am hoping to buy Avon RoadRider tyres but unfortunately they are not available in the right sizes for this bike. The options appear to be to use a 100/90-19 for the rear (Avon's recommended replacement for a 350-19) and a 325-19 (original size) or a 90/90-19 for the front.

The next bit of progress is very small - it's just a P clip for the front brake cable. I've attempted to adjust both brakes but right now the front tyre is in the wheel clamp.

Lastly and very quietly and secretly I have hooked up the temporary fuel tank to the carburettor and started the bike. Unfortunately it will only start using Easy start, but at least it starts and runs. There may be some problem with the fuel supply or with the float bowl. It runs and returns oil and it runs nice and quietly so now I know that I have the HT needs the right way round, and the oil system is working properly, and the valve timing is correct and the ignition timing is more or less correct though it does spit back through the carburettor.

I think we'll have to wait 'til Monday to have another chance at it, but sleeping on it and looking at some of my pictures suggests that the float bowl gasket is missing. This will give you an air leak in the pilot fuelling circuit...

FH - exhaust clamps

You might remember that I brought some exhaust clamp screws from Draganfly that were the wrong size - my fault not theirs. One of the jobs I have on the list is to make some new ones and that's what we're going to do today.

The clamps are 5/16" CEI and have this 45 degree feature on the plain side:

I bought some 0.445" 303 stainless steel hex bar to make some new screws. The picture below shows the first one, prior to parting off:

I put the prototype screw in place to determine how long the hexagon needed to be in order to get access for the spanner, marking it with a Sharpie:

Here's the finished screw, parted off, faced off and provided with a tidy chamfer:

Lovely. Fitted with a dose of Copaslip.

I just need to make another one!

FH - head steadies

 A couple of hours in the workshop yesterday saw a few little jobs closed off. This was the worst:

Access is not easy, but the secret is a short open spanner.

The head steadies are now fitted with full size 5/16" nuts, which entailed lifting the rocker box (twice) to get them in.

Next up was the timing side footrest, which wasn't fully tightened up - doing that enabled the exhaust fitting to be completed on that side, with the exception of the finned clamp.

I fitted the speedo cable, to find that the locating pin in the gearbox was missing. The AOMCC gearbox man has them available.

I spent a while poking around under the instrument panel, where the ammeter has lifted out of the position and the cable routing is poor:

I've almost fixed these problems, but the ammeter is still out of position and the wire from the lighting switch to the dipswitch is too short; the feed from the ammeter to the indicator relay is badly routed and consequently too short, and the indicator relay terminals are almost impossible to reach.

The instrument panel is going to have to come off again.

FH - speedometer

The chronometric speedometer that appeared with the FH kit is definitely not Ariel – I was told it is from a police spec AJS Model 31 CSR! The rim has a 3/8" piece removed from it which looks very tidy, definitely not a bodge – maybe it’s to allow a police workshop to remove the rim for recalibration easily? I have no idea if it works or not. 

So – in order for it to become a S467/195, which I believe it needs to be to suit my ’58 Huntmaster/FH, it will need:

• An overhaul, including resetting to zero
• A new dial
• Probably a new rim.

Lastly it looks like the male thread for the lamp is spinning in the case – I guess it was swaged in or something, so that will need sorting out too.

As usual, I sent it to Russell Smalley at Chronometric Instrument Services - he's done all my speedos since the SQ4. His quality of work is excellent and very fairly priced.

It came back in about a week, thoroughly packaged:

It's got a used dial and needle, so that the appearance is in keeping with the odometer wheels. It's had a mechanical overhaul, new seals and rim, and a new bulb holder thread swaged in to the case:

Here it is going into the dashboard:

There's a stainless bracket I made for the indicator relay - which in this position makes it fiddly to fit the cable. I think there will be a bit more development needed here!