W/NG - Crankcase lug repairs

I found a broken lug when I pulled the top front engine plate cover off:

Rooweld Engineering at Cromer made a nice job of fixing that. He said the casting was very clean:

In this picture, it just needs a touch more off the top of the lug for the engine plates to sit flat; the cases halves fit together nicely.

Errands in England's Green and Pleasant Land

Another nice little trip out on the faithful Bantam this weekend, over to Cromer to collect the Ariel W/NG timing case. Read about it here.

Two Old Relics

I had a nice little trip out on the faithful Bantam this weekend, over to Cromer with the Ariel W/NG timing case. Read about it here.

The pill box is at Aylmerton, and dates from the First World War.

Ariel Single Timing Cover Fix

I noticed a while back that the magneto platform flexes more than it should, and this became more apparent when I set the ignition timing recently. It's down to the fact that the bolt retaining the magneto platform to the timing cover is missing, and the reason it is missing is that the boss it screws into is also missing...

Removing the magneto chain cover revealed another problem - a missing screw, replaced with a countersunk brass screw of dubious provenance, and within the cover, a burst screw boss:

So we need a man who can TIG weld aluminium and who has experience repairing old castings...

Here's the timing case, removed and cleaned:

This is the damage to the magneto platform bolt hole:

It went to Roo at  Roadkill Customs in Cromer to be fixed. He TIG welded the holes up:

I've used a stud, rather than the original screw. The original is tapped 5/16" CEI into the alloy, with a hex screw - heaven knows why it was specified like that.

This is a 5/16" CEI x 5/16" BSW stud. At 1 1/8" its a bit long, but can easily be shortened if need be, and the BSW thread will be stronger in the alloy.

I also replaced the rocker oil feed union while I had the timing case off. The thread was a bit mangled; a self grip wrench and a blowlamp were needed to get the old one out.

Draganfly have stock of these - I put this in and tightened it with the aid of a 1/16" twist drill:

I'm using some Threebond 1215 silicone gasket to replace the timing cover. It's grey, discrete and rated at 250°C. Ample for this application.

We need the additional paper washer over the oil pump pickup pipe:

New gasket, applied over a thin bead of Threebond:

And the timing case in place. The magneto pinion is held in place with a Velcro tape, awaiting arrival of the magneto. The breather has been annealed and straightened and the magneto platform is now retained to the new stud with a 5/16" CEI nut and a shakeproof washer.

Schoolboy MOT's the MZ and makes lots of Errors

Starting the MZ to go for it's MOT proved difficult - I have not mastered this yet, though the lack of time on the road hasn't enabled me to tune the carburetter properly, so that may be the problem. We had the MOT done at H Curtis & Sons at Overstrand, so we could have a nice little blat along the coast in the sunshine, through Cromer and out the other side.

I was a bit nervous, since this is the first time I have been out & about on any MZ in about 30 years. Initial reaction is that it's very steady, and the road holding feels very safe. There was a hint of a wheel alignment problem, and the rear brake is a long way down; the front brake is also quite worn & grabby but overall the bike seems to have a good deal of get up and go and we arrived safe & sound at the garage in Overstrand.

Throughout the trip, the front brake had got progressively less noisy, though the clutch is dragging and I think that there is a bit of a top end rattle. As I was a bit early, I took the opportunity to lean out the idle mixture a bit now that the engine was warm.

Leaving my helmet & gloves at the garage, I went for a mooch around Overstrand which has some pretty buildings, including the Methodist church designed by Edwardian architect Sir Edwin Lutyens:

Nearer the beach, we have the ubiqutous Fordson Major draped in a tarpaulin, and rusting away. These are used all along the coast in for hauling boats about:

Down to the beach, with Trimingham in the background:

This pretty bit of Overstrand is called the Londs:

Boats:

Lobster & crab fishing is very popular around here:

So, after an hour I wandered back to the garage to be greeted by an MOT certificate! It seems to have started for the MOT tester, which surprised me almost as much as the fact that he put it on the sidestand - it does look a bit precarious...

The MOT test had also found that the rear wheel alignment was a bit wayward, so I will have to fix that as he made it an advisory notice; and that was it. It started for me once I'd had a chat and got all my stuff back on.

Unfortunately, the pleasure did not last long, and some 100 yards spluttering towards Cromer saw it stop, and refuse to go on. It was fairly obvious that it was not going to move again so it was helmet & gloves off and out with the tools. It was so dead that I was fairly sure it was ignition so I started there, only to realize that I had packed the wrong size plug spanner and I had to pull off the side cover to get at the points to be able to see any evidence of sparks. A screwdriver in the plug cap revealed a relatively weak spark so I set about cleaning points, coil & condenser connections, plug cap etc. to the sound of some encouragement from people passing by on the pavement.

Bikers are a friendly lot by and large, especially if you are in trouble. A chap I now know to be Jimmy Lee Shreeve stopped to see what was up and he was kind enough to stay to the end. An interesting chap, his website is here. Besides keeping me company, he had a plug wrench under his saddle, which was a godsend. Since the last time I broke down (on the Cyclemaster, about two weeks ago) was a whiskered plug (and I didn't have a plug wrench then either - you'd think I'd learn), I was glad to check the spark plug with Jimmy's help - and it was fine. A van driver also stopped and got his tools out to see if he could help, offering to fetch anything I needed from the garage down the road.

Next the petrol tap came apart, followed by the carburetter - nothing amiss anywhere. I was just giving it a last kick before giving up and calling the RAC, when it fired, and spat back a couple of times, probably due to the serious clean out it had had when testing for sparks with the plug out. Memories of the first time I flooded the Bantam in Tesco's car park came to mind as did the serious tweak I had given the mixture screw when I had stopped earlier in the afternoon. Winding this out well beyond the normal 1 1/2 turn position had the bike running reasonably consistently, apart from the violent banging in the exhaust. This was so bad that it had become very obvious - the exhaust nut had shaken itself out. I wound it in again as best I could (no C spanner), which quietened things down considerably - so much so that I realised the top-end rattle must have been a leak starting.

So with a farewell from Jimmy I charged off to Cromer, exhaust banging away and sounding great. Tickover was not too brilliant, but I didn't let it die and got safely back to the workshop in 20 minutes or so. Once back, breaking out the C spanner had the engine running much more quietly, but I think we still have a leak. Judging by the smoke, it's probably an engine oil seal, but I am loathe to fix that when I have the Huntmaster waiting.

So I'll use it while I sort out a few little jobs on the SQ4 prior to the summer season, and then get it onto eBay. More of that later. 

So all in all, a good trip out. Best part? Meeting new folks and seeing just how kind people can be!

Norfolk Coast Bimble

A nice little run (after filling up with Super unleaded for the first time) to Overstrand this morning in milky sunlight found this rather splendid Commando special at a local garage:

I've been looking for a local MOT station to get the MZ TS250/1 on the road for the winter, and this is just the spot, with a very friendly and knowledgeable tester who owned also the Commando - which to me is recommendation in itself. All I have to do now is fit the tyres to the MZ and we'll be ready for it to become the hack!

Amelia seems very happy, in her element on these single carriageway, twisty relatively quiet open roads; but pulling away from the garage, noisily to show off to an interested pedestrian left me limping along beside the pavement wishing I'd turned the fuel tap on...

Returning to a more mundane setting (Homebase Cromer) shows her domestic side as well, running errands. A small oil leak has appeared which coats the frame rails, oil filter and sump. the chain oiler is open but the chain is dry; I have closed it now. We'll have to do a bit of investigation.

At least the rocker shafts are no longer leaking!

One for the Bridge Club

I've recently spotted that the Bridge Club have some of my posts on their blog spot, which I am delighted to see. In line with their ethos, I have started taking pictures of bridges...

This is the bridge that carries Sandy Hill Lane over the NNR and into Station Road at the delightful Weybourne Station. Look at the soot all over the bridge! This comes from some of the fantastic locomotives shown on the NNR locos page.

This next one is the same line, different era. These are the two viaducts at East Runton, just after the duck ponds on the way to the village. The far viaduct carries the Bittern Line from Sheringham to Cromer, and was built by the Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway. During the M&GN days, a train could continue straight over the near viaduct straight on to Sheringham from the shared line that ran from Norwich into Cromer High. Both the route over this viaduct & Cromer High station itself are now just history (though the viaduct is still in place, and Roadkill Customs occupies part of the Cromer High Station yard). 

During the M&GN (and indeed the LNER and later British Railways) period, the trains would go from Norwich, through Wroxham and North Walsham before reaching the Runton Triangle, cross the now disused near viaduct before bearing West on to Sheringham or back to Norwich. When Cromer High was closed and all trains went to Cromer Beach (which is in the town centre - unlike Cromer High), the loco would be facing the wrong direction for the run on to Sheringham and would be turned on the Cromer Beach turntable. When the turntable was removed (when?), the loco would run-around the train at Cromer, and use the triangle to change direction. The loco would cross the (currently used) northerly viaduct in reverse & then travel forwards onto the southerly viaduct, finally reversing back onto the train at Cromer, ready to return to Norwich.

Of course, all this changed with the post-Beeching era and the modernisation of our railways. From the '60's, the driver would vacate one cab of his DMU & wander up to the other end to run "backwards" on into Sheringham.

Spot the Ariel

Roadkill Customs

Maybe this is the answer. A better quality oil bought from the nice people at Roadkill Customs, Cromer:

Elixir of Life

In any event, of all the changes I could make, it is low-hanging fruit.