Model A - more painting

 This isn't very exciting post but it's important to make it to record when these items had their first coats of paint. This Tekaloid takes a long time to dry fully - about 5 weeks - and I want to know when I can assemble bits.

Today I have used the wheel to strip rust and old paint from the battery tray, the rear chain guard, the oil tank and the dynamo chain guard.

They have been degreased, had a coat of primer and their first top coat.

The second coat went on on the 9th of July.

Model A - Battery Strap

In the interests of my sanity (I don't think I will be renovating another Honda in a hurry) I have made a small start on the Model A sheet metal repairs, by welding up the battery strap.

Apart from the nuts, it's all there. It had corroded or fatigued (it looks very thin at one end and needed a little attention from my splendid TIG set:

Originally, the ends were double thickness and show a gas weld so I wasn't to obsessive about removing all the evidence of a new weld from the side of the strap that was originally welded. Apart from the weld repair, all I have done is to free off the nuts and wire brush the threads:

Now I need to find a suitable period battery case!

Here's a picture of the original setup. The hook with the strap goes on the primary side.

What's that ominous noise?

Last weekend, my Sunday morning jaunt ended after 1.5 miles with a screech/rattle (strange sound in between the two) that has appeared while accelerating up a hill. I think it's transmission - out of gear the engine appears to be fine. Turning the rear wheel by hand with the clutch out and the bike in gear sounds rattly - I think I will have to take a look at the clutch. The noise changes with clutch operation, less harsh perhaps and appears to be related more to road speed than engine speed.

Of course, as I write this I sound like I have a misplaced confidence that no Square Four owner has any right to - you are always worrying that it is going to lift it's skirts above it's knees and show you a connecting rod when you were least expecting it. This time, I arrived home with the engine ticking over sweetly and it continued to do so when I parked up. 

Running it on the stand, I couldn't replicate the sound, but I did notice the rear wheel is a lot more wobbly than it was when I built it.

A week or so later, after some busy time at work and contemplating that I might get the CX500 on the road, I found a bit of time to pull it apart. It's worth remembering that older bikes are often easier to fix than newer ones - my Square is a lot less complex than the Honda and it's much easier to work on.

All I need is this handy kit that I found in the bike's toolbox:

Or - not. Falling at the first fence, I found that I did not have a 3/8" AF box spanner in the tool roll. This odd ball size fits not only the clutch centre screws but crucially the exhaust pipe clamps - so I couldn't even start the job. I made a note to buy one for the tool roll.

With the pipe off, I slackened off the brake pedal and disconnected the brake light - that lets you remove the clutch dome. I might see if I can get a better shine on that patina:

With the right tools, the clutch plate came off perfectly:

And it revealed a loose clutch centre nut, just as had been predicted by the AOMCC forum panel of experts. The nut was loose but still in place, but it probably wouldn't have come loose at all if I had been a bit more thorough with the tab washer:

Watch:

The clutch plates are getting thin, but I have no wish to re-cork them right now, nor any cork; they need pulling out with this bit of hooked wire I keep in the tool box:

Slightly sticky. That's grease from the centre bearing:

Here it is again - we will have to be sparing with it on reassembly. The splines are no worse than when they went in back in 2014:

And again. Those screws are in place but very loose:

As can be seen in this video:

Thankfully, all looks well under the primary chain cover:

The shock absorber nut is exactly as it was when I fitted it back in 2014:

Sprocket looks fine:

Having removed the chainwheel and carefully removed its bearing (with the twelve needle rollers) I set about removing the rear half of the chaincase. When it wouldn't come free, I remembered that the rear upper chainguard is bolted to the chaincase and that the bolt lives under the battery. This has not been off for ages as it has been no trouble at all:

Here's the bolt I'm talking about. You have to remove the coil as well:

Once behind there all looked fine & dandy:

Oil filter head looks OK:

At close of play, the rear chaincase was back in place, sealed with Threebond 1215:

The next day I tensioned the primary and put the chainguard and the coil back in place, and the following day I put the primary case back together:

Next came the clutch rebuild. This time I paid much closer attention to assembling clutch basket to the sprocket, and the centre to the mainshaft retaining both with Loctite 243.

The mini-lathe is a useful beast. Here I'm turning up a new spacer to fit between the primary chaincase inner half and the frame in stainless steel. It's 1/2" long, 11/32" ID for clearance on a 5/16" bolt and 3/4" OD:

This is the truly awful side stand. I never use this, as it is far too short and consequently precarious. The tie wrap is there to make sure the spring cannot become disengaged from the lug on the leg, which would leave the leg flopping about:

Assembling the battery carrier and it's spacers:

And all back together.

Dry Build - Battery Carrier

It's a work day today, so there's only a few minutes available to play with old motorbikes. Even so, we can look and do a little bit. Here's the state of play:

The next bit to look at is the battery carrier and toolbox. Help from Mick D on the AOMCC forum reveals that the voltage regulator sits behind the tool box, so we might have a look at that later - but we are getting ahead of ourselves here.

The battery carrier is screwed to the top of the primary case with these two special screws - two of the few fasteners I have with this kit of parts. The upper fixing is the sidecar mount, and we will have to order the big nuts for that from Acme Stainless.

Today has also revealed another job:

A broken 1/4" BSW screw.

Battery Carrier

This is about the carrier I am using to mount my gel batteries. Here are the batteries:

Now these will happily fit in the box, indeed they were chosen to do so. But because they are so short they will be a pig to get out, and I want to hide a fuse box and maybe some other wizardry in there. So, I have come up with this:

It's a simple carrier made from 18 swg cold rolled sheet; the batteries enter from one side and it is lifted out of the battery box by the two handles on top. The top deck is to carry the fuse box. I plan for the cables to exit through a slot in the upper inboard edge of the battery box:

So, now I have identified where the cables are going, I can cut a slot in the box. A coping saw and a half round file does the job nicely:



So next, final wiring and painting. I have used closed cell neoprene foam to cushion the batteries; painted with U-POL etch primer and black gloss, and wired in accordance with the diagram on the wiring page.

All that remains is to put the lid back on and look at sealing the lid.

Coupling Gears

Things are moving on... Not much progress lately, because despite the fact that I am not at work at the moment there is a house to be refurbished and summer weather to be enjoyed! Plus, I have a little Off-Grid Garage project to tell you about later.



So, bottom end is in and now we can fit the coupling gears. Easier to do on the bike, since we will be heaving the cranks about and we don't want the engine moving about.



Here is the coupling gear 'pusher' tool, supplied by Drags, and an essential piece of kit. It has two large adapter nuts each with two threads - one for the pusher rod, and one for the crankshaft. You'll note that the threads on the cranks are different, hence the need for two adapter nuts. At this point, you will have the Woodruff key in place, and the coupling gear keyway aligned with the key. You won't be able to see it in a moment!

The pusher tool is actually a puller, since it pulls the crankshaft into the coupling gear. You need the coupling gear puller to go with it. The puller is assembled onto the gear - and now you don't know where the keyway has gone... Grease that pusher rod thread (to avoid it galling) and start turning - you will need a significant torque and you will have to lock the crankshaft using a bar through one of the rod small end eyes. Use two timbers to prevent damage to the crankcase mouths. Oh and a word of warning - do not swing the crankshafts about without the coupling gears fitted. The rods WILL hit each other and you don't want any nasty dings.

You need to make sure the coupling gears are properly aligned. The gears will only go onto the crankshafts one way, and there are dot marks to align the front and rear cranks properly. Align the gears so that the tooth marked with one dot meshes between the two dot marks on the other gear.

Whilst the coupling gears are identical, one of them will be marked 'F' for 'Front'. Fit this one at the front, and you will maintain the wear pattern established when the engine was last running.

When you are done, fit a new oil seal to the rear crank and do up the nut on the front crank.

Next, trial fit the coupling gear cover. No bearing in this one yet, but those studs are in two different lengths. The long ones pass through the dowels at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock.

Then the primary case inner:

Then the outer, tensioning the sidestand spring

Then you find the clutch cover screw holes are stripped, and that's why we do trial fits!

Then the battery carrier. The shiny fibreglass battery is going to need some matt black paint and a spray of oil or WD40:

Looking good isn't it!

Apologies...

Apologies if there doesn't appear to be much going on, but I have been away travelling again. Last week was spent mainly in Stavanger (-7 degrees C) and Oslo (-18 degrees C) and I have only just thawed out.

When I am away working, I tend to order stuff to get busy with when I get back. This was a similar trip. I have been talking to Bernard Ashpole in Bishops Stortford about doing a few jobs on the engine. I'm going there tomorrow and hopefully the following jobs will be done:

• soda blasting the crankcases, barrel and the original head (so I can sell it)
• welding up the damaged fin on the barrel
• replacing the timing side main bearings, line boring them and replacing the camshaft bush
• tidying up the camshaft journal

I ordered the dipswitch, horn button, and the indicator switch from the VMCC - these are now stashed away. I also ordered the oil filter, which I have to make a bracket for. I'll zinc plate that when I'm done.

I've also ordered a few more parts from Acme, this time the exhaust brackets & bolts and the 5 nuts for the QD rear wheel, and the front brake cable adjuster.

I have a full set of stainless engine bolts from them, and the timing cover, primary cover, and coupling gear cover screws. All very nice, as usual, and a pleasure to deal with.

When I ordered the camshaft bush from Drags, Lee noticed that I had a battery box (the dummy Lucas GU11E) on back order - so this has now been delivered. Here it is in the tray I made earlier. 

And lastly, I have been looking at the wiring. Moved by a discussion on cable ties on the AOMCC forum (how many rivets in a BR Standard Class 5?),  I started to look closely at the wiring harness.

This discussion was so interesting that I have moved it to it's own post, here