Brakes, cams, springs & other mechanical merriment.

Back from Norway, I find a handy bit of tube on my desk.

So here is a nice new bush:

It is made from 5/8" x 16 SWG seamless tube, pressed into the brake plate. I may put an oil hole in it if I decide there is enough access.

So, now I am assembling the brake I find something I didn't expect.

I replaced the brake lever return spring, because the arm makes an angle of more than 90 degrees with the brake rod - i.e. it leans forwards (the arm is upward on the brake cam)

You can see the old spring is quite weak and would put the arm in the wrong place. So now I have a new spring, the arm points backwards and makes an acute angle with the brake rod and can be moved to near 90 degrees, as the brake comes on.

The thing is, I didn't expect the spring to operate the brake with the brake rod disconnected. Because the lever return spring is quite strong, it turns the cam, overcoming the shoe springs and the brake comes on. It's obviously designed that way.

I guess all my previous biking experience has had the brake lever return spring on the foot pedal, not the brake arm on the cam.

Anyhow, some more pics for Chaz:

Engine Progress!

I have news on the engine! I spoke to Bernard at Ashpole's today, and we have a progress report:

• The block, old head, and cases have been degreased
• The old head has been bead blasted ready for sale
• The timing side mains are in. Bernard is going to grind the journals 5 thou under since they are slightly oval and tapered - and since he is doing that, which will contaminate the old roller mains, he will fit the new ones.
• He is dealing with the worn camshaft journal
• There are two options with the broken fin on the block - one is to make a replacement fin and tack it in at each end; the other is to build it up from the root with weld. He is getting a quote on the second option.
• Unfortunately, during stripping one of the tappet blocks proved to be stuck. Three of them fell out, the fourth fought to the end:

Fortunately Drags appear to have replacements!

Oil Filter

Here chaps & chapesses is a small deviation to our Square Four restoration - an oil filter. This is an aftermarket filter housing intended for a Commando - it uses a standard spin-on filter cartridge.

I'm mounting it under the gearbox, between the frame tubes on a steel sheet metal barcket, mounted on the engine/gearbox tie studs.

It mounts with two 5/16" UNF screws, which I have purchased in stainless.

Right now, it's too high. I want it high, since we have a lot of sleeping policemen (speed bumps) around here, and twatting the oil filter on a bump doesn't sound like a particularly good way of improving engine life. However, having it this high means I can't undo the filter cartridge!

So, I plan to modify the bracket to drop the whole assembly about 1 1/2", such that I have clearance to get the cartridge off but it is also pretty high.

But, all that is going to have to wait for a bit, because I have no oil pipe. and since I have no oil pipe, I cannot decide how to route the pipe and I cannot decide on the final location for the filter.

Another job on hold.









The cartridge I used here was the the EMGO 10-26910 for the Commando (about 55 mm tall); you can use the Champion COF103101S (used on Citroen cars), which is taller (about 77 mm tall). 

And stopping.

With the wheels in motion, we can start to look at the brakes. The front is still on the bike, but the back is off and apart:

There is nothing particularly horrendous to report at first sight. The linings are nice and thick, there is only a moderate amount of grease and gunge around and everything operates as it should.

Closer inspection reveals that the adjuster is missing - easily fixed, from Draganfly; a 1/2" BSC tap can be used to clean up the thread, and the sliding parts degreased. No problem.

But what is this? This little bodge is revealed when the cam is removed. The brake cam shaft measures 1/2" OD and is unworn. The hole in the brake back plate measures 5/8" ID and is unworn, so what is going on? I would have guessed that this little 'sleeve' was doing service to fill up a worn hole, but no. A session with the Ariel parts book and Drags 'List 15' leaves me none the wiser.

However, a chat with Mick at Drags reveals all. Having found me my missing adjuster, Mick goes to look at their stock of brake plates and finds that one of them has a bush pressed into this hole - part of the brake plate, hence no separate part number or identification in the parts book.

So now I have some 5/8" x 16 SWG seamless tube on the way from eBay.. 

Unworn cam shaft and brake plate hole.

Another mystery, a riveted cover over a hole in the brake plate. This hole is for a lug forged into the left hand Anstey link 'stirrup' which serves to prevent the brake plate turning.

The hole has a sheet aluminium plate and a paper gasket held in place by a few brass rivets, some of which are missing. It appears to be there to stop debris getting inside the brake drum.

Talking of the brake drum, here it is, treated to a coat of Finnegan's finest:

And here is the back plate and shoes. The backplate has a lot of dings and nicks, the worst of which have been dressed. We'll see how it fares on the abrasive mop before deciding what else to do with it.

Rolling rolling rolling...

This week I have started work on the wheels. I've decided to strip and build the wheels twice, since I want to achieve the Phase 1 build (mechanically complete, minimal paint or chrome) and get the on-road shakedown process started. This will let me change stuff and make any modifications I need without damaging an expensive finish.

I had hoped to achieve this without building the wheels, but since the spokes are in a very bad way I will have to replace them before MOT. Since I enjoy building wheels, I am going to clean up the rims and Hammerite the hubs for Phase 1; I will then tear them down and rechrome for Phase 2.

So, I cast around for good prices for tyres and spokes. I've noticed that the drive side rear spokes are single-butted; all the others are plain, so I have asked Central Wheel to quote for stainless spokes and nickel plated nipples to match four samples I have removed from the wheels.

Central Wheel have very good prices on Avon AM6 & AM7 tyres as well.

Wiring, or Muck & Bullets

Regular readers will note that this post was originally published a few days ago. It's been moved to it's own page since it is growing...

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.

It is a curious thing indeed. Whilst it has been modified, there are many original cables left in it. These are rubber covered, used 14 plated 0.030" strands (that's 1.0 mm2) and use small coloured bands at each end to determine the cable colour - insulation is always black. The diameter is equivalent to a modern 2mm2 or 3mm2 standard PVC cable (not thinwall), which I may use when rebuilding.

I've discovered that you can buy single cored HO7 (rubber covered, oil resistant) cable, but getting it in the right size and the right colour is a problem. Since it is specified for trailing mains cable, for frequent handling it tends to be in 3 core brown/blue/green & yellow for single phase mains supply.

We shall persevere with the help of Mr. Google. I might ask this chap http://www.vintagemotorspares.com/ who looks he has some useful stuff and is local to boot. Or the 318TQ cable here might do it too.

Connections are made with conventional bullets, with the rubber covered single & double snap connectors. My bullets are solder type as shown in the picture, not crimped:

The real curious thing is the sleeving. There is a short (maybe 1 foot) length passing from the front under-tank area to the headlamp; another, smaller diameter from the headlamp to the dip switch; a bare single strand is provided for the horn push. It appears that from under the tank the wires passing to the regulator/coil battery are uncovered. There is a small (1 inch) length of rubber sleeving tying together the wires that start and finish in this area (dynamo to regulator for example) - and that is it! no more sleeving. I suspect that the wire to the rear light was a single strand, since in 1951 there would have been no stop switch. My harness is pretty mangled in this area.

It must have appeared a bit of a dog's breakfast, with all that loose cable!

There is a wealth of information on the AOMCC forum about cable fastening, HERE. However, here is a picture of my rear mudguard:

Now I know that most normal people will glimpse that picture and instantly lose interest, and those that pause for thought will then wonder why we bother with this obsession of ours, but for those of you that want to know how Ariel retained the cable to the rear lamp inside the rear mudguard, well, here is the picture you have been searching for all those years.

There are about five of these little tags welded around the LHS (horn/battery side) of the rear mudguard, and the cable slots behind them. You bend them a little bit to retain the cable.

Note that my mudguard is of the one-piece variety, that pivots around the forward bolts (the ones that pass through the seat lug).

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

Cast Number Plate

In response to a post on the AOMCC forum, here are some pictures of my front number plate:

 Front end view

 Rear end view

Rear end, side view

Front end, side view

Hope that helps James!

There is life in the old blog!

Well, what is new since the weekend? Well...

• it's snowing
• the Bantam has been out around the garden
• Limoncello makes great Martinis

On the bike front, we are still cleaning & inspecting the engine. I've attacked a 14 mm hex socket (not a bi-hex) with a file and have made it fit the connecting rod nuts. The rods are now off and undergoing cleaning. Number 2 is nicely polished.

There are various nicks. This one is typical, but it is minor compared to the abrasion the Ariel fitters cause when they removed the flash around the forging dies:

Hopefully I will show you factory abrasion in another entry - I had cleaned it off Rod No. 2 before I thought to photograph it.

There is a nice little scratch in the cap:

The big end shells are all shot; the journals are a little undersize but are perfectly serviceabe.

All the dings polish out OK. At some point we will do a dye penetrant inspection on these just to be sure there are no cracks.

I have new AOMCC rods in the budget - I am just not yet sure whether I really need to spend the money. The state of the big ends and the mains, which despite white metal flaking were still in tolerance, suggest to me that this engine has had an easy life, though I realise this conflicts with the fact that the bores are 0.020" overbored.

Of course no amount of inspection can tell me what state the material is in - only it's service life could tell me if these rods have been fatigued enough such that they will fail in the next few years. It's a 35 bhp engine - judging by the way I ride the Bantam about Norfolk am I really likely to stress this engine? If I fit the Morgo pump will it see any shortage of lubrication? Shortage of lubrication will trash any big end, old or new - so we are down to loading & rpm...

The crankshafts have now all been cleaned out. Number 3 sludge trap was full past the big end oilway, though there is no damage to the journal or the big end so I think the engine has been lucky.

I've loosely reassembled it all in preparation for taking the bottom end for line boring. Here are the crankshafts back in place:

Here are the cases cleaned up and back together. I am debating what to do with the polishing of these.

And as an aside from the engine, I have been:

• sketching up a wiring diagram with Microsoft Powerpoint. Currently it has six fuses, no earths (because I haven't put them in yet) and no indicators.
• I have ordered the engine bearings from Drags
• I have ordered a replica Lucas 529 rear lamp
• I've ordered the engine/gearbox mounting set, the coupling gear cover studs and the primary drive screw set from Acme

But now it's back to work. I'm hoping to have a trip to London in a couple of weeks to take the engine down to Ashpoles; that depends on the bearing arriving from Drags.

Time for a list.

I'm getting confused, there seems to be a lot of stuff going on, lots of bits laying about, lots of work faces.

Whenever life gets like this, I like to make a list to get my head around where I am.

So the engine is more or less apart:

• the crankcases are dismantled & roughly cleaned - the oil pick up pipe is still in, the bushes & bearings are still on. The dynamo strap is off and needs replating; the timing side bushes are still in tolerance but are flaking, so will have to be replaced. Either Bernard Ashpole or Colin Reed Apsley will do this for me. The roller bearings look good but will be replaced anyway. The camshaft bush is in tolerance but will be replaced; then there is the question of whether I polish the crankcases. I kind of like the contrast between the polished timing cover and the faded grey cases.
• then there is the question of modifications - the Morgo gear pump, the camshaft spraybar, the valve stem seals, and the oil filter.
• I'm thinking that the additional flow from the Morgo pump will let me flow more oil to the rocker box and down onto the camshaft, rendering the spraybar superfluous. The valve stem oil seals will help avoid that extra oil going down the valve guides. The pump will also keep the oil to those far-off journals flowing at sufficient pressure
• The oil filter is a must to avoid the sludge traps filling up;
• The oil cooler seems inappropriate since club wisdom suggest that the oil will not get warm enough anyway, and the cooler will not be used. The more onerous issue seems to be to get the engine heat into the oil in the first place.
• the camshaft shows a small amount of wear on the peaks; the journal for the crankcase bush is wearing unevenly and is on the low side of acceptability. We'll probably get this reground and make a bush to suit.
• the front crankshaft has been cleaned and a preliminary clean performed on the oil ways. The big ends refuse to be shifted - I am waiting for a thin wall socket to get them apart. The timing side journal is within tolerance and is in good shape. No.1 big end rocks a lot more than No.4; No.1 little end bush is out of position - it's protruding beyond the rod eye and the oil hole is misaligned.

• the rear crankshaft is waiting attention; the timing side journal is within tolerance and is in good shape.

Getting to the bottom of it...

Well, last night we removed the engine again and split the cases. No great problem - oil mess on shed floor.

Not a very good pic I'm afraid. Interesting piece of debris:

It's metallic, the curved edges are as cast and the straightest edge is a fracture. We shall see no doubt.

So the cranks are out; I have started to clean up the front crank:

The timing side journal is good (dimensions shown in the Engine Tolerances page) and the rods look good too. You might recall that No. 1 small end bush is out of position and the oil hole does not line up.

The big ends feel OK, No.1 rocks considerably more than No.4. I will need to grind down my 1/4" BSW socket to allow it to fit the big end nuts - I have already mauled a tube spanner. The oil pressure relief valve had a large chunk of debris in it - rubber or carbon, I'm not sure which at the moment.

Next was the sludge traps. The plugs came out with the impact driver & I consider that a lucky break. Full of carbon though:

However, I poked a 5 mm twist drill into these and the carbon, approximately as hard as clay, was quite easy to remove.

It was obvious from the resistance, and the consistency of the goo coming out that the carbon extended down to the big end oil ways (cross drillings) and no further. At this point, the goo was very oily and no more solid came out.

When I removed the opposite plug, exactly the same sequence of events and when both were clean I was able to poke a bit of welding rod down the drillings, right through the crankshaft. 

It's not a straight hole - they are obviously drilled from either and and meet in the middle.

So, there is not much more I can do with that until I can remove the big ends. Then I can clean out the smaller big end drillings and properly clean the main bore through the middle.

I haven't really looked at the cases yet. When I removed the sump plate ('Very flat, Norfolk') there were flakes of white metal in the primordial ooze. These came from the timing side mains:

I was aware that these were shot from the movement on the nut. Now we have to find someone to replace and line-bore them!

More later.

Shiny Things...

Over the holidays, I've been continuing to use products from the http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/ to bring Amelia back to life.

I bought the 16 piece Budget Polishing Kit which contains three mops and three grades of polish:

 

The budget kit contains the essential three polishing steps. It removes light marks/scratches and takes you to a bright finish. There is one mop for each compound: A sisal mop for the grey Menzerna heavy cutting compound (the most coarse); a stitched cotton mop for the green Menzerna  medium compound; and an unstitched cotton mop for the blue Menzerna fine compound. This keeps the polishing simple & easy - you load the compound into the mop and you only use that mop with that compound. You work through the compounds one by one, completing each step before moving on to the next.

The products these guys offer are great value and the arrive very quickly.

Here is the coupling gear cover after going through all the steps:

I soon found that to deal with the aged alloy to my satisfaction I also needed the Abrasive Compound Kit, which contains three more mops and three grades of Abrasive, from 80 to 300 grit:

This is the set up I use. The goggles, mask,gloves and an apron are essential, as this process is messy. That mop is loaded with 150 grit and the primary cover has been polished with it.

Here's a shot of the timing cover I did a while ago. It illustrates one of the problems with polishing - it is not as shiny as the coupling gear cover! You have to make an effort to get the parts to the same degree of polish, especially if they are going to be seen out together! Sounds a bit like me & my teenage daughter...

And a 'before' shot. This graphically illustrates why you need the abrasive - the polish will never shift that oxidation:

Here's the primary cover and the number plate:

So there you go. It's easy, if messy, but it saves a lot of money since it is quite time consuming - very satisfying though!

Very Flat, Norfolk

We can muse over what the oft-quoted Noel Coward meant by this line from 'Private Lives', which premiered at the Edinburgh King's Theatre 1930. However, keen observers and students of geography will know that Norfolk, whilst undeniably low lying compared to some parts of the country is positively undulating when compared to others, notably the Fens, at least in places.

Undulating is also a word that could be used to describe Amelia's sump plate, which won't be doing any sealing anytime soon:

Anyone got a spare one?