Engine progression!

Today saw the timing side crankcases receive their new bushes. (As you can see, the cases have been vapour blasted)

The white metal bearing was replaced (new old stock) together with the cam bushes. There were two tricks I used here. The procedure was as follows:

• Mark the cam bushes on the edge with a marker pen to indicate where the oil hole is.
• Do the same on the crank case
• This makes it easy to line up the bushes when fitting
• Put the cam bushes and crank bush into the freezer for half an hour.
• Put the crankcase into the oven for half an hour at 135degC
• When ready remove and place on a couple of blocks.
• Fit crank bush – this should only need minimal force to fit – I use a large wooden block as a drift.
• Fit can bushes – alighning the marks previously made. To drift in, I use an old camshaft as a tool. Again not too much force is required. Make sure all bushes are fully home.
• Make a final check that the oilways line up.
• Same principle was done for the other crankcase – the bearing almost dropped in!

Job done!

Now to fit the camshafts, flywheel and cranks…

Stantions

The only stantions that are available (at a sensible price) are those for later bikes 3TA etc The only difference with these is the 2BA threaded hole near the top. What I did here was to insert a grub screw (hex socket) and fix it in place with Loctite. These are covered by tubes and so will not be visible.

Engine casing repairs!

I may not have mentioned it but last year, whilst cleaning up my workshop I knocked off the shelf the casings for the 1^st engine rebuild – aarrgghh! Anyway what we did was to fill the hole with plaster of Paris (actually it was a moulding material used by dental technicians) and then clamped the timing cover on and held all the bits together. The 3 bits were chamfered first so that the welder could weld up the aluminium better. The main problem in welding old castings is that they can be porous and contain oil. This makes welding a nightmare. The guy I used is very good and the end result looks good. I will post a photo of the casings later now that they are vapour blasted.

The above photos are not in order, but they will give you an idea of waht was entailed. The red paint was an accident at the same time!! (I had a bad day!)

New exhausts 'v' old

I have original exhausts that I believe are from a 3T (one has ‘Triumph’ stamped in it) As you can see from the photos, they are slightly different but all should be OK. These silencers and down pipes are from Armours.

A new tank - a bit of a gamble?

On a well know auction site, I noticed a firm in India selling reproduction tanks for a 3T - chromed or otherwise. When you consider the cost of a repair, rechroming and repaint, it is a very expensive project and you may not always get back the investment made. So, I decided to have a little gamble and buy one of the chromed tanks - I think the total including delivery from India was £245. Considering I paid more than double that for a tank restoration by a guy in Essex - and it wasn't very good at all - then this price was really worth the gamble. It has just arrived and I am more than pleased with the item. True it has rust on the inside (but easy to remedy) and I have not check the dimensions but for what it costs it is a good deal. I now have 3 tanks, one is restored, one is this new one and I have an original one as a pattern and checking.

Oh, and yes, it did get delivered in the tin case!!

Restarted after a while away!

I have quite a few other projects and I have been clearing the decks so I can really get on with the 3T rebuild(s). So off we go! I actually have enough for about 3 x 3T’s but will probably only build 2.

When I last looked at the bike it was ready to have the frames bolted together. This required a little persuasion using a compact jack and ratchet strap to gently ‘squeeze’ the fram so I could bet the main bolt through the bottom. The pictures show what I did and it was a very easy process.

All the major components are with on order or have arrived (exhausts, tyres etc etc) The wheels have been respoked and I’ll post a picture or 2 when I have collected them. One bike will be built with a sprung rear hub and the other with a solid hub.

Slow progress

I hate the cold – for two reasons, one my body doesn’t like it and secondly, I can’t spend the odd evening in my workshop because of it. Heat it, I hear you say! Well, there are more holes in it than colander and I have tried – to little effect.

Anyway, progress has been slow and I have at last finished off the front hub.

The rear hub is next but it is a little damaged. The previous repairer has had a go at the bearings and they have damaged the washers.

Shaft layout below should help me remember where each bit goes:

I have about 4 engines to rebuild, so I thought I would make an engine stand – this is what it looked like:

Once I have sorted out the rear hub, they will be respoked with the new rims I have (Wassell)

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