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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Update to bearings etc.

It doesn’t take a lot of thought to realise I was assuming that the top yoke fitted flush onto the upper bearing cap/washer. Of course, on the 3T you can move the top yoke up and down the main nut to adjust the spacing of the top and lower yokes and thus everything fits perfectly! I slept on it and it seemed so obvious the next morning!

I now have the front rim on order (stainless steel) and once I have that, I will then get the front wheel build up.

The next job is to build my engine stand – I have quite a few engines and want to build up three – hence the engine stand.

Fallen at the first fence!

With the excitement of the forks loosely in place, I thought I would trial fit the fork shrouds – yikes nothing lines up!

So the issue now is that the top and bottom yoke are too close together – by about 5mm. More delving is required!!

The restoration starts in earnest!

Original bearing on the left - see below for details.

Top bearing fully installed

Lower yoke installed in heastock.

Above the forks start to take shape - looks more like a motorcycle now!!

Having spent ages trying to get parts cleaned, painted (tinware still to be
done) and collecting parts, one part that eluded me was the correct bearing
inner for the bottom yoke.

The top photograph shows the correct bearing on the left and the one on the right seems to be what people think it should be! It is difficult to see but the correct one has a slightly wider inner diameter - to go over a lip on the bottom of the lower fork tube. I now have the correct item and so I can start to re-assemble the front end of the bike. The new forks are from the 3TA but
only differ by a hole in the side near the top. This will be stopped with a small machine screw and locktited in. As it is covered by the fork covers it does not really matter. Where possible, I have used stainless fittings - the top nut for the yokes I had specially made by Will Horgan of Stainless Classics - what a super job he does on his work.

The next step will be to assemble the inner parts of the forks and sliders.

I also now have most of the engine parts so once I have built my engine
stand, I'll start on the rebuild of the engine - I have at least enough
parts to build 3 off!!!

It's a slow progress on this bike but rewarding at the same time! What I
can't fathom out is how much second hand spares now cost!

Plenty of parts and another bike arrive!

It’s been quite a while since I last looked at the Triumph. I have spent the last 6 months restoring my Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV2000 and it is now back from having been painted. So thoughts now move across to the 3T which I have promised myself to get sorted for next spring! As I was missing so many bits, I ended up buying a complete bike and a massive amount of spares to go with it. I’ll now have enough to build 2 bikes – or as a friend put it, you can get the second one right!

The picture shows the arrival of the spares etc and my little helper inspecting some of the parts still in the back of the car!

I’ll be posting a little more frequently as the nights draw in!