That's that then!

Well, another unfinished project that I've had to sell for reasons I'm not going into on here.

Thanks for looking.

There's another work in progress but that's for another blog

Time flies when you're making no progress

I haven't done much on the bike recently but finally got around to engineering firm with piston and barrel to get the latter rebored and order a new piston.

I need pedals which I'll order tonight and then a few bits of tin around engine including fuel tank to repaint. Hope to have the engine back together in a couple of weeks, then get registered and back on the road. Maybe :D

Two posts in one day..

Well, I tried getting the engine going - spinning it over with an electric drill gave me a shock from ht lead but nothing through the plug. Cleaned points and got weak spark from plug but no pops or bangs so have decided it's going to be rebuilt

I've taken the barrel off and as you can see, there's quite a carbon build-up

So I'm going to treat it to new piston and barrel and gaskets etc and decode the crankcase.

Just the engine

and the front mudguard to sort out now

And some pedals (on order) and decompressor (in the car iirc) 😅

Update

Just a quick pic so you can see a bit of progress.

Hopefully most of the rest will be put on by next weekend.

Waiting, waiting...

sorry, absolutely nothing to report atm as I am waiting for the nickel/zinc plating to come back from the platers which should be mid to late this week.

I was hoping for last Friday but they were having "issues". Not complainin as it means they'll be doing a nice job as always (we use them for plating artworks too).

Anyway, may be an update of two next week.

Some pics etc

Ok, thought it was time to put up some more pics as "a picture speaks a thousand words" means I'll have to type less :D

Here's a pic of the brake levers - one has had a bit of sanding and polishing; the other is how it came off the bike.

 


The following are pics of before and once I'd stared cleaning the bars up .....

Quite a bit more work to do, but they look promising, but hopefully off to polishing this week.

 One of the wheels...

 During rebuilding...

  And back on bike, with new tube and tyre...

 Here's a few bits from the headset - just cleaned up with rotary wire brush in a drill and re-used

The other wheel is in the shop for trueing - have a load of stuff to get to platers this week then proper reassembly starts next weekend.... 

Till then!

Front wheel...

has now been rebuilt by me, and trued by Evernden's and temporarily fitted to bike. The rear has been dismantled and I've cleaned the hub and started respoking which I'll finish tomorrow (well, tonight!) but can't refit the axle assembly because the outer bearing race is damaged and will need replacing. Hopefully I can get one on Monday when I drop wheel in to be trued:)

I'm sending away the seat frame, seat post and all the seat bracketry along with pedal cranks brake assemblies and handlebars to be nickel plated or re-chromed this coming week. Hoping for a quick turnaround (like same day as we're having some work from work(!) done at same time) which will move rebuild on quite a leap.

I have a few more pics which I'll try and post over next few days. Bit pressured on time atm.

Anyway, got to have early night as going for a bike ride tomorrow :D

New rims

have arrived so I've started taking the wheels apart. Popped in to see Tony at Everndens who has helpfully agreed to true up the wheels once I've stripped and replaced everything. Only managed to snap one spoke of the front wheel so far.

I think I damaged the thread on the bearing retaining thread - it must have fallen over so that needs recutting.

Might try and get the engine going tomorrow.

Dating cert....

ificate received in post from EAMC- bike is 1957 so I can start the registration process.

One thing, turns out bike is a 1010 and not a 660. But I don't care and ain't redoing the blog 😂.

New wheel rims and seat cover arrived today so need to get on with getting stuff chromed.

Been busy

working on the bike for most of the last week, just getting as much of the frame cleaned, primed, sanded and painted ready for tonight so I could start reassembly.

Much of frame is now back together but have the horrible jobs to do - the handlebars and cog/crank arms will need re-chroming - not a problem, but it'll add a week to the rebuild. I'll be putting new bearings in the headstock and the wheels will need the rims re-chroming though as I'm hoping LBS (Everndens in Paddock Wood) may be able to supply some new rims and maybe able to sort me out a shiny new chain.

I was having a look at the engine tonight as I want to clean out the tank (plus repaint) and replace the fuel pump/fuel filter (there looked to be a nest of sorts with airfilter housing which I've cleaned out).

Hopefully some pics tomorrow.

Next post. Doh!!

Okay, didn't get much more done on the bike today other than finishing pulling the frame apart and blasting that ready for paint. Also in remarkably good condition, though the handlebars have definitely seen better days and will require rechroming.

Anyway, I won't say anymore, just post the rest of the pics I took over the last couple of days.

 

The first post!

Ok, thanks go to a friend Phil Woodward who runs Woodwards of Sussex (body restoration/prep/paint business ) for getting me interested in these crazy Gallic creations.

Now, in the past, I've been quite a keen motorcyclist having a varied selection over the years but this definitely takes the biscuit for novelty value.

I was watching one on ebay but was outbid so go in touch with seller who had a few more available and we struck a deal on this one.

Now, as you can see, it's not in the greatest condition....

But, it is mostly complete which should make the resto a bit easier.

So the first thing to do with a restoration I guess would be to take it apart as much as possible

The only trouble seems to be knowing when to stop .....

Don't worry, there's a load more where that came from..

Then it was time to do a bit of shotblasting

Which revealed that the metalwork is actually in very good condition indeedy. The only major problems are the piece in the top right of the pic had cracked sometime ago and been repaired badly and the rear of the front mudguard has a split which will need welding.

However, see that rear mudguard a few pics up, how about this for a restored item :D

That'll do for the first post, but I have more to tell....