[cosmic_ocean]

Originally Posted by Axe77

I love the way this entire restoration is unraveling @Cosmic_Ocean. And that picture of your dad in 1962 astride his bike - pure gold!

Thank you @Axe77. Absolutely! That pic kindled a thousand emotions the first time I saw it as a kid, making me want one for myself.

Restoration is a slow and oftentimes painful process, especially when you're working on the machine yourself. Lack of parts, long waiting times, undoing errors on the machine, which are a result of untrained mechanics having wrongly worked on it in the bygone years, all adds to the uphill task of making it roadworthy.

I've always believed in the saying "Do it once and do it right". That stance has it's pros and cons. While you get close to perfection, oftentimes it means work stops in between to set right something which isn't the way it should be. Wanting everything original right upto to the detail of a bolt shape means time and more time. To top this, I get to work on the machine only on weekends and holidays at home. But at the end of the day, it's a piece of history you're infusing life into. I look at it as a piece of art

Build update

A part that's very hard to find, the original EWARTS petrol tap came in the mail yesterday from the UK. This is a combination tap that has a double plunger; one for the main and one for reserve.

In anticipation of the part, I've fabricated the mating petrol pipe, made as per original specification. It's a copper tube with brass nozzles soldered at the ends, to form a metal to metal seat with the tap and into the carburetor. The tube was bent into shape by handwork on my home vice, using a custom made die.

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by cosmic_ocean

So I had restored one way back in 1995 from scratch (MYV-3962-photo available on team-bhp images) which I later sold due to paucity of time. The memories however never stopped haunting me.

Hello there.

Glad you are starting on materializing one haunting memory. All best.

I envy you as you have the resources to work on it hands on. Some of us had to get our cherished ones built by others - like my 1955 AJS 500 Twin

Just chanced on this thread. Will be watching it closely.

Pure inspiration

Thanks and Ride Safe

Ram

[sponnappa]

This is one hell of a restoration amazing I would say.

[kiredd1005]

I somehow stumbled upon this thread and I'm hooked! What a lovely job! Do keep us posted!

[cosmic_ocean]

SETBACK:

Thank you for the encouraging words guys
So today, I got some time to work on the bike and decided to fix the cylinder bore on the crankcase.

The piston was easily fixed into the con-rod and the circlips went in. The ring gaps were set to specification, as per the manual and oriented as required on the piston with lube to the big end and small end bearings. Loctite 518 applied between the cast iron bore and the aluminium crankcase. Using a piston ring compressor, in went the bore.

Here's where the bad news comes in. After fixing the bore and fastening it, I rotated the engine to check for smooth motion and lo... There was a grinding noise once the piston reached BDC. With every rotation, the grinding noise appears once the piston reaches bottom dead center. Will be reopening the engine tomorrow to see what the issue could be. That's a bummer after all the hard-work.

[RonMasc'y]

Awesome work @cosmic_ocaen. Restoration always needs great patience, dedication and passion of which you have showed all. Waiting to see the completed project. Wishing you all the very best! Cheers!

[cosmic_ocean]

So I removed the engine block from the frame again and opened the crankscase, a painful job to break all the sealant and undo everything fixed. The grinding noise seems to be the conrod brushing against the flywheel due to the presence of a spacer shim between the case and flywheel. I removed the spacer, and fixed the flywheel back, sealed up the cases and installed the bore and piston. No more noise!

The engine had an allied gasket between the cases when I first opened it. Hence a shim was probably fitted as a distance piece. Originally however, the manual recommends the use of a jointing compound which gives a closer joint, which was what I followed. The reduction in space offset the crankshaft, causing the conrod to make contact with the flywheel@ BDC. Now to fit the engine back into the frame

[cosmic_ocean]

Cylinder head goes in & Engine ignition timed with a Multi-meter for accuracy. Valve timing was a straight affair, with all the timing gear bushes in order The machine has started looking more like a proper motorcycle .

[CLIX]

It was absolutely amazing to see how the beautiful machine is taking shape! Hats off to you!
[Since you are from BLR, some trivia. During my college days in the 80s I got my RX 100 serviced at a hole in the wall shop just off Sajjan Rao Circle. By a man named Henri. Hidden behind a large cardboard piece at the back of his shop was a vintage bike in fairly good shape. He used to say he will save enough to restore it. I think it was a RedIndian .. not sure. I wonder what happened]

[cosmic_ocean]

Originally Posted by CLIX

It was absolutely amazing to see how the beautiful machine is taking shape! Hats off to you!
[Since you are from BLR, some trivia. During my college days in the 80s I got my RX 100 serviced at a hole in the wall shop just off Sajjan Rao Circle. By a man named Henri. Hidden behind a large cardboard piece at the back of his shop was a vintage bike in fairly good shape. He used to say he will save enough to restore it. I think it was a RedIndian .. not sure. I wonder what happened]

Thank you @Clix. Yes, every vintage machine has its own nostalgia. Each machine brings with it memories of bygone times, which we can try to partly re-construct after restoration. There were a lot of mechs near Basavanagudi back then, who used to cater to the older machines. Most are either no more or have stopped working.

[cosmic_ocean]

Clutch pack in, after using the correct oil return spacer at the clutch inner. Incidentally, this part was missing and had to be fabricated in the lathe to the correct dimension, which was again unknown. So I did some reverse engineering, by calculating the size of the grove under the spring plate and subtracting outer dimension at the return channel. Too big and the plate won't fit. Too small, and oil starts to leak when the engine runs. Looks like what I've made should be right. Will know for sure only once the engine is started.

[cosmic_ocean]

Getting caught up with work leaves you with very less time for everything else. That's what happened and made me miss out on updating over here. Happy to say that the bike is complete the way she left the Meriden factory way back in 1944. She participated in the KVCCC 'Heritage Motorcycle and Scooter meet' on the 16th October.

The apple on the cake which made our day was my dad's presence. He has been my inspiration for this restoration. He rode these machines for more than 2 decades as mentioned earlier, since the 1960s. He was overjoyed to see the old beauties. Attached a pic of 3 generations with myself and my son flanking him .

[balajisb]

Kudos to you.
Do post the kickstart video if possible..Hearing the ignition crank would be amazing.

[V.Narayan]

Hearty congratulations to you and your father. I am so happy he is around to witness this superb restoration executed most lovingly.

Please tell your father that I admire how slim and fit he is even in his 80s.

[Bhupi_BHP]

Everything aside. Seeing your dad on bike made me say just one thing. That bike and the gentleman sitting on it looks like a match made in heaven.