hello from a state of disassembly.

lindie

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noted trev. will resort to pm's and email if such banter offends.

the galaxie however i have no control over. then again with crossplies and up to 460 cubes neither did many an owner.

found the oil pressure relief plunger and spring in a tobacco box with the spare seals. quite why it wasn't still in the timing case is beyond me. the rear cylinder oil feed gallery was blocked off in the timing case with a rubber disc too. would cutting back the oil to the rear pot have been a deliberate thing?
 

macvette

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love the intakes!

dons is coming good again now, what with a succession of bodgy dickhead previous owners. a stripping of the paint tells a thousand tales and there was filler and treachery afoot and a 57 bootlid and ram type power steering with a not quite correct right hand drive conversion. it's now awaiting paint and reassembly though that isn't far off either. his best mate (now deceased) had a real thing for the late 70's/pre 84 vette but couldn't come at the price tag or the dodgy conversions. he bought and built a 56 3100 stepside with a zz4 crate motor, t56 borgie box and a dana 60 that although strong really sapped power. never held it back though as by god it used to move once you got it off the line. his son owns a 307 and glide 69 camaro basey that they repainted blue with the bonnet blackouts. was awaiting a transplant last i heard but that was maybe 6 years ago.

i know what you mean with the two engine year wait mac as i've got cars that have been on the backburner for 7 years now and aren't advancing while i potter around with the rapide and other two wheeled distractions. bodywork is a pet hate and mates better equipped and proficient than i that are quick to ask for favours on their stuff are happy to let mine rust in the corner. out of interest, the big girl running an afb or were there other carters still kicking around like the wfcb by that stage? i have a 500 afb comp series on one of my toys that i love and a mates 340 LA has it's factory AVS and no looking back due to it's sweet nature and good economy when you're off the pedal. the new avs isn't a patch on the old.
Lindie,
I hesitated to answer your question in case the self appointed thought police on their Black Princes come calling:eek:. wfcb's were fitted to standard motors, abf's to high performance options and only in 63.
I loaded some pics of my crankcases undergoing repair.I put them in 2008 misc.series D The welding is on the pushrod bosses where a previous owner had fitted proprietary spring lip oil seals which resulted in very thin walled bosses so they need maching to bring them back to standard. The drive chain had also worn a groove in the rear of one of the crankcase bosses and this has been fixed.

Regards Mac
 
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lindie

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some progress.

got the bulk of my tinware back from my mate. the tank remains but all else is painted and i've given some of the alloy work a bit of a polish.

though not great quality pics, the swing arm and forks are back together and the guards are on despite one half of a lower stay rusted out and missing.

it's not just the camera resolution, they aren't in a normal black.



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the girlfriend is back in two days so i'd best get them out of the loungeroom before then.

in the process of chasing some top end bits and a couple of cosmetics but glad that theres now some paint sealing stuff up now as the humidity and salt air here is murder on open steel.
 

lindie

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sadly theres not a great deal new to report of any note, other than i've cleaned up and got my two 3.5" dynamos to the point of motoring briskly so with a bit of luck once installed the weapon of choice should pump out the odd volt or two.

most of my purchases of late are in the name of "research and reference" which is the nicest way of telling my girlfriend to overlook how much i'm spending on books that she sees no point or need for. to go with my aforementioned reading from my uncle i'm now equipped with stevens' KTB (i like the way he writes. also very handy stuff), the works instructions, ATO, FYO which has determined my pistons by their casting number as 8 to 1's and enlightened me that the norton clutch swap as per timetraveller was fair play at one stage , the vincent hrd story in australia by brian greenfield which i picked up a little while back and a beautiful hardcover "THE VINCENT HRD STORY IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA 1933-1994 by w purdy that cost more in postage from the states than the book. i don't think she buys my excuse but i'm still allowed to sleep inside.

some smaller parts are also here and have been readied for fitment. it's good when someone with a lathe offers you help.

unfortunately not much got done on our last trip to where shes stored but the next one is pencilled in firmly and i've allotted a good chunk of free time to playing on it. would be nice to get the three case covers back into their homes and maybe if the head reassembly goes to plan she'll be back on her wheels, then it's just a matter of waiting for the tank to get painted. after which it should all either go smoothly or fight me every step of the way, but i love a good teething. no ETA as i suck at deadlines, but as i get the odd little part or component assembled here at home, it all adds up.
 
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lindie

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had a ball last night and would still be out there having it were it not for a category 5 tropical cyclone with 295 kph winds heading straight for us thats looking to belt the living crap out of our coastline in the next few hours. at home now after a trip back to town at 6 this morning to prep the house and back yard for the onslaught that, now it's ruined half my weekend will likely bog off and fizzle out in the middle of nowhere.

primary, gearbox, and clutch are all back together and functioning fine. kickstart/gearshift cover is back on and finalised bar the shifter which i've lent to a mate so he can replicate it for his 47 rapide which lacked one. exhaust lifter assembly is fitted and adjusted, and new cam spindle is in and functional. now waiting on just the two lifter spindle nuts and then i can reseal the timing chest and leave that alone for a good long while. will have to make or adapt a lever for it but no rush for now. swingarm is bolted back up and forks are final assembled with the oil tank refitted and waiting on the heads. will make a driver and installer for the guides in a fortnight when i get back from holiday's to get them out of the way. what looked like rust and staining on a few of the chromed bits proved to be oil and the famous darwin N.T. red dirt and sadly the chrome underneath is near pristine on the upper rear spring boxes, the front brake equalizer and the chainguard, so they'll be staying as is and unpainted. after those bloody brake backing plates i'm well and truly over peeling off and the abrasive blasting of chrome plating.

tank is now finished off and looks gorgeous. test fitted it and the final install shouldn't pose any problems as it went on and off with no dramas or chipping and the new tank rubbers give it some good support versus the melted perished mess that had been there. the fuel taps are some generic type that i've seen ad's for in early 80's copies of classic bike and the left one had the height extension you'd need with a flat base tank to provide reserve on a dual tap assembly. have removed it as the depth of the tank precludes the need and i hate tilting to transfer fuel.

wheels are still in pieces till the water excluders are here and fitted.
 
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piggywig

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Keeping corrosion away.

Lindie,
Seems a pity to have all that shiny bare metal exposed to our high humidity atmosphere, even more so with a cyclone bearing down. I live further down the coast of Qld. where the wind is merely blowing a bit with heavy rain, but still the year round humidity is ever present. My rebuilt bike now lives in the basement tucked into a U.K. produced air filled bubble, safe from all moisture, dust and assorted sub-tropical bugs etc. It's mains powered for a few cents per day and also keeps the bike battery fully charged which doubles as standby power for when a cyclone blows the main power away. Prior to buying the 'Carcoon" condensation and corrosion took hold on the resting (30 yrs.) bike, so after a two year renovation it now gets to stay clean and dry between the weekly periods of action. (Of course, it will not help if the flood water floats the bike and bubble away)..................There is an importer of said Carcoon on the Gold Coast, not cheap, but less so than a Vincent reno! A web search will reveal all. Another type is 'Permabag' and again a web check will find it.
Perhaps your bike lives in the lounge in air conditioned comfort, in which case all this info can be safely ignored.
After all the effort being put into your restoration it should be a great moment when it is finally fired up again, a never to be forgotton event.
Col.
 

lindie

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something akin to that may be on the cards col. been a lot limited on time with the big trollop since my last update but got the timing case back together and the drivers for my guides all lathed up. the wheels are assembled and the post easter weekend is booked for roast cylinder head with a side serve of adjustable reamer.

been getting a little golf in too so maybe the leg strength will be up to the task even if i did fit the decompressor. kept thinking how very light the action of it was till the brain acknowledged theres no valve springs fitted to give it any tension. still yet to get the new bearings into the dynamo and must reinsulate the wiring in the end cap side of things. muffler is still to be chased up and with luck it may be together for the proposed test ride on my birthday. but i guess we'll have to see on that one.

tank did sorta turn out pretty too.
Tkp.jpg

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hope it doesn't leak or i'll get the poo poos. i see we rated a mention in MPH this month too. the old girl will be chuffed and maybe moreso that she got her name in there too. may get her to the 2010 national rally i hope as well.
 

clevtrev

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something akin to that may be on the cards col. been a lot limited on time with the big trollop since my last update but got the timing case back together and the drivers for my guides all lathed up. the wheels are assembled and the post easter weekend is booked for roast cylinder head with a side serve of adjustable reamer.

been getting a little golf in too so maybe the leg strength will be up to the task even if i did fit the decompressor. kept thinking how very light the action of it was till the brain acknowledged theres no valve springs fitted to give it any tension. still yet to get the new bearings into the dynamo and must reinsulate the wiring in the end cap side of things. muffler is still to be chased up and with luck it may be together for the proposed test ride on my birthday. but i guess we'll have to see on that one.

tank did sorta turn out pretty too.
Tkp.jpg

Tkp2.jpg


hope it doesn't leak or i'll get the poo poos. i see we rated a mention in MPH this month too. the old girl will be chuffed and maybe moreso that she got her name in there too. may get her to the 2010 national rally i hope as well.

Well, you did test it before you painted it, didn`t you ?
 
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