Looking at MO35 as i try to fit my exhaust pipes, I notice the mating holes in FT108 and the exhaust pipe bracket are drilled to accept a 3/8" dia bolt.That bolt is shown on the parts list as "506", along with its attendant washer(s),91 and nut 92.these are 1/4" items according to the "C" parts book. Is this a mistake... or is it a Bodge Measure to accomodate inaccurately formed pipes? (I should be so lucky- my super duper quality "bent on the original Vincent machine" pipes, are a bit further out than a slack fitting bolt could ever sort - if the forward exhaust nut is nipped up the exhaust pipe bracket is about 1" North-West of the FT 108 hole!!! Observations Please, Bob.
MO 35-pt no 506....?
- Thread starter 1660bob
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Sometimes you need to fit more than one exhaust pipe gasket to obtain satisfactory alignment. Other times you need a hammer and assorted spacers. Unfortunately we have some less than ideal replacement parts at the moment. It is not entirely the spares company's fault as they merely retail the items made by others. Those who make these parts should have proper quality control procedures in place but so should the VOCS Co. It is very frustrating when a part arrives in Australia (or anywhere else) that looks the business but doesn't fit. I believe the pipes and the alloy mudguards have been made by the same people for a very long time. Maybe there needs to be a bit of a shake up?
Back to the question. You will notice the drawing shows a very early silencer with different bracketry to what we see today. Maybe the same applies to bolts and holes or maybe it is another entry for errors and omissions..
Back to the question. You will notice the drawing shows a very early silencer with different bracketry to what we see today. Maybe the same applies to bolts and holes or maybe it is another entry for errors and omissions..
It does seem that every engine is slightly different from the next. At one time my Rapide had compression plates fitted which seemed to make fitting exhaust pipes difficult. I wonder if the famed 'selective assembly' also covered exhaust pipes? Incidentally it works the other way around too. I have two sets of stainless pipes (one set extremely well made) hanging on the garage wall. Both sets were sourced at different times and from different suppliers in Australia. Neither set has a hope in Hell of fitting.
Me too, Hugo. I bought a SS set of "three piece" exhaust pipes supplied from Oz, and there was no way on earth that they would fit. The front pipe curve went exactly where the front crash bars go on an enclosed D. I kept them in the hope that they would fit a naked bike, but I'm not holding my breath....
Hello All, I bought a set of pipes that did not fit, But they were cheap from a friend that could not fit them,So I brazed a stub into the rear Ex' nut and cut the top off the pipe, ie the flange = They don't look too bad. Cheers Bill.
Didn't each tester have his own set to fit, to keep from blemishing the customer's set?
I must have been lucky, when I got a new set from Vinparts 20 years ago, presumably made on the original machine, they fit just fine.
Again I had the same problem with the 3 part Australian pipes, 1st set 20 years ago fitted ok with some work, 2nd set 8? years ago were completely different and I was never able to get them to fit.
Norman Peach, one of the Works testers, told of the testers each having their own saddle and pipes after the test ride they had to fit the new seat and pipes, there was a special tool for fitting the pipes a 5 foot long bar that was shoved up the end of the pipe and leaned on untill the bolt could be put in. After the bike was run and the pipe heated and cooled a few times they settle into the corect shape.
I've just done a crude experiment and a 1" deflection at the end of the pipe equates to about a 2.5 deg variation at the flange. To hacksaw and flange by hand a piece of 1 5/8" dia x 3 foot long curved tube with in 2.5 degrees? Hmm!
Norman Peach, one of the Works testers, told of the testers each having their own saddle and pipes after the test ride they had to fit the new seat and pipes, there was a special tool for fitting the pipes a 5 foot long bar that was shoved up the end of the pipe and leaned on untill the bolt could be put in. After the bike was run and the pipe heated and cooled a few times they settle into the corect shape.
I've just done a crude experiment and a 1" deflection at the end of the pipe equates to about a 2.5 deg variation at the flange. To hacksaw and flange by hand a piece of 1 5/8" dia x 3 foot long curved tube with in 2.5 degrees? Hmm!
The twin exhaust pipes I've bought over the years have always been supplied with the front pipe unflanged, so you can fit your own exhaust nut. So by cutting and flanging at the correct place and angle, the pipes have always fitted well. The rear pipe has sometimes required shortening by up to 1". Maybe it's good to have a 1948 Series B ???
It`s obvious that a perfectly fitting pipe is a rare beast indeed,if it exists at all for a Vinnie. Y`see my problem is i dirtied my fingernails on Japanese bikes and parts not fitting was simply not an issue, nor should it have been by the `70s. Lets face it, the Japs showed us how mass production should REALLY be done, no doubt having observed the "Qaintness" of `50s British factories/ products, before retiring back to Japan to do it properly as markets expanded.Perhaps Vincents in particular, where much hand forming/bench work seems to have featured in manufacture are more "individual" than most Brit. bikes. Exhausts are expensive, it might, I think be worth suppliers sending out pipes prior to chroming for "final fitting" by the owner perhaps before return or chroming locally.The ones i have are good quality in that they are good thick wall pipes and beautifully finished, but therein lies the irony-harder to "tweak" due to their solidity and especially now that ever-so-deep lustrous chroming has been done....Bob.