Oops. At least on my screen the font of what I just posted is huge. I can't find an "edit" button to try to fix this, but I'll keep looking.
What is the best approach for restoring a Vincent?
- Thread starter Magnetoman
- Start date
The first thing you require on the build is the power unit. Everything else is "hung" around it. If you start with the wheels , by the time you are ready to fit them they will have been in storage and will not look fresh anymore. The power unit, if stored caefully will show less age than the "chrome bits" or the painted parts.
The software used for this Forum is a common one, normally with a button that allows the person who posted something to edit their own post. That button is missing, which probably is because I'm a "guest" rather than a VOC member. As I said in my first post, I rejoined the VOC this week, but I probably won't get my member number until the first issue of MPH arrives in the mail in another month or so.
Anyway, sorry about the huge font in the earlier post. I know where I made my mistake so I won't make it again (but, that doesn't mean I won't make a different one...), and will be especially careful now that I know I can't fix any typos, missing brackets, etc. in what I post.
I'm a bit hestant to chip in here with only a few years of Vincent ownership but I did completely restore my series D. Unfortunately, I didn't have your machining capability so the engine had to be sent away for refurbishment and then re-assembled and proved to be the critical path. The whole job took 3years, the limitation being the motor.
I took many photos during the dismantling process and loaded them onto a laptop, this proved invaluable as I reassembled and rewired the bike. I was lucky in that the previous owner had replaced almost every fastener with stainless during his 40 odd years of ownership so I reused them after polishing them up.
I worked in 3 modules not counting the motor ( the rest of the bike was finished long before the motor was re- assembled). These were the rear end, the front end and misc parts either needing painting or other refurbishment (think cables, carbs,tank, drums,lights wiring harness etc).
I completely dismantled the front and rear ends whilst they were on the bike ie I did not remove them as shown in the riders hand book. All of the chassis parts were sent away for paint, after all bearings and bushes had been fitted or checked for fit. Of course I made a detailed inventory of all of the parts sent out for paint.
There is a surprising amount of bits and pieces so as I stripped each module, I put the small pieces and fasteners in small plastic freezer boxes with a list taped on the outside and the larger pieces in plastic shoe boxes from the UK equivalent of the dollar store this' along with the laptop proved invaluable. I stored these boxes in a couple of large stacking plastic storage boxes again from the UK equivalent of the dollar store.
As I said, almost all of the fasteners were SS so I worked my way through the boxes module by module cleaning the fasteners and polishing them up. Whilst doing this, I listed those that needed replacing and ordered them, putting them in the appropriate box.
By this time, it was obvious that the motor was going to be along time in coming so rather than have the have the frame bits lying around, I made a support from unistrut to mimic the mounting points of the frame to the engine and assembled the rear and front modules complete with wheels brakes etc having first shimmed wheel, and RFM bearings. I shimmed the front fork links on this support There is a photo somewhere in misc series D but it sounds to me as though you already have a pretty sophisticated jig.
You don't say if you are doing the paint yourself so you may not have to go the extent that I did in inventoring the bits. If you use this approach, you could send your fasteners out for refurb on a module by module basis. The support was a great help, allowing me to jump from front to rear when I got stuck eg waiting for some small part which I had overlooked or waiting for advice from the forum. When the motor was finished, it took aprox three weeks to complete the assembly. Of this, a couple of days were spent assembling the front and rear modules to the motor and doing the final checks on bearing and fork links etc, the rest was taken up making up the wiring harness, fitting oil lines ,cables etc
Hope this helps, with apologies to the more experienced members.
Regards Mac
I took many photos during the dismantling process and loaded them onto a laptop, this proved invaluable as I reassembled and rewired the bike. I was lucky in that the previous owner had replaced almost every fastener with stainless during his 40 odd years of ownership so I reused them after polishing them up.
I worked in 3 modules not counting the motor ( the rest of the bike was finished long before the motor was re- assembled). These were the rear end, the front end and misc parts either needing painting or other refurbishment (think cables, carbs,tank, drums,lights wiring harness etc).
I completely dismantled the front and rear ends whilst they were on the bike ie I did not remove them as shown in the riders hand book. All of the chassis parts were sent away for paint, after all bearings and bushes had been fitted or checked for fit. Of course I made a detailed inventory of all of the parts sent out for paint.
There is a surprising amount of bits and pieces so as I stripped each module, I put the small pieces and fasteners in small plastic freezer boxes with a list taped on the outside and the larger pieces in plastic shoe boxes from the UK equivalent of the dollar store this' along with the laptop proved invaluable. I stored these boxes in a couple of large stacking plastic storage boxes again from the UK equivalent of the dollar store.
As I said, almost all of the fasteners were SS so I worked my way through the boxes module by module cleaning the fasteners and polishing them up. Whilst doing this, I listed those that needed replacing and ordered them, putting them in the appropriate box.
By this time, it was obvious that the motor was going to be along time in coming so rather than have the have the frame bits lying around, I made a support from unistrut to mimic the mounting points of the frame to the engine and assembled the rear and front modules complete with wheels brakes etc having first shimmed wheel, and RFM bearings. I shimmed the front fork links on this support There is a photo somewhere in misc series D but it sounds to me as though you already have a pretty sophisticated jig.
You don't say if you are doing the paint yourself so you may not have to go the extent that I did in inventoring the bits. If you use this approach, you could send your fasteners out for refurb on a module by module basis. The support was a great help, allowing me to jump from front to rear when I got stuck eg waiting for some small part which I had overlooked or waiting for advice from the forum. When the motor was finished, it took aprox three weeks to complete the assembly. Of this, a couple of days were spent assembling the front and rear modules to the motor and doing the final checks on bearing and fork links etc, the rest was taken up making up the wiring harness, fitting oil lines ,cables etc
Hope this helps, with apologies to the more experienced members.
Regards Mac
I also will be taking many photos along the way. In my case I am lucky (or unlucky) in that essentially all the bits on the bike are original, albeit decrepit. What this means is I'm likely to spend a lot of hours polishing fasteners and then sending them off for very expensive Cd plating.
Doing the engine myself has the advantage that the person rebuilding the engine can't give me any bogus excuses for why he's taking so long.
I'll probably get lots of advice to the contrary as a result of the following confession, but I'm actually going to try to do essentially everything myself. Some things, like Cd plating, aren't reasonable to do at home, but just about everything else is. I hasten to add that I know there are peculiarities to the Vincent, but this is not my first full restoration, so I'm not entering into this without quite a bit of relevant experience.
How things have changed regarding rebuilds , but first we also complete the powerunit first and then bolt it into its home within the chassis . In fact we are finishing Roger Balfreys twin , now sitting just as described on our assembly bench .
Way back in the earlier years the Brits generally every year took their bikes into a garden shed or lay over, or into the kitchen or sitting room making the Misses mad one would imagine . There they would do what was necessary , a decoke , valve job , new tyres , electrical work , carb rebuild , whatever was crying out for attention . Bottom ends , cranks , etc were carried to a local shop for more specialized work . Then the whole plot was reassembled and made ready for the new season after a slather of Brushing Belco .
This was the world existing when Vincent s were thick on the ground , well , more than now . it went on for decades til the beast was replaced wit a new un . Vincent's lasted longer than all the others , still kicking a fast wheel where pretty vertical twins and handsome singles had long died .
Today , Very much older , their finish looking tatty , corrosion here and there , chrome far from bright the job has changed considerably . Now it's thoughts of VALUE on auction , gotta look like new to draw a hefty price so it's the entire ball of wax . Plating , painting , buffing to high luster , all that good stuff . All fresh SS hardware . Nothing too dear it's out of reach , too costly .
So it's asked what's the best order to do things ? However it's done it's gonna cost a pretty penny . Sid .
Way back in the earlier years the Brits generally every year took their bikes into a garden shed or lay over, or into the kitchen or sitting room making the Misses mad one would imagine . There they would do what was necessary , a decoke , valve job , new tyres , electrical work , carb rebuild , whatever was crying out for attention . Bottom ends , cranks , etc were carried to a local shop for more specialized work . Then the whole plot was reassembled and made ready for the new season after a slather of Brushing Belco .
This was the world existing when Vincent s were thick on the ground , well , more than now . it went on for decades til the beast was replaced wit a new un . Vincent's lasted longer than all the others , still kicking a fast wheel where pretty vertical twins and handsome singles had long died .
Today , Very much older , their finish looking tatty , corrosion here and there , chrome far from bright the job has changed considerably . Now it's thoughts of VALUE on auction , gotta look like new to draw a hefty price so it's the entire ball of wax . Plating , painting , buffing to high luster , all that good stuff . All fresh SS hardware . Nothing too dear it's out of reach , too costly .
So it's asked what's the best order to do things ? However it's done it's gonna cost a pretty penny . Sid .
I know I do go on about bearings but this is the very heart of the machine! I fitted my bearings using the bearing manufactures engineering catalog. If you would like a shock.... use a .0001"bore gauge and compare what the statics are between what
you have in your Vincent and the fit necessary from the bearing engineering guide. Remembering that a bearing is no better than it's housing.... and most Vincents are fitted with brand new worse than worn out NEW bearings. Think about it! Please.
you have in your Vincent and the fit necessary from the bearing engineering guide. Remembering that a bearing is no better than it's housing.... and most Vincents are fitted with brand new worse than worn out NEW bearings. Think about it! Please.
Lucky for me, the guy doing my rebuild won't be charging me anything for his labor.
I'm not sure I follow what you are saying. Are you saying that when brand new (e.g. c1950) Vincent used bearings that had poor tolerances, or that today many people restoring Vincent engines are using bearings whose specifications are poor?
No, brand new machining was generally fine.... but the retaining material was soft. These were built to ride new..... who the hell was considering 50 years from production? But how long did it really take for the outer bearings to loosen and
"walk" or the muff to loose grip? So, what are you going to do about it?
"walk" or the muff to loose grip? So, what are you going to do about it?
You are obviously intending to do a one time restoration so I would suggest that you reconsider your plan to replate the original Cadmium plated fasteners. My first Vincent was a freshly restored Comet which looked perfect for the first year or two. I rode it every day and within a year or two the plating had blackened to a scruffy state. At the time I was disappointed that bikes with non-standard stainless fastener were winning concours competitions while it was impossible to keep a standard bike looking that perfect. If you are intending to ride the bike (and there is little point in spending the time on it otherwise) I’d recommend using unpolished stainless wherever standard fasteners are needed.