What is the best approach for restoring a Vincent?

[Magnetoman]

I reduced the Red Rap completely to bits ... with only Richardson’s, KTB and the part list.

I'm a bit better prepared than that. When I got my Vincent I knew it would be at least a year before I could start actual work on it (little did I know then I would be off by a factor of 20 on my start time...), so I began to assemble my own shop manual. That manual has dividers separating the sections (which are based on content of the chapters of Richardson and KTB). From that time until now whenever something relevant about, say, the timing chest was printed in MPH -- or in any other book or back issue of a magazine -- I copied it and added it to the manual. The idea being, when it was time to work on the timing chest, I would go through everything in that section to see what advice (and contradictory advice) was there to help me decide what to do, and what not to do. This manual fills to bursting four 3"-thick 3-ring binders (i.e. it is a full 12" thick). I won't claim it's the most extensive or complete Vincent shop manual in existence, but... Unfortunately, having let my VOC membership lapse, I'm missing MPH from 2001 to present, so I will be on the lookout for those back issues.

... If you are space challenged like me ...

I don't know anyone who isn't space challenged. Even if I had a shop that was 10,000 sq.ft. (which I certainly don't), I'm sure it would be too small. Because of lathe, mill, functioning motorcycles, etc., I only have enough space to work on one motorcycle. However, I have three motorcycles (including the Vincent) on home made 2x6 ft. rolling work stands that I pull into the "restoration area" when I'm working on them, and then push back into more compact side-by-side space when not.

...I can only assume you’d grace us with some pix along the way(?).

Count on it.

So Vibrac's point of having several routes to work on at once is well taken. If one decided that they were going to order a complete Vincent in parts tomorrow, 90 percent of it might show up next week, but I expect there would also be a good long backorder list generated, and it is anyone's guess as to when the final pieces would arrive. From my own experience, at least a year or so, and much longer if you want an oversized or custom engine.

OK, a dirty little secret I hadn't revealed until now is that I want to "modularize" my Vincent restoration as much as possible, not because I don't expect to have to work on several Vincent modules in parallel in order to make steady progress (because of exactly the sort of backordered problem you describe), but because I will be working on two, and maybe even three, bikes in parallel. Now that this secret is out, there's no need to point out the serious flaws in my plan. Trust me, even though in my real life I conduct projects in parallel more complex than this, I recognize and fear those flaws.

 

[Magnetoman]

I will be working on two, and maybe even three, bikes in parallel.

This is embarrassing. I was searching for something about my Vincent restoration, came across this thread, and realized my last post to it was a full two years ago. Unfortunately, my "one-year" restoration is at essentially the same point it was two years ago. Sigh…

Well, it's not as bad as it seems. Well, it kind of is, but there's an explanation. Two years ago I ramped up my effort from 0 to at least 1 (on a scale of, um, 10), but a few months later my wife announced that we "needed" to move closer to the center of town. I already had one bike I was restoring in 1000 pieces, and clearly having a second one in the same condition when it was time to move wouldn't be the best idea so my effort on the Vincent went back to 0. However, finding the "ideal" house took another 18 months.

We've been in the new house for a month and once I get fully unpacked and reestablished this move should be a net gain for my Vincent restoration since the previous owner had a similar vision as I do for an ideal garage/workshop (e.g. it has a 13 ft. ceiling and separate room for an air compressor). Before moving in I had air lines run with outlets every 10 ft., quad 110V outlets every 5 ft., 220V every 10 ft., and lighting that gives1000 lux (the same as a surgical operating room) when all four banks are on. Thanks to twice the floor space plus now having lots of 8 ft. industrial shelving for storage means my work area is no longer cramped.

Unpacking and configuring is far enough along that my thoughts turned back to getting the Vincent restoration moving again. Which is what brought me back to this thread. I can only hope that the next two years on this one-year restoration sees more progress than the past two years.

 

[Albervin]

I had the same altruistic plans when I moved into my present house. Large garage and shed all pointed to storage and workshop areas. However......... I have moved on from 3 bikes to 12 and while none is in bits I have; one needing new fork seals, one needing a fork rebuild, one with a leaky tank, one with a bent breather spindle, one with a recalcitrant gearbox, one in a museum and me with less time to play than I thought I would have. Good luck with your plan.

 

[Magnetoman]

when I moved into my present house. Large garage and shed all pointed to storage and workshop areas. However......... I have moved on from 3 bikes to 12 .

Now that you mention it, having been limited by space the numbers stopped growing a decade ago, but a BB Gold Star has now caught my eye...

 

[vincenttwin]

Do not restore it just put it together and ride it, much more fun.

 

[Magnetoman]

Do not restore it just put it together and ride it, much more fun.

For better or worse, the condition it came in when I bought it requires that I rebuild and/or repair every component in the machine before I can put it together. I checked my Webster's Unabridged (apologies to Oxford) to be sure there's no misunderstanding of meaning and indeed I do have to completely "restore it" (or rebuild it) before I can ride it:
Restore: to bring back to or put back into a former or original state...[as in] rebuild, reconstruct...
Rebuild: to make extensive repairs to...; to restore to a previous state or condition...

 

[Magnetoman]

As a p.s., today I dealt with the last major headache remaining from my recent move to an upgraded new garage. I had to take my lathe apart for the move, which requires contorting into back-breaking positions on the concrete floor to reach the bolts, and then repeating that for the installation. However, this afternoon I finished the installation, which also involves a time-consuming process to re-level the lathe to within less than 0.0005"/ft. With that task out of the way I can now start work on motorcycles again, although a lot of reorganization remains to be done before full functionality will have been restored.

 

[Pushrod Twin]

Just discovered your post, nice. There is plenty of great ideas here but I think a lot of these guys may have missed the point of your question. You have participated in my my thread, I think we are on the same page regarding inspections.
Now that the engine gearbox hook up is complete, here is how I am working through the rest of my engine inspection & build, & would apply to the rest of the bike if I had a whole Vincent; I guess you have procured a copy of the Club's Alternative Spares List?
Modularise your bike using the parts book pages as we did with aircraft engines.
I have photocopied the text pages, ruled a couple of vertical lines down near the quantities column & note whether the parts are "S", serviceable, "R", repairable, or "J" junk, require replacement.Serviceable parts get bagged, tagged & shelved, junk parts go on a list of purchases & I have a record of what I have inspected & what is ready for assembly. If I had a whole bike I would build sub-assemblies, I guess I already have, wheels, forks etc, then bring it all together for the final build.
There is some overlap with parts appearing on more than one page, its easy to make note on the copied pages if you have already covered those parts. Some of the pages dont appear as logical as we might think they should/could be, but I stick with them regardless. R

 

[Magnetoman]

... but a BB Gold Star has now caught my eye...

I wrote the above in October. In December that BB moved into my garage to take it's place next to my DBD.

I guess you have procured a copy of the Club's Alternative Spares List?
Modularise your bike using the parts book pages as we did with aircraft engines.

Thanks for your comments and advice. Yes, I have the Alternative Spares List. It sounds like from all the advice offered in this thread so far I'm going to be attacking the engine first. Or, I should say, next. I already have the UFM cleaned out and painted, the fuel tank repaired and primered, and the forks rebushed and all hardware Cd plated (but not reassembled). This is why I am especially interested in what you develop for an inspection sheet for the engine. My hope is it will be so thorough that I won't be able to add a single thing to it. But, if it does happen to miss anything, I'll add to it as this moves forward.

 

[Pushrod Twin]

I wrote the above in October. In December that BB moved into my garage to take it's place next to my DBD.
Thanks for your comments and advice. Yes, I have the Alternative Spares List. It sounds like from all the advice offered in this thread so far I'm going to be attacking the engine first. Or, I should say, next. I already have the UFM cleaned out and painted, the fuel tank repaired and primered, and the forks rebushed and all hardware Cd plated (but not reassembled). This is why I am especially interested in what you develop for an inspection sheet for the engine. My hope is it will be so thorough that I won't be able to add a single thing to it. But, if it does happen to miss anything, I'll add to it as this moves forward.

Thanks, I am working on mains bearing repairs this weekend, followed by cylinder register bores & decks over the next couple of weeks, Inshalla! The next amendment of the engine inspection sheets will split them into two, one each for TASL sheets 1 & 2 & include the remaining items over & above the cases. I may list the gearbox dimensions & components but I wont attempt to fill in any dimensions because I simply dont have that gearbox! Eventually, when I feel they are complete, I will pass them to the VOC Technical committee for ratification.