69 "S" Phoenix rises again

Yeah, I've been doing that.

Dave

DogT, thanks for takening me away from home on cool machines and exhaust Nolts that don't need attention away from home. I'd missed the Leno JPL until today. Did anyone notice the oil drip on the white floor appear before he one step started? A nod to ludwig's nip up with hot engine vibes. I quit using the off the shelf silvery anti-seize here d/t it melting and evaporating away over time. Now if I plan ahead I dip the threads in pink Milk of Magnesia to dry for a few more layers as the best high temp stay put locktite like effect that breaks loose to powered lube effect on first bit of undoing. Don't get the silvery stuff on your seat cover or bar grips...

On 1st cold start try just tickle till gas seen then TDC kick down w/o any throttle. If no joy, crack throttle second go, if still no joy stop and see what ya missed. Once warmed usually one swift kick w/o throttle gives fire but there's low gas level in carb so may have to give some throttle to draw up fuel to run. If ya feeling lucky to show off its a treat to just step on it w/o throttle so it just turns on at steady idle no drama and so soft not sure it really started. I did that on Trixie at a bike gathering with onlookers crowding around, one fella asked if it could go fast, so I gave'r a bBBLATTTTTTTTTTTT, which fast rev up and noise startled the fella, who said "Oh yeah it'll Go!".

Next ride out try to breath through nose as respiratory system still sensitive to dust. I find my self acting like a puppy with head and open jaw tongue out a car window, till dry mouth dusty, again and again.

Dave, that is really, really nice.
Are you going to ride it daily or just on special occasions?
MikeM

Still love your s

I did not realize how old this post was. Your bike is a dream to what mine will be someday. I have a complete bike but it does have issues.
At this point I would like to get it reliable and useful. Someday a complete teardown will be in order. Just hope I can kick it over by then. It has an engine issue and I dont want to ride it and make things worse. I am saving my pennies. Things are getting closer but still a way off.
Your bike looks great.
MikeM

I only ride it on nice days. I tend to put maybe 500 or so miles on it a year, so it should last a while. Probably outlast me. I spent a lot of time on the road when I worked, 2 hours a day, so driving around is not my favorite thing to do. I wasn't satisfied with the tank mounting yet, so I started fettling with it again today and I think I've got it as good as it gets. The Zories seem to be a very good padding. Dynodave's seal came yesterday, so I put that on without any fettling this morning too.

Hobot, yeah, it's actually a one kick starter now that I've got the technique and the Pazon. It was just that I realized after I started tickling it the key was in the dining room. I haven't tried starting it at an idle, but when it's warm it starts with just a push. I'm thinking about going to 20W50 to make starting easier when it's cold. I just need to find some with the high Z.

I had some issues with the exhaust system rubbing on the primary and the silencers banging on each other. I've got that all straightened out now. The upper silencer only covers the header pipe with about 1/4", so that's a bit strange and I have to put a brass shim in it to cover the slots so it doesn't leak. The bottom one goes in about 4".

This winter I'm going to repaint the tank and put some Steadfast stick-ons on it, they have a larger gold outline. The tank paint got messed up early on and I tried spot matching it, but I need to repaint the whole thing. I need to either paint the logos on the panels or stick-ons, I haven't decided yet, but the panels are in good paint shape for now.

It backfires a little bit when cold, but when it's warmed up that all quits and it seems to run good. I'm sure the avgas helps. It sure runs clean. I could probably stand a set of premiere amals, but what I have now aren't bad and idle fine. Or get them sleeved, I did get the anodized slides which helped a whole lot.

All these little things seem to take a while to get sorted out. It's easy to go past things when you just want to get it on the road.

It's a better bike than when I bought it thanks to a lot of help here.

Dave
69S

The weather finally broke and the humidity went to some reasonable number I could deal with, so today took it out for a good run. Seemed to run a bit lean to start, a few backfires, but that pretty much went away, I had maybe one backfire coming home when I let up going down a hill. The new head steady and the spring seem to have gotten rid of a lot of vibration, especially at the low end as reported before. It seems to take about 5 miles until the engine warms up and gets enough lube around to quiet down. After that, now I notice a 'puffing' noise, but it sounds like maybe it's something to do with the new head steady. Certainly not a noise I had before, so I suppose the tank is coming off to see if there is anything interfering. The exhaust system seems better, no leaks from the top one, nothing rattling against anything but the right exhaust ring needed a bit of tightening when I got home, maybe 1/8th turn. All the anti-sieze finally all leaked or melted out of the rings too. The tank is finally not rubbing on the down tubes now, thanks to the Zoris, but there may be something else, I'll have to inspect. At least I don't have to run those hateful nylocks off the tank studs now.

All this with my sciatic nerve acting up a bit, but not enough not to ride, it just makes my feet hurt to walk, but I still did my 600' hill climb this morning for the ticker. It's nice to get out and off the exercise bike because the humidity is below 80%.

Dave
69S

Took the tank off. Don't see anything interfering. Looking at the springs, I was wondering if the bolt was rubbing on the springs, but I don't see any sign of that. I am using the old original Norton gaskets in the exhaust. Wondering if they are leaking. I guess I'll have to try it again tomorrow.

Dave
69S

I changed oil from VR1 SAE50 to Mobil 1 20W50 and boy is it easier to start. Started it up today in the Crocks, pooted on the first kick and fired up on the second, no problemo. Idles nicely now with the re-sleeved Amals. Trouble is now with the syn oil I get some drips off the crankcase. If I have the motivation this winter, I should take the crankcases apart and re-seal it. I know I didn't do a good job when I did it because I was unsure of how to use the Hylomar. I would use something different if I do it. The bike is almost where I'd like it. I've replaced some of the rusty items with SS. I should get the Venhill clutch cable and replace a lot of the original cables too. But everything is working better than when I bought it. Around 14.5K miles now. I know it's not much, but I'm an old fart.

Dave

WELLSEAL has a pretty good reputation as do the ThreeBond based products, better than Hylomar know not I.

nortonspeed said:

DogT said:

The more I thought about hobot's idea of the studs in the crank, the more I liked it, so while I was in town I got some.

Dave
69S

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Dave be sure the studs are flush (or slightly beneath) the surface of the nuts otherwise the chain could grind the studs!

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I Think that chain would have to be f....g lose to hi those studs. Looks ok to me

It's not the outside perimeter of the chain that's tight to the nuts, it's the thickness of the stud/nut from the inside of the inner case that interferes with the chain. Believe me, try it.

You guys realize how old this thread is? Check it out.

Dave, it's nice to see your bike again, we were building out respective S types at the same time. I have just sold mine to a good friend who made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I am using the money to build a Dunstall equipped 750 cafe racer which I hope to have on the road early next year.

Cheers, Dave

DogT said:

You guys realize how old this thread is? Check it out.

Click to expand...

Indeed, my post was in answer to what you posted today.
Nice bike for sure.

Thanks Dave,

Yeah I remember that.

I won't sell mine until I can't start or ride it any more. It may be getting to years though, turned 70 last year and the bike is a real handful for me. It's turning into a chore to get it out anymore but I keep forging ahead. At least it's running better than ever.

Dave
69S

DogT said:

Primary chain, rotor, stator, clutch assembled. Was waiting for 06-0895 (clutch shaft spacer) to put between the mainshaft bushing and the clutch locating clip, which is supposed to keep the bushing from getting chewed up by the clip in case it moves out of the mainshaft like it did before. I also used permatex sleeve retainer on the mainshaft bushings to try to keep them from moving around.

Anyone have suggestions on getting that stator wire back through that hard little grommet? I thought about putting some silicon on the wire, but boy it is tight.

I reckon I could adjust the primary chain at this point and am thinking I will temporarily attach the drive chain and brake cable so I can tighten everything in the primary. Clutch plate will have to come off again to do that too. Clutch is totally original.

Got a fire sale timing cover and am going to make the cut-away timing cover to tighten up the camshaft nut and set the tension on the cam chain. It's got a bad spot on the top from a fire.

Thinking about removing the barrels to re-coat them with some DupliColor high performance Wheel coating clear to try to keep gas from eating the paint on them. This is all experimental.

Dave
69S

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I suggest you remove the grommet from the chaincase first, insert the wire into the grommet then with silicone both inside and outside grommet, fit it into the chain case.

DogT said:

Primary chain, rotor, stator, clutch assembled. Was waiting for 06-0895 (clutch shaft spacer) to put between the mainshaft bushing and the clutch locating clip, which is supposed to keep the bushing from getting chewed up by the clip in case it moves out of the mainshaft like it did before. I also used permatex sleeve retainer on the mainshaft bushings to try to keep them from moving around.

Anyone have suggestions on getting that stator wire back through that hard little grommet? I thought about putting some silicon on the wire, but boy it is tight.

I reckon I could adjust the primary chain at this point and am thinking I will temporarily attach the drive chain and brake cable so I can tighten everything in the primary. Clutch plate will have to come off again to do that too. Clutch is totally original.

Got a fire sale timing cover and am going to make the cut-away timing cover to tighten up the camshaft nut and set the tension on the cam chain. It's got a bad spot on the top from a fire.

Thinking about removing the barrels to re-coat them with some DupliColor high performance Wheel coating clear to try to keep gas from eating the paint on them. This is all experimental.

Dave
69S

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see Hobot's suggestion about engine enamel

possm said:

Do you ever come to Christchurch? as i have all 3 - 69 fastback, 70S and 74 850.
Regards Al

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they sure are works of art. Hows the car coming along.

Keri,

Like I warned, some of these posts a page or 2 back are 2 or more years old. All that stuff has been sorted.

Dave

Update to current issues. Started the bike today, second try and it was off after sitting in the garage all winter. I've had some issues though. The micro-switch I used for the ignition defeat for the anti-sump valve broke, so I ended up using the original wiring to get it going. That needs large improvement. Really haven't put a lot of miles on the bike due to my age and lack of motivation/ability to ride long distances, but I get it out a few times a year.

The paint on the F/G tank is peeling off the clear coat crap rattle can paint I put on it, but the tank is working fine with the avgas. I've got 'original looking' petcocks now from Clubman, not the BAP horrible looking things. They even turn smooth like the original EW petcocks. The bike could stand a new metal tank and something done about the panels. The side panels have been repainted and they too are showing crazing in the clear coat. But the bike seems solid and runs fine with the new sleeved carbs, idles very nicely and I keep the idle up about 12-1300. It sounds a bit rattly if I take it below that.

I turned on the anti-sump valve and the oil tank was nearly empty after 2 days so that's when I started it. Didn't smoke and the oil returned to the tank in maybe 15 seconds. Was rather frothy, but cleared up quickly. I'll try to get it out on the road this coming week.

Thinking about breaking the cases apart to re-seal the flanges since I did a poor job originally and also get drilled rocker shafts to remove the oil line above the head and possibility of an oil gauge. I do wish there were an easy way to re-breather the very early engines. I suppose if I break the cases apart I could do the drillings in the timing side and add the breather off the timing side somehow. I was really confused when I had it apart before. Plus I wanted to get it back together.

Dave