70 Commando resurrection project

A few minor changes to this project:

-Dunstall bodywork ended up on the '72 Combat project bike which is up and running

-Probably going to go with the Red 'glass tank & steel sidecovers that came with the Combat, as well as the Corbin Gunfighter seat that has the Red piping



-I got a complete Lucas Rita electronic ignition system with the Combat, it's going on this project

-I got a "short stack" of OEM brake discs drilled, so this project is getting one

Got the lump pulled apart, the crank shows some scarring from having chewed on stuff...



Sure enough, there are missing bits off the .020 over pistons (same piston is missing a chip of the crown in front



The head was totally sooty, cleaned it up enough to see that it's still in good shape, as are the cylinders (even though they need to go .040)





All replacement parts are ordered.

Okay, the fun part starts.

Flushed and inspected the tranny, kickstart ratchet was broken, bushing on k/s gear was chipping, replaced both, along with
a badly mushroomed clutch rod. I pulled the parts off my spare Norton engine that isn't going anywhere fast



Note the fishooked sprocket, new replacement ordered.

Already had used the blue-tipped wrench to remove the kickstarter that had been welded to the shaft (sorry, no pix)

I built this wheeled assembly stand from a platform I had laying around for about 2 years and $30 worth of additional lumber
and caster wheels. I bolted up some eye bolts to use to tie down the bike once heavy assembly starts



Touched up previously masked engine, transmission & isolastic mount locations and started the assembly with new adjustable isolastics on the tranny cradle



Installed shocks and realized I didn't have a useable set of swingarm bushings. Oh well, replacements ordered



Overhauled and installed the rear brake & dummy axle, and installed head bearings and freshly painted yokes



Overhauled fork internals, sliders are nicely polished and awaiting assembly



Also overhauled rear wheel, and rounded up axle parts for the front wheel (no photos, sorry)

Here's the rebuilt rear wheel; no new parts other than shinky new knave plate, but bearings cleaned and re-packed, spokes snugged and decent tires on clean rims.



Front wheel rebuilt similarly; front brake is already starting to develop surface rust from lack of use (Chip's is still perfect).



Assembled the forks and installed with stock headlight ears.



Wheels installed, not to get this sucker off the stand! Good thing my helper was available today.



Installed the tranny, Z-plates, battery box, handlebars, fenders, tail light (sorry, the photo was improperly framed), headlight shell, sidestand, grab bar, and set the tank & seat in place for effect. I used 2 steel straps across the frame to the tranny cradle which allows the bike to sit on it's wheels okay without the engine in place.



Hopefully some of the engine parts I ordered will arrive with Chip's wheels tomorrow...

Piston set arrived last week, dropped them off along with the cylinders for re-bore & beadblast, they came back very nice.



Assembled the top end and decided to add a secondary breather on the dummy plate at the rear of the timing chest.



It might have been easier to work on the engine up on the vice, but it was definitely harder to drop into the chassis with no helper!



It's coming along; I'll probably be able to get it done in time for the New Ulm, TX BMOA rallye in mid-May.

Speaking of the New Ulm BMOA Rallye, who all is going?

I'm going, it's likely that Sally will be with me, as well as Talitha. My younger son, Kevin, MIGHT make it out, but he's "bike-less" at the moment, he sold the Ducati.

The primary was a bit of a headache; the clutch basket inner thrust face had rattled it's rivets loose,
so I had to scrounge the basket off my spare engine.
I ended up re-doing it again because the clutch bearing was a bit chattery.
Ended up using 4 Barnett friction plates, 3 plain steel plates, and one scrolled bronze plate to get the right stack height.



Installed the headers and stuck one muffler, the seat & tank on it for a progress shot. It looks like a bike, alright.

What you can't see, and I guess I should have snapped a photo of it, is that the fling guard for the chain on the backside of the inner primary case was whacked pretty badly.

So I drilled 3 holes in the remaining jagged edges, cut a nice hunk of sheet metal from what used to be the LBN arm on a satellite dish, and riveted it in place. You've really got to look close to see it's there, and it should work fine.

Got the single Mikuni conversion installed; of the three 2-into-1 manifolds that I have, only the "Sonny Angel"
unit had the correct spacing for the carb adapter boot. I liked one of the other two better because it had provision
for all four bolts, the other two only use the two outer bolts for mounting



Got the exhaust system properly installed with all new rubbers and locktab washers on the exhaust spigots.
I decided to do a comparative mockup using the Black bodywork & standard roadster seat



Looks pretty sharp, for a collection of old bits...

Installed the engine covers, kickstarter and clutch cable, along with the footpegs & rear brake.
Couldn't find the split trunion that holds the cable end to the clevis, will have to dig for that tomorrow.

I took a decent used harness I had and eliminated some of the unnecessary wiring and fit it up along with a rectifier,
zener diode, both hand control switches, and a like-new Sparx electronic ignition unit with (2) 6 volt coils.



I had to address bad connections and worn connectors here and there, but all in all, it came out okay and should be
trouble-free for a reasonable amount of time. I don't know why I didn't use the Lucas Rita ignition after all,
and not sure if this harness would have supported it anyway.



Had to fab up two brackets to mount the Sparx module just aft of the coils.

Ran the oil lines, installed a keyswitch, then scratched my brain for an hour over no spark. Turns out the used Sparx unit that a friend gave
me had a dodgy stator. I installed a new one and the bike fired ON THE FIRST KICK!





I still have a couple of days work to be done to a point where I'd let it go for sale, but I've got a week and a half to complete it, so It's looking
good for the New Ulm British & European rallye/bike show/swap meet on the 16th - 18th

This bike ended up being sold on e-bay to a guy from Austria. He had me change the bars to standard Roadsters,
and it got a chain guard and right sidecover.

Before & After-

Impressive effort!!!

Very nice story, well documented with the pictures;l what an effort.

The initial picture was enough to evoke tears, the cretin that made those changes should be forced to listen to classical music...

Do you feel that the "profit" compensated you properly for your time?

RS

No, the profit amounted to about $10 / hour.

I am definitely NOT getting rich in this business.

However, this is the most enjoyable job I've ever had.

You should get an award for saving a bit of history.