MK3 Restomod

grandpaul said:
Once you are certain what width you need for the pulley, you can maybe shave the alternator stator stand-offs down a bit, THEN space out the rotor. The more bite you have with the rotor nut, the better.

Unfortunately, I've already done that. The stator is about as close as I can get it to the pulley already. I do have room to move the rotor out a little, and still have lots of thread engagement. As it is, the nut is almost bottomed out on the internal threads, so I have a little room to play with. But if I wanted to get the rotor centered in the stator, I would have to make a longer sleeve nut. I don't think I'll really need to do that. Part of the limitation is the design of the MKIII stator mount. If I want to make a new mount from scratch, I can get the stator a little closer to the pulley. Doesn't seem worth it.

Ken
 
Yeah, a longer sleeve nut is a good idea, it's been done (here on AccessNorton, I think)
 
Les Emery's Norvil in the UK sell longer sleeve nuts off the shelf.

Although I imagine it'd be quicker and easier for Ken to make his own!
 
lcrken said:
Son of Siredward said:
Looking good Ken!
Did you end up purchasing the mag wheels? Pretty good deal.

Yep. Should be here Tuesday.

Ken

At 28 pounds front and 32 pounds rear with tires etc, how do the weights compare with stock MK 3 wheels?

Glen
 
I'll weigh them and post the data here

when I get them. I try to post the weights of the wheel with bearings and axle spacers, but no tires or disks. The weight of tires and disks varies too much, depending on personal choice. This way I can compare the weights of the wheels themselves. I've posted the weight of a stock MKIII front wheel, but not the rear. I have a bare rear, but no spare sprocket to weigh with it. It seemed to me that I should weigh them as a package, since there are no alternative sprockets. I'll see if I can also post weights of some combinations of wheels with sprockets, disks, etc., or maybe just the weight of the various disks, sprockets, and cush drives. Maybe compare tire weights too.

Ken
 
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A little bit of progress today. Still waiting for a front pulley from Norvil, but I decided to do ahead and trial fit the engine. It looks good



but didn't stay in long. Turns out I located the hose fitting on my read valve breather a little too close to the transmission. It fits, but the hose would be rubbing on the transmission case, so it's back out for me to move the fitting a little further to the left. Should be pretty simple.



It's not a lot of progress, but Nigel has shamed me into at least posting something.

Actually, I have got a bit more done. I've finally got the mag wheels stripped enough to take to the shop that does the fluorescent crack inspection. Even if I decide not to use them, I want to know if they are still good. If so, they bring a pretty good price from the race bike restorers. And I've almost finished drawing up the fork yokes, so should be able to start on them soon. No CNC here, just mill and rotary table, so it might take a while.

Ken
 

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AHA .. it worked.. !

Glad to see you back on it Ken!

Ref the breather... why not just turn it upside down and route the hose under the transmission?

You'd gain the clearance and also have a neater hose routing, no?
 
Or possibly you could hard-pipe it up past the trans case? Would make hose clamp access a little easier, too.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, Nigel and Danno, I could probably plug the existing hole and tap a new one on the bottom, but it's no more work to plug it and move the fitting over a bit on top. Can't just invert it as is because it's not symmetrical to the mounting holes. I might consider making a longer fitting though. I hadn't thought about the easier hose clamp access. The next one of these I do, I'm going to use a different reed valve that will let me make the whole thing a bit smaller. I like running the hose routing directly up to the stock fitting on the oil tank, similar to the stock routing. Seems like going under the trans and then back up to the top of the tank would be more complicated. I had planned to make a custom aluminum oil tank, but in the interest of time, I think I'll just go with the original. Nothing really wrong with it except the wimpy mounting rubbers, and I can change those.

Ken
 
I removed the reed valve breather and relocated the hose barb. Also thinned the breather block a bit for more fore and aft clearance. Plenty of room now.



This is a shot of the right side at this time.



I've been working on the top mount. I'm using an old replica PR mount that I got from Les Emory a couple decades ago. As usual with a lot of his bits, it required some work to make it actually fit correctly, but it's looking good now. Just waiting for a couple of fasteners to arrive to install it.

I'm still waiting on a larger front pulley from Norvil. Discovered it was not their fault it hasn't been sent. I originally paid for it some weeks ago by credit card, and then sent a second payment for the shipping charges by paypal. Normal procedure with Norvil for overseas transactions. Just discovered that paypal never sent the money for shipping. Turns out that you can't send a payment in another currency with one transaction. You have to first tell paypal to make the payment in the other currency, wait for them to decide what the exchange rate is, and then go back to their site and confirm that you still want to send it. I missed that second part. I have now confirmed the payment, so I should hopefully be able to get on with the primary drive and starter installation soon.

When I get back in town next week, I'll drop off the mag wheels at the inspection company to be checked for cracks with a UV dye penetrant process. If they are good, they get painted gold and I start fitting them to the bike. If they have cracks, it's back to decision time again.

Ken
 

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Very nice. Wish the Titanic's frame looked like that. Weather is going to flatline this weekend, so I may not paint until spring.
 
A little more progress. Kind of a "two steps forward and one step back" kind of week, or maybe even the reverse. Anyhow, I made some spacers to move the starter mount and outboard transmission bearing holder .250" to the left, to accommodate having moved the gearbox to the left by that amount. That's when I discovered that I had a lot of interference between the starter and the gearbox shell. It must be a pretty close fit on a stock gearbox shell, and the Quaife shell is much thicker around the top mount. So I thought I'd just pull the gearbox and slim it down in the mill. That's when I got the second surprise. When I made the reed valve breather at the back of the crankcase, I didn't think about the gearbox. Turns out the breather gets in the way of rotating the gearbox enough to remove it. And I can't remove the breather without pulling the engine. I didn't want to go to that extreme again. I've had the engine in and out more than enough times already. So I bagged the bike with a plastic sheet, and went after the gearbox shell with a die grinder. It was an iterative process. I'd grind until I got clearance for one spot, and then find out something else was hitting. It took five tries to finally get it all to fit.

This is the bike ready to start grinding.



And this is how the top of the gearbox shell looked at the end. I took about 1/8" off the top all the way across, as well as grinding a couple of notches to clear the starter lugs. I also took some material off the starter lugs. Not as pretty as if I'd used the mill, but acceptable. I'll clean it up someday when I have the engine out.



This is the starter bolted up and fitting properly.



I also finished modifying the repro Norvil top mount to suit me, as shown here. I narrowed it a bit to be sure it will clear the tank, and also rounded some of the sharp corners.



I've recently received the 36 tooth front pulley, so I can proceed with assembling the primary side now. With the 68 tooth clutch pulley, I now have a 1.889 primary ratio instead of the stock 2.19. That will reduce the load on the gearbox and give it a better chance of surviving, as well as helping with clutch slip risk. Should have some more progress now, with pictures to follow.

Ken
 

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Awesome as always! I tend to go off the deep end when rounding off and smooth edges, (to the point of OCD at times). It drives my brother crazy, but hey, when you have it apart, and the schedule permits, there is no better time. :)
 
Nice looking starter kit Ken, provides a good outrigger support function too, which is nice considering what you'll be putting through that gearbox!
 
On the carb selection front, I've had a bit of a setback. I was planning to use a pair of Keihin CRS carbs in 37 mm size, which I have left over from the single racing days, but they aren't going to fit. I'm using a pair of Steve Maney's CNC machined manifolds that are matched to the heads, and they are too long for the CRS carbs. I could relocate the throttle drum to clear the tank, but the carbs still interfere with the gusset at the top of the frame. I could make them fit if I made some shorter manifolds, but I don't want to do that. It would be hard to match new manifolds to the head with the bike in the frame, and I don't want to pull it out again. I have a set of 36 mm Amals that I could fit, but I really like the light throttle pull on the Japanese push-pull carbs. Before anyone jumps on me for not being manly enough to handle a stiff throttle, let me pre-empt them by explaining that I've had surgery on both hands and only have about 60% normal strength in them, and at 74 years of age, I now get to add arthritis to my blessings. A light throttle pull is pretty much essential if I want to ride more than a few miles without cramps.

I've checked the other carbs I have, and neither the 41 mm FCRs or the 34 mm Mikuni flat slides will clear the frame. I think the 35 mm FCRs might be the answer, but that means buying new carbs. I've been really trying to use up stuff I already have. I have some other Mikuni carbs, but they won't fit without angled manifolds, and I don't want to do that, so I think I'm stuck with buying the FCRs. Always more decisions to make.



On the positive side, I got the mag wheels back from the inspection shop, and they are free from cracks. And I have the cert to prove it! I need to touch up the conversion coating, and then paint with a good two part paint (gold), and I'll be ready for tires. Still looking on that front. I've used the Avon Roadriders for several years now, and might go with them, but I'm thinking about trying out the new Continental Go line.



Ken
 

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Ken, why not just hack the gusset out of the way? I know it would have been easier before now, but if you sheet over everything (again) it won't be to big of a job me thinks.

Even the FCRs with Matts lovely, and shorter, manifold still come close, I would expect you'd still have issues even with FCRs.

Are you going tubeless on those rims? A shame not too take the advantage surely?
 
lcrken said:
Before anyone jumps on me for not being manly enough to handle a stiff throttle, let me pre-empt them by explaining that I've had surgery on both hands and only have about 60% normal strength in them, and at 74 years of age, I now get to add arthritis to my blessings.

All the sympathy in the world, mate. I have had three surgeries on my hands for Dupuytren's contracture. My hand doc, the best in Auckland, says it is the most aggressive case he has ever seen. He said at 53, my hands are what he would expect from someone 70-80.
 
"It's just a suggestion..."

MK3 Restomod


Stacks would have to be shortened, easy enough to do.

(they're sitting on my shelf)
 
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