Triumph Basket Case

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sludge Trap Extraction

Last Friday My good friend Brett O'Rear came by to hang out for the evening. It was a very eventful evening, but the best thing that happened was we removed the sludge trap.

This is a huge mile stone if you are not aware. The sludge trap is located in your crankshaft and does just what it says it collects sludge, a delicious mud like substance made up of metallic particles, oil, and other good stuff. If your trap is clogged with sludge, oil is not able to do its job. The sludge trap is also the last thing I have to remove from the motor before I start the rebuild.

Anyone have a good source for bearings?

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Huston we have a crankshaft.

On Monday June 7, I completed the final disassembly of the motor. Splitting the cases was easy. All the bolts came out and the crankshaft came away from the cases just like it was suppose to do. I still need to remove the case bearing and connecting rods, but I think for the most part I am pretty much done with the tear down. I also removed the Tachometer which was a gunked up mess. Next step is to discover what is lurking in the sludge trap.

I also want to replace the bolts that hold the cases together but I am having a hard time finding them online. Any suggestions?

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The start of the Engine Tear down.

Since last post lots has happened. I dismantled the Carburetors and found that they are mostly junk. I found most the parts I would need to rebuild them online. Unfortunately it would cost about the same to rebuild them as to buy new ones. I am thinking that I might try to score some half way decent carbs on eBay and rebuild them.

I also built a motor stand for dismantling and rebuilding of the motor. Its not too exciting but I have attached a picture.

On May 14th Paul and I went down to Goose Island with the motor and met up with the Dr. While there we started tearing down the motor. So far we have removed the primary side cover, the clutch assembly and the alternator. We tried to remove the gear behind the alternator but the last owner used loctite to hold it on. I am told that you can use heat to break down Loctite but I have not tried it yet.
We also removed the timing cover and all the timing gears. That went pretty easy and everything looks really good. Thank god that the Dr had all the gear pullers.

This week I purchased a complete gasket set off of eBay. I am pretty sure that the set has all the gaskets I would need for a complete rebuild. Check that off the list.

Next up transmission and getting the gear off.

Till next time.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

I would be happy with this for an end result

I found this 68 Bonneville on craigslist.org. This is the look I am going for.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Is there a Doctor in the house?

On Wednesday the 28th of April I took the motor and a box of parts down to Goose Island. Paul and I met with the Doctor, a motor cycle guru and fan of English motorcycles. Paul told me that if anyone could get this piston unstuck the Dr would be able to do it.

After showing the motor to The Drl, he said we had to heat up the cylinder but try to keep the piston cool. We measured the height of the piston to the top of the cylinder. He then handed me a blow torch and said to hold the flame on the outside of the cylinder. After the cylinder was heated to a point that we could not hold our fingers on it anymore, The Doctor came in with a brass bar and a small hammer and started tapping the pistons ever so lightly.

After a few taps we measured to see if the pistons moved, and they did not. Dr decided that we should remove the oil that was in the cylinder because he had some stuff that would penetrate and dissolve the rust. This is the stuff plumbers use to get pipes apart that have been together forever. We sprayed a little on the pistons and started to tap away. No sooner than when we started the pistons broke loose and we were on our way to freeing up the cylinder.

Now that the pistons are out of the cylinder its time to find someone to bore out the cylinder for some new oversize pistons. The Dr also suggested I take the rest of the motor apart and clean and inspect everything. Make it white glove clean is what I am told I should do.

I found a DVD online that take you step by step tearing down and rebuilding a Triumph 650. Here's the Link. http://www.lowbrowcustoms.com/motorcycle-dvds/triumph-650-rebuild-dvd-with-wes-white-triumph-motorcycle-dvd.aspx I think the DVD will come in handy. Time to build an engine stand.

Monday, April 26, 2010

The arrival of the basket case.

On last Thursday my friend Paul Holdsworth dropped off a few boxes, A motor, two wheels, a frame, forks, and a seriously dented gas tank. All adding up to one 1968 Triumph Bonneville. I thought it was Christmas. We had a few beers and discussed the possibilities of this bike. Paul's idea, and I would agree with him, is to get it on the road as soon as possible. Get it running and then customize to my hearts content.

A few days after taking delivery I decided that the best thing to do is to lay out everything and take inventory.

What I found was there is going to be some work ahead to get it on the road.

The motor is seized. Someone took off the cover and poured in some kind of liquid into the cylinder.

The frame is in pretty good shape. I am going to bead blast it and get it powered coated since there are no parts on it.

The wheels have surface rust, but I think they are sound. I will need new tires.

The hole in the gas tank is more like a gash. Looking for a new one.

Front fork rusted and needs to be rebuilt.

Seat is gone . Looking for a single seat anyway.

Pipes rusted. Found new headers on ebay.

No head light, and the speedometer and tachometer is smashed.

I am sure the breaks need to be rebuilt.

Oil tank is there but will be replaced.