1973 Norton Commando Restoration

htown16 said:
Get the Mick Hemmings heavy weight Twin engine rebuild and gearbox rebuild DVDs. A bit pricey but they will save you money in the long run if you are doing your own engine and gearbox. I'm on my third Commando rebuild and they have saved me many times over. I have a little portable DVD player on my work bench. Mick does a step, I hit pause and do the same thing.
http://bracebridge-street.com/tech.htm
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Awesome, definitely look into getting that.

Torontonian said:
Great project. I'm going to B.C. in August 2019 so we can meet up. Pinks run , Squamish.
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Right on, hopefully my bike will be done by then. Vintage Motorcycle Canyon Run also looks fun.

MichaelB said:
Looks like it has good bones.
A couple of things.
850’s have steel tanks.
73 850 had silver barrels. Most people have painted them black.
That is a 73 seat.
The horn goes way down under the swing arm where no one can hear it.
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I'm positive that this tank is fiberglass. I don't think that has a stock horn, seems good where its at on the front of the frame lol. and yeah I like the look of the painted barrels too, adds a nice contrast. I'm thinking about getting one of those sexy new seats that you see on the CNW builds, looks sharp.
 
I took the day off wrenching to clean up the shop and organize everything. I'm going through my parts list of things I need to buy, and was looking for some new fenders and tank. CNW has a nice tank and front fender for sale, does anybody else know where to find a steel rear fender, or a set. I don't want chrome as I'm going to have them painted.
 
BigNickDawg420 said:
I took the day off wrenching to clean up the shop and organize everything. I'm going through my parts list of things I need to buy, and was looking for some new fenders and tank. CNW has a nice tank and front fender for sale, does anybody else know where to find a steel rear fender, or a set. I don't want chrome as I'm going to have them painted.
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Commando Roadsters only came with chrome or Stainless fenders as far as I know. Stainless will be hard to paint, no? If you want Stainless, I've seen MotoParts Inc. (Alberta) listing them NOS on their Ebay store.
I've recently scored a nice SS front to replace my chipped/dented chrome from a guy in Toronto selling a large number of used Norton parts. Got it today along with a pair of no-balance pipe headers and a two hole air filter plate with rubbers....all for $80 CDN. Found this ad on Kijiji (https://www.kijiji.ca/b-canada/l0 searches all Canada).
 
No, I’m pretty sure Matt paints fenders with paint, he has to as he gets custom colours mixed and wouldn’t be able to just match up with a powder coaters colour chart.

I think if you use an etch primer that’s designed for stainless steel you’ll be fine.

If you’re perusing the cNw web site do look at their head bolt kit before you buy any tools etc. Their 12 point bolt heads (smaller than normal for the thread size) allow use of sockets and torque wrench and take a LOT of the pain out of dealing with Norton head fixings.

cNw offer parts of fabulous quality BTW and a level of service that’s second to none. And... if you are going to regularly frequent the cNw web site, you might want to review your budget...!
 
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Fast Eddie said:
No, I’m pretty sure Matt paints fenders with paint, he has to as he gets custom colours mixed and wouldn’t be able to just match up with a powder coaters colour chart.

I think if you use an etch primer that’s designed for stainless steel you’ll be fine.

If you’re perusing the cNw web site do look at their head bolt kit before you buy any tops etc. Their 12 point bolt heads (smaller than normal for the thread size) allow use of sockets and torque wrench and take a LOT of the pain out of dealing with Norton head fixings.

cNw offer parts of fabulous quality BTW and a level,of,service that’s second to none. And... if you are going to regularly frequent the cNw web site, you might want to review your budget...!
Click to expand...

Haha right enough, it's definitely pricey. Thanks for tip on the head bolts.
 
BigNickDawg420 said:
Hmm, I wonder what CNW does to paint their fenders, powdercoat?
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Big Nick,

I paint the fenders. As Fast E mentions, in order to get a match with the tank and side covers, this is really the only option for me.

I normally use a stock (stainless) rear fender. These are available new from Andover but you can certainly work on what you have if its not to banged up. It is sanded to get an aggressive texture and then an epoxy primer before final finish. This has proven to work very well for adhesion. Stainless is a bit trickier to paint than mild steel but just requires a different approach

On a few machines I used the earlier style Chrome fender. It has a bit more 'wrap' and looks nice. Chrome has to be stripped though in order to get a good surface to paint over

Matt
 
I emailed an electroplating company here and they said they can remove the chrome down to the nickel for $100, which seams fair. It can then be scuffed and primered. It’s got a few nicks and dents so if I were to hammer those out and bondo them would the bondo stick well? Or would it be better to start fresh with a new set of fenders?
 
850’s came with Polished Stainless fenders, not chrome. Your’s look stock.
They are most likely Stainless..
 
MichaelB said:
850’s came with Polished Stainless fenders, not chrome. Your’s look stock.
They are most likely Stainless..
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You know what, having a look at them right now, you’re absolutely correct. So is it possible to do body work and repair the dents and paint them?
 
htown16 said:
Get the Mick Hemmings heavy weight Twin engine rebuild and gearbox rebuild DVDs. A bit pricey but they will save you money in the long run if you are doing your own engine and gearbox. I'm on my third Commando rebuild and they have saved me many times over. I have a little portable DVD player on my work bench. Mick does a step, I hit pause and do the same thing.
http://bracebridge-street.com/tech.htm
Click to expand...

Agreed, I've used the DVD three tiimes now and it's like having him in the garage with me (and I'm sure I hear him taking the piss sometimes).

He does get a bit heavy with a hammer at times though I thought.
 
Fast Eddie said:
Getting the head off in the frame can be a very frustrating fiddle.

I would suggest taking the engine out as one lump.
Click to expand...

Strange, I thought it was quite easy compared to a Featherbed framed machine. Just make sure the pushrods are up as high as they can go out of their sockets. It's so much lighter to get the lump out without the head on when doing it on your own. I put it all back together like that too. I think I took longer to get the centre screw in the box section head steady than fit the head itself.
 
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BigNickDawg420 said:
Awesome, definitely look into getting that.



Right on, hopefully my bike will be done by then. Vintage Motorcycle Canyon Run also looks fun.



I'm positive that this tank is fiberglass. I don't think that has a stock horn, seems good where its at on the front of the frame lol. and yeah I like the look of the painted barrels too, adds a nice contrast. I'm thinking about getting one of those sexy new seats that you see on the CNW builds, looks sharp.
Click to expand...

See the "for sale" forum for a seat.
 
I've been slacking for a few days, finally got to the shop. Pulled the primary off tonight, looks like the engine is ready to come out next, it looks a little tricky to take out as a whole unit. Do you leave the transmission and isolastic frame in and just remove the engine and lift it up and out? It almost looks easier to remove the transmission and swingarm together as a unit. The engine number is 300185, must be one of the early 850s.

Here are some picture updates.

1973 Norton Commando Restoration


1973 Norton Commando Restoration
 
Remove the head / top steady first.
Remove the shocks.
Disconnect/remove the oil lines & oil manifold.
Remove the transmission cradle bolts, and slide the transmission/swingarm assembly back.
Draw out the front isolastic thru-bolt.
Lift the power unit out.
 
BigNickDawg420 said:
I've been slacking for a few days, finally got to the shop. Pulled the primary off tonight, looks like the engine is ready to come out next, it looks a little tricky to take out as a whole unit. Do you leave the transmission and isolastic frame in and just remove the engine and lift it up and out? It almost looks easier to remove the transmission and swingarm together as a unit. The engine number is 300185, must be one of the early 850s.
Click to expand...


I was able to take the engine out fully assembled, by myself. The primary drive and cases must be removed and all engine mounting bolts.
 
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