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htown16 wrote:According to the Norton Owners club tech digest the superblend bearings were introduced at serial #207197 and the first detuned post Combat 750 engine at #211110. Mine is higher than that.

OK, if the INOA says so regarding intro to the production line of superblends. Nothing wrong with a combat engine once the superblends are in there. There's no reason to detune it. It's fun the way it is. Mine now has 45,000 miles. After going from a combat to a '73 750 high compression I was disappointed in the '73s performance. Next time I was Commando shopping went back to another combat.

Making some progress, everything has been completely stripped and degrunged. Ready to send frame and assorted bits out to the powder coater. Will be using Road Toys. Thnks unclviny for the tip. Rear wheel also going out to be relaced. Question, any reason brake drum should not be powder coated?

the brake drum can be powdercoated, painted, chromed or polished; doesn't really matter much. It's certainly not a precision high-performance system!

I'm in the process of rebuilding the wheels. I counted three felt washers in the rear. I haven't got the front apart but I assume it has two. The parts book only shows one in the rear, none in the front. I need to order some. Are they all the same size/part number? Five altogether?

Time to do some updated photos.
Tank and side covers back from being media blasted. Already off to the painter.

Front wheel cleaned, inside rim painted, new sealed bearings, disc skimmed. Forks dismantled and cleaned, new seals, allen head drain plugs, new gaiters, new fork tubes.

Ready to start the gearbox tear down. Mick Hemmings DVD on the portable player.

Front cover off

Inside front cover, pretty grungy.

inner cover off

inner parts look good. little wear on gear teeth and dogs

Time to inspect everything thoroughly and order new parts. Already have superblend layshaft bearing.
More to follow

Really appreciate the pictures of the transmission work, always a mystery area to me. Of course at this pooint we can only see it coming apart...looking forward to the cleaning, checking of tolerances etc and then the re-assembly. And how helpful the dvd play-by-play action has been.
Thanks for the effort in posting this!
Kurt

How is the detail on those dvd's? Show everything up close, or the kind where he works on it and it cuts to a zoom of the part he's talking about?

DVD was very nice to have, but I think I could have done it with the Old Brits tech articles and the Clymer shop manual, which has a lot of pictures.
Gearbox rebuild is now finished.
Camplate gear missing tooth, replaced with a new one.

Bad timing side main shaft bearing

New timing side main shaft bearing

New Superblend layshart bearing

Checking end play on layshaft, 9 thou

Buttoned up and ready to go

Tank and side covers back from painter

Frame back from powder coater

Stay tuned next project is engine teardown.
Mitch

Good looking progress!

So who did your powdercoating after all?

Nice colour !
Make shure the stickers that come on the side covers are level with the ground !
this is often done wrong ( parallel with top edge ) and IMO looks really bad .

I used Road Toys. He's in Deanville Texas, about an hour and half northwest of Houston. He did a great job. Also highly recommend my painter, Dereck Guilioz to anyone in the Houston area, (pm me if you want a phone number). He's a trained autobody technican, but works another job and paints bikes at his house.

Well I did it again. My third basket case, a 71.

Actually it is somewhat together, so is it really a basket case? Picked it up a couple of weeks ago from Big D cycle in Dallas. Matching numbers including transmission case. With all my parts swapping I now have everything to do a complete restore on the post Combat 72 except for any internal engine parts which I won't know until I tear the engine down. I'll also have about 90% of the parts to do the 71 and still have enough left over for a 74 rolling chassis that I will probably sell. Haven't actually turned a wrench in over a year but I've enjoyed this part too. My goal was to get all the parts together while I'm working for a couple of rebuild projects when I retire next year. I also plan to totally update the electrics on my Bonneville and refurbish a 70 BSA Thunderbolt I recently got. Should keep me out of my wife's way.

+ with ludwig on the stickers being level !!! If your like us, (and they are installed "crooked" ) ... it will irritate you everytime you look at the otherwise beautiful machine. BTW, looks like we both own similar other motorcycles. I had a 2005 XL1200R before, that I sold to buy the 2006 electraglide standard. Sure miss the XL1200R too ! Cheers.

Mitch, I've got a bunch of leftover tranny internals, inner & outer coer, and other Commando bits left over.

grandpaulz@hotmail.com

Grandpaul
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