GARY72 wrote:I have a 1966 Norton Atlas 750 in a Matchless Scrambler frame.
It A local machine shop rendered my cylinder head unusable, so I am looking for an Atlas 750 cylinder head, and a source for new pistons and rings.
There was really nothing like the "Snortin' Norton".

Depends where you went for the opinion on the head, you will be surprised what can be done to restore a cylinder head these days.

Hi, I have read this article with interest. I live in the UK, and bought one of these new in 1969 from Gus Kuhn in London. I used to belong to the National Sprint Association, and did a standing quartet in 13.6 seconds at Duxford Aerodrome in 1970. According to an aquaintance of mine who worked for Norton, and built some of the last of these in 1969, the factory used up any parts to hand that fitted. He said that mine had a commando engine as they had run out of Atlas parts by then. The vibration was bad untill it had done 12000 miles. It needed 100 octane petrol too. It used to shear silencer bolts, etc. I loved the bike, but sold it to finance my first house when I got married. It still exists somewhere. The reg. No. was WYM409H. Best regards on a fine restoration, Paul

Well? Any progress?

This project has been eating my lunch. Everything shapes up nicely 'till I get it all back together then it just refuses to fire.

I'm on the third teardown (twice to the primary, once all the way back down to re-check the rod bolts & big end shells; one of those times it got the thick base plate, this last time it's getting the cam drive timing checked)

It's a real bugger because of the primary cover with the captive alternator stator requires considerable loosening of hardware to wiggle the sucker free without scuffing the polished aluminum, and the entire fiddle with the AAU magneto. I've nailed the mag timing with the degree wheel, double & triple checked and it just won't fire. This last time around, I've lost spark from the freshly overhauled K2F.

Since the owner took over a year to decide what he wanted, and another 6 months to give me the go-ahead and deposit, I'm thankful he isn't in a hurry or panic to see it done. One thing for sure, it'll be done RIGHT.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone...

I really like the old Matchless twins, and I really like the old Norton twins. But when AMC was in trouble and they started to bolt parts from two different grand old marques together for whatever reason, it just always made me sad to look at them, a reminder of how mismanagement destroyed everything that was good about British bikes.... Looks like a horse running around with a cat's head sewed on.

grandpaul wrote:This project has been eating my lunch. Everything shapes up nicely 'till I get it all back together then it just refuses to fire.

I'm on the third teardown ................ One thing for sure, it'll be done RIGHT.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone...

yes one things for sure...

hopefully the 4th time is the charm? ...

Yes, I believe it will be. I've garnered all the specific shop manual pages and am going through them sentence by sentence. SOMETHING has to be missing here.

There's no way the mag just gave up, it's a total overhaul with a new armature and was shooting a mighty blue spark before. Taking it off with the engine in place is a mother...

(no, a bit of cigarette paper didn't stay stuck in the points)

grandpaul wrote:..I'm on the third teardown (twice to the primary, once all the way back down to re-check the rod bolts & big end shells; one of those times it got the thick base plate, this last time it's getting the cam drive timing checked)..... One thing for sure, it'll be done RIGHT..

Just out of curiosity , I scrolled over this entire thread .
Initially I tried to advice you on possible pitfalls , but after I noticed that you didn't even bother to upgrade the layshaft bearing , I kind of gave up .

on March 2nd 2010 , I posted :

(quote) "Please , don't let me stop you , but trust me on this : GP , or somebody else will be doing this all over soon enough .
Like a wise man said :
"There is never time to do it right , but there is allways time to do it again !" (unquote)

If you'll ever get it right , I don't know ( personally I doubt it ) , but just by looking at the pictures , I can garantee you that you'll tear that primary apart a few more times ..

you can lead them to water but you can't make them drink. I gave up on this one a while back as some just have to pee on the electric fence before they learn.

ludwig wrote:

grandpaul wrote:..I'm on the third teardown (twice to the primary, once all the way back down to re-check the rod bolts & big end shells; one of those times it got the thick base plate, this last time it's getting the cam drive timing checked)..... One thing for sure, it'll be done RIGHT..

Just out of curiosity , I scrolled over this entire thread .
Initially I tried to advice you on possible pitfalls , but after I noticed that you didn't even bother to upgrade the layshaft bearing , I kind of gave up .



(quote) "Please , don't let me stop you , but trust me on this : GP , or somebody else will be doing this all over soon enough .
Like a wise man said :
"There is never time to do it right , but there is allways time to do it again !" (unquote)

It was only a matter of time. Beyond tedious.

grandpaul wrote:Yes, I believe it will be. I've garnered all the specific shop manual pages and am going through them sentence by sentence. SOMETHING has to be missing here.

There's no way the mag just gave up, it's a total overhaul with a new armature and was shooting a mighty blue spark before. Taking it off with the engine in place is a mother...

(no, a bit of cigarette paper didn't stay stuck in the points)

The "new" style of points are not the best (at best) - they can cause the mag/points to ground out if not precisely setup and result in no sparky - (had it happen and drove me crazy trying to figure it out)

if your rebuilt K2F isn't throwing a spark but was before hand and your sure it is being spun by the engine I'd check that out - if you have a set of the original points with the brass plate they are the best ( magneto guys frequently buy old clapped out K2Fs just for these original points setups ) - try replacing them

and a match book is not the way to set the points - despite what old manual/shady tree shop tech update you may have

Mike, thanx for that info, finally something worthwhile.

I believe I have a set of the old type K2F points to swap out.

It's definitely turning with the engine, and not slipping on it's taper.

If you test the timing method of using a cigarette paper against a strobe light, its surprising accurate. Done well.

Just make sure you do it on both cylinders - maggie cam rings are often not so symmetrical...

Paul, Any updates on this project? I myself bought an N15CS project bike on a recent trip to California for $500, it's not as complete as it might be, but a good basis for a restoration and I intend to keep it there at a friend's house and do some work on it on my annual trips to California. I will post some photos the next time I visit in August.

mikegray660 wrote:

grandpaul wrote:This project has been eating my lunch. Everything shapes up nicely 'till I get it all back together then it just refuses to fire.

I'm on the third teardown ................ One thing for sure, it'll be done RIGHT. quote]

yes one things for sure...

hopefully the 4th time is the charm? ...

Something appears to be very wrong here.
I don’t know how good an engine restorer you are, but it seems to me you should obtain for the engine a degree disc and mount it on the crankshaft and find top dead centre, then find out where the inlet valve is opening, closing, same for the exhaust. (as per workshop manual)
Then observe the ignition timing with a wire, bulb and battery method, with the centre bold of the magneto removed for this purpose.#
Have you checked that your carb pilot jets are not blocked, and the screws are screwed out one and a half turns
HTH.