1969 Fastback Rebuild

Still on the fence about using the Amal's or going with a Mikuni. Rebuilt them today and they look to be in good condition.



Cradle in frame. Waiting for my wife to get home from work to help put the engine in. Tomorrow i'm expecting a big shipment of parts from Old Britts and my wheels from CNW. Was able to get a lot of other prep and small assembly completed today including the front fender and stays, headlight, cleaned and prepped the head steady and put in the air box.

I could use some help with this one. I have 2 of these. I know one is for the horn but can't for the life of me figure out what the other one is for? Ideas?

I believe you use both on the horn, they are doubled up.

bwolfie said:

I believe you use both on the horn, they are doubled up.

Click to expand...

Yup that's what ya do

Old Britts (Fred & Ella) noted they'd be out for last week and this week (probably went to barber and are headed to Daytona). Not sure if you ordered BEFORE they left? Otherwise, your stuff won't be there till after next week...

Thanks.

I talked with Ella. She's their but is only doing web orders to handle the work load without Fred. Big box coming!

Hey Guys,

What are you using to press in...

Steering Column Bearings
Wheel Bearings
The brass inserts for the forks and swing arm etc..

Any suggestion on what tool(s) to have in the shop to install these will be appreciated.

Rather large clamp or vise or both.

Dave
69S

jsouthard said:

Hey Guys,

What are you using to press in...

Steering Column Bearings
Wheel Bearings
The brass inserts for the forks and swing arm etc..

Any suggestion on what tool(s) to have in the shop to install these will be appreciated.

Click to expand...

For my wheel bearings, i heated up the hubs in my oven and put the bearings in the freezer for a few hours then they just popped in pretty easy.

My brass bushings for the forks were pressed in using my old ones on top of them to evenly hammer them down and in place.

I havent assembled the other things yet on my bike so i cant help you with the steering head hearings and swing arm bushings.

Matt

Moving right along.

Engine, Gearbox and Swing arm installed. Received the wheels from CNW yesterday. Looking good!





Currently stuck on a couple of the fun ones...

Springs for the rear brake. Tried stretching one out with washers but that just ruined the spring, permanently over stretching it. I was able to get the front brake springs on but the rear is a real grind. I'll be trying again this morning.



Also, still cannot get the steering column bearings fully seated. I'm going to buy a larger C clamp and construct some kind of press. They just will not go in. I'm also stuck on the triple tree post. It looks good but i can't thread the bolt all the way down. It may require a tap and die. Looks like today will be mostly fettling and sorting out these issues so i can move forward.

Other that than the forks are built and ready to install. New Hagon shocks on there way and should be here today.

Any other suggestions on the bearing's, springs or triple tree post will be appreciated.

I pulled my springs on with vice grips, a brake spring hook may work too. Make sure there as closed as possible. If you have a long threaded rod, you may try threading nuts on both ends to pull the bearings into the head, heat will help and maybe some hammer force. Use a socket, and don't beat on the inner race. I don't understand about your tree post?

Dave
69S

So today I started off with some really bad decisions that will most definitely come back to haunt me. I took the bearing shells out, froze them, heated the column and pounded them back in. The are sitting in their very snug and MM's away from being fully seated. I just couldn't get them in any farther.

Either way, it's in their very well and i was able to make some progress....




I did get those damn brake springs installed finally. Both brakes and wheels are complete.





One question for today. I cannot remember, not does the manual explain where the rear fender attached to the frame / battery box? My '74 has a bracket that comes off the frame but the '69 doesn't have any pre drilled holes in the frame or fender for that attachment? It does have a single hole. Any pictures or explanations will be appreciated.



Thanks for your help so far guys. Couldn't do it without you!

You're coming along quite well there. There are 2 type rear mudguards. Ignore the oil tank.



The early 69 had the rear mudguard mounted between a strap between the upper shock mounts, like the blue one. The later 69 ones have a bracket off the frame down by the horn, I'm not real sure how the lower one works because mine mounts between the shocks. However, the central bolt off the battery/oil tank tray is a 1/4-24 bolt that goes through from the front, through the triangular bracket, a nut, and then through the mudguard, either style, and there should be a small rectangular plate spot welded to the mudguard with a hole through it that the same 1/2-24 bolt goes through, and then a washer and nut again. The blue mudguard reaches down farther below than the chrome one does, but the holes all line up either style in the horn area.



I hope this helps, but you may be on your own here, especially if you didn't have it in original condition.

I currently have a new 71 chrome rear guard, and the hole from the tray still lines up, but I had to drill a couple of holes to mount the guard to the strap between the shocks. At some point that original blue (I painted and bondoed it, don't ask) guard is getting fixed up and chromed to look original.

You know if you arc the shoes in the front drum, it improves the braking considerably. You may want to look into that unless you have already addressed that issue.

Dave
69S

One question for today. I cannot remember, not does the manual explain where the rear fender attached to the frame / battery box? My '74 has a bracket that comes off the frame but the '69 doesn't have any pre drilled holes in the frame or fender for that attachment? It does have a single hole. Any pictures or explanations will be appreciated.

Thanks for your help so far guys. Couldn't do it without you!

Click to expand...

As you can see from your picture, the right most bolt from the horn mount to the battery tray is centered with the wheel. This bolt should be inserted from the front to the back and a nut fastened to hold the mount plate. The hole in your rear fender will align with this bolt and attaches with a with a washer and nyloc nut. Obviously this bolt should be long enough to fit (1/4-28 X 1). The other horn mount bolt should be 1/4-28 X 5/8.

Well... My 9 day vacation has come to an end. Tomorrow back to work. I was able to get everything completed that I set out to and have made a lot of progress. From this moment further progress will be slowed but there is a momentum that hopefully will guide me through the rest of the rebuild.













Next up will be the primary. All broken down ready to go! I will need a bunch of help with the initial timing. But that problem is down the road a bit.



Belt drive? Sparx 3? 520 Chain conversion? Or, Should I bring it back to stock?

jsouthard said:

Belt drive? Sparx 3? 520 Chain conversion? Or, Should I bring it back to stock?

Click to expand...

Up to you, I chose to go stock until I decided what worked and didn't. You know you can get a 200W 2 wire rotor from nortonracer on ebay for about $110, Peter here on the forum put me on to it. I'm thinking seriously about the belt, I'm not worried about the drive chain the way I drive. Again, up to you.

Dave
69S

Mmmm.. I like those shiny ears. I may have to get mine chromed at some point. Black looks good, I think, but a bit more shine up front could be good.

Nice progress on your bike. Keep it comin'!

OK Guys,

Could use some help with this one. I'm trying to get my initial timing set so I can put the head on and finish all engine assembly and initial tuning before it gets too cold out.

I have set the rotor to 31 degrees...



BTDC....



The Boyer plate will not line up with the white dot with the engine in this position? My understanding was that the "Atlas Hole" should line up? It ALMOST lines up with the standard commando hole....



I know it's hard to see from these pictures but hopefully this will help someone point out what i am doing wrong.?. I'm sure I'm just missing a step but any help or direction will be appreciated. Thanks,

jsouthard said:

I have set the rotor to 31 degrees...
BTDC....
The Boyer plate will not line up with the white dot with the engine in this position? My understanding was that the "Atlas Hole" should line up? It ALMOST lines up with the standard commando hole....

Click to expand...

So you need to turn the Boyer rotor (without disturbing the crank setting) until the white dot lines up in the correct hole for clockwise rotation.
If you already tightened the rotor retaining bolt then you will have to extract the rotor in order to reposition it.

Thanks LAB,

Well, She's starting to look like a motorcycle again....





Installed a Sparx III, Barnett Clutch plates and tightened up the primary. Nice clutch action with the new plates and new clutch cable. Figured out the tail, mud guard, horn mount dilemma. Installed the head, head steady and set rocker clearances. Also, installed all the cabling (Tach, Speedo, Clutch and Brakes.



She's starting to come together now. I no longer have any zip lock bags filled with parts. The only things left to do are electrical (Waiting for a harness from Norvil), Oil Lines, Install the Mikuni (still need to order) and tune / tighten everything up.

Couple questions for you guys...

1 - How can I check to be sure the push rods are seated in the barrels properly? I have them attached to the rockers well and have set clearances but I'm a little concerned about the seating in the barrels. I was careful when installing them but would appreciate any tips to be sure.

2 - The right fork hits the tank. Even with the tank all the way back it still makes contact. It appears the steering stop on the right side has worn down. I plan to really get the tank seated properly and triple check to make sure that it's not just the mock-up but may need to make an adjustment. The questions is... On these earlier Commando's is this more common? It has a different steering stop on the steering column than my '74? Honestly I'm just thinking out loud on this one.