Matt's Combat Commando overhaul by GrandPaul

With so much going on in the shop all at ther same time, each project keeps getting time-warped between major steps.

Yesterday was clutch and tranny day...

Started with washing the basket & hub, then replacing the bearing-



Set up the primary using one of my spare cradles, too bad it's a Mark III, I didn't have an older one with primary adjustment-



Cleaned up the slightly bodged crank keyways and slipped on the primary to shim out the basket. There's a chance the actual final shimming will need to change if Matt's cradle is slightly different from mine (as far as if mine and/or his has ever been bent and straightened, etc)

Here's where things got dicey.

I installed the new Sparx 3 phase alternator, and the alternator rotor nut wasn't wanting to slip into the rotor's hole. So, like I've done a hundred times, I took the nut to the grinding wheel to dress the face a bit. I'm slowly turning it through about 90 degrees and ZIP! CLUNK! The wheel sucked the nut right out of my hand and locked up the grinder motor. As I reach over to turn it off, I realize the tip of my index finger is gone!

Well, that's gonna leave a mark! I took a picture, but I'll spare you. It was bleeding pretty good, but didn't really hurt. It was just sliced clean off about even with the fingernail quick, and I think I saw the very tip of the bone poking out. Anyway, I looked down in the grinder at the jammed nut, and there's the tip of my finger, squashed in the built-up shavings inside the wheel's housing. There wasn't going to be any taking it to the hospital in a zip-loc with ice, that's for sure.

So, I wrapped a dirty shop rag around my finger (leaving the cleanest part near the injury), closed up the shop, and went next door to ask for a lift to the hospital. Then, I went inside and told my daughter to go next door and visit while I "ran an errand". Frank pulled around with tires smoking and eyes wide, I jumped in and off we went.

The nurse at reception gave me some tissues and a couple of alcohol wipes as I answered her questions. I really wasn't feeling much pain, I've certainly been hurt worse (like when I almost chopped off the SAME FINGER TIP when loading a dirt bike on the back of a truck and got my finger chomped by one of the sprocket bolts against the swingarm). Well, just like the other time, it really only started to hurt when the alcohol hit the nub! YEEF! 3 HOURS LATER, after an x-ray, lots of waiting, and not much more than a proper scrubbing and splint/bandage, I was sent off with a bag of bandage stuff and a scrip for pain killers & some neosporin. I'll take the neosporin, forget the pain killers (I hate pills, all of 'em).

As soon as I got home, I fetched out the jammed nut from the grinder and threw away the mangled hunk of meat & fingernail. Looks like it's time for a new grinder wheel; it's got a little chunk taken out of it, and I know it could expolde violently at any time after a whack like that.

Thi is going to slow me down; the bandages are already dirty from this mornings work, and it's a PAIN IN THE BUTT to wrap the finger in a zip-loc to wash my hands, which I do about a half dozen times a day!

Okay, so back to what will now be "normal".

Rusty, scruffy steel plates-



Clean, scuffed-on-the-shop-floor steel plates-



All done except I will install a new grinder wheel and dress the replacement rotor nut using my friend's lathe; what a hassle, he's all the way across town.

It hasn't altered your keyboarding skills too much.

I was 15 when I was buffing out shoutgun barrel for bluing when the bead site got caught. Took the tip off with nail. They trimmed and sewed the flap over the end of the now trimmed up bone and the nail grew back.
Your nail will grow back too.

Just thought I would relate.

My father-in-law sewed mine back on the first time it happened. I'll tell you this, the "pain killer" shot he injected into my finger hurt 10 times worse than the injury!

It grew back okay, but always felt wierd and tingly after that. also, the nail grew in kinda "double", where I could never keep it trimmed right, and couldn't clean the grease and grime out of it too easily.

Good idea!

Clean those steel clutch plates by scraping them around on the garage floor!

Now why don't I do things like that? Makes a lot of sense.

1up3down said:

Good idea!

Clean those steel clutch plates by scraping them around on the garage floor!

Now why don't I do things like that? Makes a lot of sense.

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It's not rocket science, for goodness sake, they're just plain steel plates.

The idea is to knock the glaze off them and make them grippy again without warping them. I've found this method works a treat, and has been working for me for nearly 30 years without ever ruining a plate. Heck, I've never even scraped a fingertip doing it!

1up3down said:

Good idea!

Clean those steel clutch plates by scraping them around on the garage floor!

Now why don't I do things like that? Makes a lot of sense.

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The "Arkansonian Debur".

A sheet of glass and wet and dry works, looks better too. But I have done them by rubbing on concrete when I was younger.

graeme

If you want to get a bit more formal, the Brush Research folks have a dingle berry tool that you chuck in your drill and you can scuff up your clutch plates or brake disks to give a random roughened finish without cutting too much metal.

bill said:

Paul

why on gods green earth would you put lock tight on head bolts and barrel nuts!!!!! first off you should use a lubricant so as to give a more consistent torque and as you HAVE TO RE TORQUE these fasteners several times you have negated the lock tight when you do this along with made it IMPOSSIBLE to achieve an accurate torque figure. this shows me along with the oil pick up mod you have NO idea what what you are doing!!!!!

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haha - i love it!

I may be a new poster to this forum but I am not new to Nortons as I have 2 since the late '70s
but I gotta tell you Paul, Locktiting the head bolt is just a stupid practice since you have to retorqued the head at least 3 times so how the hell are you going to achieve
any kind of torque reading when it takes more torque to break the bond of the locktite in the first place.
The head has to be retorqued the next day after the initial run in to temp and then after about 50 miles or until it won't take anymore torquing.

Your qoute: "The lipped oil wier at the back of the crankcase sump is something that should be removed. I believe that was the only year for that lip, and not sure what it's intended purpose was." end qoute.

You removed the wier and you don't know what it was for? Really?
Sliding a customers clutch plates across the floor of your shop to scuff them up is so shade tree. It should be done on a flat surface like a piece of granite or machined steel plate.
That way one could see any high spots and maybe the need to replace any warped or bent discs

Due to the shear number of post you make it gives people, and I was one of them, the impression you are a certified Norton Mechanic.
Your giving out some bad advice here.
I'm sorry if this may offend you or if others think I am out of place since I am new to this forum but I just can't stand by and watch someone promote their business on this forum
using techniques which are just wrong.
Holding a nut to a grinder with your bare fingers? Really Paul?

As far as the nut goes, I think it is fairly common knowledge that the many of the Sparx rotors require a slight reaming on the end for proper fit of the fixing nut. There isn't a lot of meat on that nut to be grinding off. If you have to replace the nut, perhap do to failure because of grinding, you'll be back at square 1.

No offense taken. I am what I am and that's that.

Like I said, I've been doing it how I'm doing it for 30 years and not a single catastrophic failure on my record. I've clearly stated that I've had a half-handful of serious problems, but they were resolved to the client's satisfaction.

Thinking back on the loctite deal, it was only on the base nuts. Head bolts get anti-sieze compound (still affects torque readings, but we've been on that subject elsewhere).

On the rotor nut, I wasn't grinding it, I was dressing the edge to allow it to slip into the rotor hole.

Oil wier deal has also been covered, talk to Fred at Old Britts, it's right there on his website.

I suppose I'm the ONLY person on this forum that holds stuff in a grinder with my bare hands...

Paul
you are one lucky man is all I can say.
#1 if I did not straighten a FORMER clients commando from all that I found WRONG he surly could have been seriously hurt and probably ruined the bike.I still have all the documentation from it with pictures to prove my point. the ONLY reason I have kept it quite was in hopes that you learned from it but from all i see you STILL have no business doing this line of work and I pity your clients.

#2 I did find lock tight on his head bolt's along a with wrong nut on the rear head stud (wrong thread )

#3 you and fred are BOTH wrong on this issue and it has also been talked about here by me and dyno dave BUT YOU REFUSE TO LEARN as you continue to show in your post's. I hope that you have a good liability insurance policy as you will need it with the quality of work you do

ps here is a hint. next time you grind a nut put a rod through it and keep you fingers a safe distance.

grandpaul said:

No offense taken. I am what I am and that's that.
Paul

#1Like I said, I've been doing it how I'm doing it for 30 years and not a single catastrophic failure on my record. I've clearly stated that I've had a half-handful of serious problems, but they were resolved to the client's satisfaction.



[[/b]#2Thinking back on the loctite deal, it was only on the base nuts. Head bolts get anti-sieze compound (still affects torque readings, but we've been on that subject elsewhere).

[/b]#3On the rotor nut, I wasn't grinding it, I was dressing the edge to allow it to slip into the rotor hole.

Oil wier deal has also been covered, talk to Fred at Old Britts, it's right there on his website.

I suppose I'm the ONLY person on this forum that holds stuff in a grinder with my bare hands...

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grandpaul said:

Cylinder flange nuts all loctited in place and properly nipped up-


I was about to pull my t-shirt off and cut a couple of strips to shove into the pushrod tunnels in the head, then I noticed I had the plastic bags from Megacycle that had the cam followers in them; folded in half and rolled up, they worked a treat to retain the pushrods in the head while I lowered it in place onto the cylinders-

That's the ticket! loctited all the head bolts and nuts in place and nipped them right up-

Top end done. Tranny next...

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First off, never use and rags to shove into PR tunnels to hold PR's. Cotton fibers do not dissolve in oil and can clog drain holes or get wrapped up in the oil pump.
If you must use anything use paper towels as it is cellulose and will dissolve.
All that is needed to hold the PR's in the head during assembly is a stiff grease in the rocker cups which will hold the PR's in place. Stuffing rags and plastic in there is so shade tree.
The fact that you brag about it says something.
I like all the use of British slang to make it sound like you know what you are doing

Second you clearly did say you locktite the head bolts. WTF

How are you able to adjust the timing chain properly without a proper support jig? http://www.norvilmotorcycle.co.uk/444400.htm

All I have to say is Buyer beware.

more of your ignorance THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE in pistons between std. and combat as to deck height

grandpaul said:

Note how Combat high compression pistons come up proud of skimmed cylinder deck-

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Paul,

If its any consolation, there are many bike builders that don't know WTF they are doing. I know of one Triumph EXPERT who swears that Boyer stator wires are fine as is. They only break because Norton owners are too dumb to allow enough slack in the leads from the frame to the points cavity.

Poor Matt ..!

If it wasn't for his victims , GP's ignorance and blatant incompetence would be no more than an endless source of fun and amusement .

GP : ask Santa for a lathe .
Or , on second toughts : don't .
You would only hurt yourself ..

Its perhaps to be expected that an individual working on their own bike themselves is likely to make a few mistakes, and might even post relating to work which has been carried out improperly on the net.

However when someone who suggests he is a professional restorer/engineer, makes numerous posts on net forums which suggest he has very little understanding of this type of work, thats something else entirely and perhaps provides a good reason for prospective customers to look elsewhere to have work carried out?