Muttster: A long, slow '74 resto-mod

I am starting what will likely be a long term resto/mod project on my ’74 mk2, and will be using this thread to go through it, posting pics and asking questions as I go. It will be slow going for me as work, my wife, and my 2.3 yo twins all keep me pretty busy.

I gave my intro to this forum with my first post here - what-your-story-how-did-you-aquire-your-norton-t17651-45.html#p224319 (btw - it would be nice to see this thread revived). It was a bit rough around the edges after 10 years under a tarp in the big steel shed. Even though it has a concrete floor, the time was not nice to it in a number of ways, and all of the chrome was badly pitted. I did manage to get most of that 10ft presentable by using the aluminium foil polishing trick, though when you look close it is not great and I am sure will return to a poor state over time.



This was right before my kids were born, and it took me a bit to get things polished up, running well again and get the inspections done, and I have been riding it for the past year and a half or so with my hi-rider tank on it, since I have been doing mostly commuting and it is easier to work on and take off than the interstate tank. I also got a Ducati ST4s to ride when the Norton is on the lift or I want a modern feel.



Along the way, I have been thinking about what I would like to do with the Commando, and buying some upgrade parts for it as I acquired some cash to spend. Some of the small things went on, but a lot of them went into the spares box for when I figured out what the overall plan was.

Since most of the wiring is all brittle and most of the old rubber is too, I couldn’t see just doing a bit by bit update. So, I have decided to take it down to the frame and have it repainted, and then put it all back together again, renewing what is needed as I go. I am sure this will take me a year of Sunday’s, but no worry. It isn’t like it hasn’t taken me a while to get back into it in the first place.

Some of the things I picked up along the way that I will be adding on in the build process, among lots and lots of smaller stuff:

CNW Brembo kit, Iso kit, and ARP hardware
Lansdowne dampers
Madass alloy tank, side covers and SS axels
New wiring harness
TriSpark ign.
NYC Norton rear sets
SS HW from Rocky Point
Amal Premiers
Dyno Dave Clutch Rod Seal
Kegler clamps
Graphite swing arm bushes from Quaker City (jury is still out on this one, anybody install these and can give feedback?)
Venhill cables all around
Headlamp bucket and ears
Expensive new genuine fork tubes (old ones were pitted with rust, and have caused the seals to now leak)
Excell rims with SS spokes

There are two major choices to make yet:
1. Exhaust – A Maney style exhaust might be nice, and the power boost would be cool. But, where to get one? Ken @ NYC Norton has none, though may have them some day. And not sure about anyone else? Otherwise, I think I would go with a set of Les Harris pipes and peashooters from Commando Specialties .
2. The engine. Top end and rings/hone are sorted with not a lot of miles on them. So, I feel confident there. But, the bottom end is an unknown. It would be the right time to do it, since it will be out anyway, but would add a lot of time/$$ to the build. Still need to think this one through.

So, I have pulled the primary and the first thing I noticed was my nice, notched clutch center. Bummer.





Also noticed that the clutch bearing was good and dry. After I pulled it, it does seem to turn a bit rough so will need replacing.



I anticipate that for most bearings, a good modern sealed bearing would be the logical choice. In this case, the clutch side of the bearing backs onto shims and a spacer that sit in a cup around the mainshaft which also served ti contain the grease which lubricates the spacer and shims – so would a sealed bearing be right here, and just grease up the shims and spacer?

Next I will pull the cabling, wiring and carbs.

The bottom end will always be nagging you in the back of your mind.

Do the right thing.

That is the worst clutch hub notching I've ever seen. In fact that is the ONLY notching I've seen!

I've seen dozens of badly notched Triumph chainwheels (clutch baskets), but never a notched Norton one.

grandpaul said:

The bottom end will always be nagging you in the back of your mind.

Do the right thing.

That is the worst clutch hub notching I've ever seen. In fact that is the ONLY notching I've seen!

I've seen dozens of badly notched Triumph chainwheels (clutch baskets), but never a notched Norton one.

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Yeah, I knew I would hear that. I may have to visit Aero Machinists .

After seeing one or two pics of notched clutch centers, I then saw a lot after I saw mine.

https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=clutc ... 61&dpr=0.9

Spineless

Removed the rear sets, most of the control cables, oil tank and the Rats Nest as I had a couple spare hours last night.





I wanted to remove the carbs, too. I must have spent almost as much time looking for my cut down allen wrench as I did on the rest of the nights work. Gone. I swore it was in my cardboard box of wrenches that are out on my workbench. Little 2yo fingers at play, no doubt. And they were asleep so using the grinder to cut another was out, since the garage is adjacent to the blighters' room.

Grrr...

Found the cut down allen, right were I left it. DOH! Made some good progress after the kids were asleep Saturday night...Sunday morning...

Now I have to make a quick and dirty engine stand. I think I saw some plans here somewhere...

Forks off and motor out. I need to make that motor stand this weekend.

I am going to paint the frame and do some repairs to it - do a straightness check and some basic alignments, fix an old weld that is a bit ugly and and a cross brace between the down tubes.

From what I have read, ~165mm gap between the top of the ISO mount plate and the bottom of the cross tube is about where it should go?

I would like to keep my old VIN plate if I can, what is the best way to get it off without mangling it? Punch and drill it?

Santa came early today!

Some sexy bits from Kenny. They are very nice.

Mmm...candy.

I have the frame stripped of everything except for the VIN plates, and this has revealed a few issues I knew were there, and that are a bit worse than I might have thought.

The centre stand is good and tweaked. I knew that. My question is, if simply just straightened I assume it will just happen again – how to reinforce it so it doesn’t?

Is the centre stand mounting bolt a standard head bolt? The parts diagram is hard to tell, and on one side of mine the washer was on the nut side, and the other on the bolt head side. That former one appeared to have too much slop into the pivot hole on the stand, so hence the question about head shape – since I would be concerned about not putting a washer there?

The PO broke the frame somehow. I assume a crash of some sort, as there is a ding in the primary and you can see the shitty weld in the crack below the timing side z plate gusset. I am going to have the weld cleaned up and the straightness checked on this, as there is also a bend in the upper shock mount on this side (sorry for the blurry pic) and I want to make sure the whole thing isn’t tweaked.





I had forgotten the fact that when I put on the rear sets 20 years ago that there was a crack in the primary size z-plate, and I don’t remember it this big. I cant really get my head around this one, as the mounting hole for it above the foot pegs is so out of round. The rear set foot peg mounts below this into the stock foot peg hole, so it isn’t that. No idea what could give this so much force it cracked it and deformed the mount hole, especially since the corresponding mounting gusset and its hole are normal looking.

I would love a billet set of z-plates, but at $320 USD, a single one for 155 NZD sounds a just a bit more appealing. Or, I could just polish it up and continue to use it…

I have a single spare z-plate you can have cheap, for postage and a hamburger.

gortnipper said:

The centre stand is good and tweaked. I knew that. My question is, if simply just straightened I assume it will just happen again

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That can depend on how you use it, if you are one of those people who kickstart their bike while on the centre stand then it probably will happen again.

gortnipper said:

Is the centre stand mounting bolt a standard head bolt?

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The (high tensile) bolt is 7/16" and the bolt hexagon should be 5/8" AF. The nut hexagon, however, may be 11/16" AF. Note that the bolts (especially the left-hand one) should be fitted with their heads inside the cradle and nuts on the outside to give the necessary spring clearance.

gortnipper said:

The parts diagram is hard to tell, and on one side of mine the washer was on the nut side, and the other on the bolt head side.

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I fit a washer both sides, just ensure the LH bolt head doesn't foul the spring hook when the stand is swung down.

gortnipper said:

That former one appeared to have too much slop into the pivot hole on the stand, so hence the question about head shape – since I would be concerned about not putting a washer there?

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The bolt doesn't fit directly into the pivot hole of the stand or the cradle, it fits into is the stepped spacer/pivot bush (AN link, item 19 part 064057). So, are the pivot bushes missing?

http://www.nortonmotors.de/ANIL/Norton% ... 17&Part=19

gortnipper said:

The PO broke the frame somehow.

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I believe the frame has been known to break in that area if the rear Isolastic has no clearance.

grandpaul said:

I have a single spare z-plate you can have cheap, for postage and a hamburger.

Click to expand...

Sold! I'll even throw in a beer! :mrgreen:

L.A.B. said:

That can depend on how you use it, if you are one of those people who kickstart their bike while on the centre stand then it probably will happen again.

Click to expand...

L.A.B. said:

I fit a washer both sides, just ensure the LH bolt head doesn't foul the spring hook when the stand is swung down.

Click to expand...

Ta.

L.A.B. said:

So, are the pivot bushes missing?

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No, they were there. It was maybe just that I had pulled the other side off first, and on the side with no washer next to the bolt head I could see the bush behind the flats of the bolt head, and that was a bit concerning. I dont think the actual hole in the cradle is deformed.

L.A.B. said:

I believe the frame has been known to break in that area if the rear Isolastic has no clearance.

Click to expand...

OK, that is somewhat reassuring. Maybe the upper shock mount bent because the frame broke, and not due to an accident then? That sound reasonable.

Thanks for your help.

Pulled the ISOs out of the cradle, and I drove them out using a large socket as a drift, so that might be why the one on the left is split. But the other had a chunk out of it that was not done by dis-assembly.



I also removed the bushes from the swing arm, and found that the PO must have dug out the welsh plugs with a hammer and a pry bar at some point.



I bought some graphite bushes that were on sale last year that are pretty cool. Dont know if I will use them now, as they are slightly too long and need to be taken down ~3mm and that may eat into one of the graphite spiral grooves. They are much tighter on the shaft than the old ones were, however.



http://quakercitymotorworks.com/norton-swing-arm-bush/

Found a picture in a box of photos that I was showing my twins last weekend. This is in '91 I think, right after I had the head off to my friend who was an aircraft tool maker, so he bored out the header cups that the PO had stripped out and made some custom inserts from aircraft aluminium and I had them welded in. At the same time I bought a RITA and put it on, along with new headers and Napoleon mirrors.

I could not get these from the local dealer, and IKON gave me a pretty good price including shipping.



Until I got clipped hard.

I am tearing apart the rear hub to install one of Madass' one piece axle and replace the wheel bearings. The felt seal retaining washer is very snug in the drum, and only has a very slim gap at the center to get the smallest screwdriver in to try and lever it out. Tried penetrating oil, to no avail. Any tips for getting this out?

Yeah, I got mine out the other day.
I drilled a hole, screwed a self tapper in and used a claw hammer.
I suppose it could be re-used, but I'm replacing mine.

How'd you go about getting hold of a Madass rear axle ?