roadster rescue

Since there seems to be a number of new projects happening on the board, I figure I'd throw mine into the mix. It's a 71 roadster rescued from this wisconsin snow covered yard, where it sat for the last 8 years. I shouldn't say rescued YET, I dont know if its gonna be possible, but I'm gonna give it a good go.

A Norton always seemed like an unattainable goal for me, mostly because of the money they usually bring, but this one was in my budget (as you can probably tell by the pics). I'm always up for a challenge, and this is definitely going to be one!

As of today, I've got the motor on the bench and torn down to the crank pinion gear, which is going to be a stand still until I can get a hold of the puller. The pistons are seized solid, the points are one solid piece of rust, but the rest of the engine seems to have been saved by oil. Sometimes wet sumping can be a good thing!

Anyway, get ready to cringe, here are the pics

And some of the good stuff

That looks to be great news as the inside was sealed off from the elements. Must be a relief. :lol:

It's like getting a dog from the Animal Rescue. It must be fixed!

Seen worse. Good pick up.

Looks promising. Primary looks great.

Hopefully you'll keep it yellow.

Looks good except the jugs are ugly.
May pay to get new(used) jugs and new pistons to complete the orig refreshed bottom end.
Getting those rusty piston out may be an effort in futility.
The rest is cleaning and polishing.
+1 on the yellow us yellow bikes got to stick together :wink:
Marshal

A good soaking in penetrating oil - either store bought or some swear by homebrew concoctions like ATF mixed with fuel oil - will get those pistons out no problem without resorting to hammer blows. Just be patient. The cylinders may not be that rusted below the rings so once it starts to move you're in good shape. Then a light hone... :lol:

Russ
(original yellow tank and sidecovers in storage unit. Yeah I know I'm a traitor)

Not a bad piece to start with at all! That Craven luggage rack is a fairly rare piece. It should have strap braces with it that triangulate it to the Z-plate to keep the rear loop from bending, but those are easy to make.

The jugs may well be salvageable. We made a press with a 1/2 inch steel plate and 1/2 inch bolts with round discs welded on to push the pistons down. The plate bolts to the jugs using the head bolts. It sometimes cracks the piston, but they are not salvageable anyway. Just use plenty of penetrating oil and go slow.

I see the '71 side stand problem has already been addressed with the square tube "custom" stand welded to the outside!

Since you mention the bike was in Wisconsin, I would guess you are located there also? If you don't want to buy your own pinion gear puller, you could take the engine to a local Norton shop (Sunset Motors is in Kenosha!) or fellow enthusiast. If there is no one local, pm me and I'll let you borrow one of mine. It's best to use the correct tool here.

Have you thought about what you plan to do about the fiberglass tank? Seal? Replace with a steel one? Custom aluminum? You'll get all kinds of opinions on that here! :roll:

I've seen that photo before!

It's bound to be a top contender for the "Most Improved" award.

The forum ought to have a new section for member's projects; this looks like a banner year!

I've had some MMO mixed with some solvent, sittin in the jugs for about a week. The rust is starting to break up a bit, but Its been built up pretty good and I'm sure its gonna need a little persuading.

As far as the yellow tank and covers, I don't think they'll make the final cut. The paint is cracking on the sideplates, plus I'd like to find a steel tank.

Another thing I didn't mention is that the frame has the "dimpled" downtubes from highway pegs, and also some deep pitting on the right side lower tube which the pipe was sitting against. To save the frame, I think my best bet would be to weld in a section from the neck to the middle of the lower tube, but If I find a decent frame in the meantime I might just go that route.

The rack I don't think I'll be using, but thanks for the info on it.


Ron L , I've actually bought parts from the "hogslayer" before, and a great guy to deal with, but theres a guy right in town here who offered to loan me a few specialy tools if needed, I just gotta get ahold of him. Also thanks for the offer

Grandpaul, I think you have seen that pic too , i'm gonna try to post on BB also


Anyways, I appreciate the feedback, and I'll keep you guys updated as I go along.

Jason

Have you considered brazing the problem areas? Brazing is stronger than welding, at least as far as attaching parts, I am not sure about repairing tubing. Might be worth looking into as opposed to replacing the frame. Braze takes paint and powder coat better than bondo too.

Dave
69S

I considered welding in the pitting, but I dont know if that would strengthen it, or if the strength of the tubing, by design, is compromised as soon as the pitting gets too deep.

You might have to get with a structural engineer on that one. I haven't a clue.

Dave
69S

71RUSToration said:

I considered welding in the pitting, but I dont know if that would strengthen it, or if the strength of the tubing, by design, is compromised as soon as the pitting gets too deep.

Click to expand...

The latter. Filling up by welding does not adress the notch effect of the dimple and puts stress on there in addition by the amount of heat.

There was a thread recently about this issue and somebody posted a link to a frame that had a cross member installed in roughly this area. My frame has the same problem and what the guy who's repairing it does is first to make a pressing tool to get the tube back into a round shape as good as it's possible. The dimple will still be there but viewed from the front it'll be allmost invisible. We then add the crossbrace by fillet brazing and fill the rest with tin.


Tim

71RUSToration said:

I considered welding in the pitting, but I dont know if that would strengthen it, or if the strength of the tubing, by design, is compromised as soon as the pitting gets too deep.

Click to expand...

The latter. Filling up by welding does not adress the notch effect of the dimple and puts stress on there in addition by the amount of heat.

There was a thread recently about this issue and somebody posted a link to a frame that had a cross member installed in roughly this area. My frame has the same problem and what the guy who's repairing it does is first to make a pressing tool to get the tube back into a round shape as good as it's possible. The dimple will still be there but viewed from the front it'll be allmost invisible. We then add the crossbrace by fillet brazing and fill the rest with tin.


Tim