Tin Man

Paint it Black said:
MS850 said:
Post some photos, im not a good reader. :lol:


http://s1347.photobucket.com/user/kashc ... do%20Resto

Let's see if that works

That's an interesting machine, and will be well worth the time and money to bring back to life. It looks like a very early rear wheel setup, and the engine gives early indication of being a combat motor, at least from the telltale cylinder head to cylinder spacing. If so there are lots of good and some necessary improvements possible to the engine.
 
grandpaul said:
I can personally vouch for Commando restorations TYPICALLY being "not for profit" endeavors.

By all means start a restoration/rebuild thread in the "Member's Projects" section, or have on of the admin move this thread over there (that way you keep this content).

I typically re-size all photos to 820 pixels wide by whatever height that works out to, THEN upload them (I use PictureTrail, there are a dozen good free photo hosting sites). You can also pay for Premium membership here which gives you photo storage space that is relatively easy to use.


Great idea on the resto/rebuild thread. I paid for premium to support the community, but files still too large.
 
cyclegeezer said:
Paint it Black said:
MS850 said:
Post some photos, im not a good reader. :lol:


http://s1347.photobucket.com/user/kashcom/library/72

That's an interesting machine, and will be well worth the time and money to bring back to life. It looks like a very early rear wheel setup, and the engine gives early indication of being a combat motor, at least from the telltale cylinder head to cylinder spacing. If so there are lots of good and some necessary improvements possible to the engine.




That's an interesting machine, and will be well worth the time and money to bring back to life. It looks like a very early rear wheel setup, and the engine gives early indication of being a combat motor, at least from the telltale cylinder head to cylinder spacing. If so there are lots of good and some necessary improvements possible to the engine.

It's serial number 220160 and it has RH6 stamped on the cylinder head, there is no "C" stamped on it. It's had a repair to the threads on the exhaust port on the left cylinder and the plugs were a nice chocolate brown with no metal transfer. So my fingers are crossed. Does anyone know anything about this bike?
 
You probably need to read the early parts of this thread then.
combat-engine-not-t19259.html

Your number is well past Combat production...

Commandos still have good performance, regardless,
and the potential to not explode cannot be ignored !
 
Rohan said:
You probably need to read the early parts of this thread then.
combat-engine-not-t19259.html

Your number is well past Combat production...

Commandos still have good performance, regardless,
and the potential to not explode cannot be ignored !


RH6 = standard Commando. "I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodman; "for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

So happy it' s not a Combat.
 
My tear down is complete, but for the frozen rear isolastic mount and the frozent front steering head through bolt. :D
 
Careful with the steering stem. Best to leave the bottom nut in place on the last threads so that the face of the nut is flush with the bottom of the threaded yoke stem. Squirt some penetrating lube on the bottom of the stem where it will be drifting up into the bottom bearing.

Next, hold a 2' length of 2x4 in one hand, flat against the nut; and with the other hand, swing a large hammer squarely at the board to drive the top yoke out of it's corrosion-frozen dwelling place.

A nicely-landed smack should give it space to get a shot of penetrating lube in under the top yoke (to the top bearing interface) before letting it sit a few minutes while you tap on it lightly to let it "creep"; then give it few good, square blows from the bottom.

Once the nut hits the bottom bearing, remove it and continue CAREFULLY smacking it till it's all the way up in the bottom bearing.

After that, you need a shouldered drift of approx. 5/8" i.d. / 7/8" o.d. to slip in the stem's hole to a point where it can continue to drive the stem out and still fit loosely inside the bearing.

Regardless of the placement of the top chrome trim cap, (and the fact that the bearings innards are sealed), water still gets in the interface between stem and bearings, and causes corrosion.
 
Tin Man said:
I paid for premium to support the community, but files still too large.

Did you re-size them as I suggested?

Actually, another thing to do BEFORE re-sizing them, is to crop off excess background above, below, and from the sides of the subject photo material, THEN re-size to 800 pix wide.

I use a free downloaded photo editor that saves the .jpg images to almost HALF the kb file size that windows paint saves them to. It has helped me to be able to post much bigger, clearer pix and still have under 100k file size (typically 85k for 90% of my photos).

Check out the John Player Norton or 880 Custom cafe racer project threads and you'll see what I mean. The only files I posted larger than 800 pix wide are the final / complete side-on shots at 1000 pix wide, still BARELY 100k with very good resolution (for an internet photo)...
 
grandpaul said:
Careful with the steering stem. Best to leave the bottom nut in place on the last threads so that the face of the nut is flush with the bottom of the threaded yoke stem. Squirt some penetrating lube on the bottom of the stem where it will be drifting up into the bottom bearing.

Next, hold a 2' length of 2x4 in one hand, flat against the nut; and with the other hand, swing a large hammer squarely at the board to drive the top yoke out of it's corrosion-frozen dwelling place.

A nicely-landed smack should give it space to get a shot of penetrating lube in under the top yoke (to the top bearing interface) before letting it sit a few minutes while you tap on it lightly to let it "creep"; then give it few good, square blows from the bottom.

Once the nut hits the bottom bearing, remove it and continue CAREFULLY smacking it till it's all the way up in the bottom bearing.

After that, you need a shouldered drift of approx. 5/8" i.d. / 7/8" o.d. to slip in the stem's hole to a point where it can continue to drive the stem out and still fit loosely inside the bearing.

Regardless of the placement of the top chrome trim cap, (and the fact that the bearings innards are sealed), water still gets in the interface
between stem and bearings, and causes corrosion.

Thanks, Grandpaul! Great advice. As soon as I'm done with the honeydo list, which should take about a week.
 
grandpaul said:
Tin Man said:
I paid for premium to support the community, but files still too large.

Did you re-size them as I suggested?

Actually, another thing to do BEFORE re-sizing them, is to crop off excess background above, below, and from the sides of the subject photo material, THEN re-size to 800 pix wide.

I use a free downloaded photo editor that saves the .jpg images to almost HALF the kb file size that windows paint saves them to. It has helped me to be able to post much bigger, clearer pix and still have under 100k file size (typically 85k for 90% of my photos).

Check out the John Player Norton or 880 Custom cafe racer project threads and you'll see what I mean. The only files I posted larger than 800 pix wide are the final / complete side-on shots at 1000 pix wide, still BARELY 100k with very good resolution (for an internet photo)...


I've started resizing the files, but I'm in the middle of studying for an exam and we're trying to sell the house. So the Norton is going to sit and soak in penetrating oil until I'm done painting a few windows and repairing some drywall. That is if my sickness doesn't take over. That is my addiction to grease and oil.
 
Tin Man said:
The transmission wouldn't come out until the breather came off of the back of the engine, which I found impossible to do. So I removed the engine first.

Yes, engine power unit must be removed or at least lifted partially to clear the tranny removal.
 
I've been having a time getting the title into my name. I've finally figured it out and will be starting work on the bike soon.
 
Thats a nice project and all the major components are there so you have a head start. I've never seen an ignition on the right hand side on a commando before. Best of Luck with the resto
 
Tin Man


My assistant waiting for me to throw the ball for him.
 
Tin Man


The title was last transferred in 1983. The original owner had put a little over 28,000 miles on the clock before selling the bike. The new owner lost interest quickly as he put less than 2500 miles on it. The original owner had apparently taken very good care of it, as everything was in relatively good repair. It came apart easily with a little oil. No broken bolts or skinned knuckles required.
 
Tin Man


Tin Man


Tin Man



The worst of it appears to be this rust damage to the fender mount behind the left rear shock. Otherwise the frame appears to be tracking correctly. The rear tire was worn straight down the middle too.
 
Tin Man


The slides were frozen in the carbs, but I managed to get one free. This allowed me to get the carbs off. I plan on replacing them, so no big deal.
 
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