Stroppy Old Tart, or the story of a Triumph Bonneville

[Hooli]

That's news to me, I need it for the pillar bolts that hold the points plate in.

[Hooli]

Right then as I was in the mood to do something this evening I did a bit more on this before starting to cook tea.

Primary chain tensioner fitted & stator back on, I think the chain is a bit worn by the shape of the tensioner but the clutch basket is worn too. When one of them gets too bad it has to replaced all together as the clutch basket is one piece with the rear sprocket. It all worked ok before so doesn't need to be done yet & there isn't an unlimited budget for this build.

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Then using new circlips to retain the gudeon pins I fitted the pistons, using the writing on the crown to ensure they are the correct way around. Last thing to do before the next step was to remove the rags tied around the rods to stop them getting dinged.

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Then the barrels went on. Having to get both sets of rings in together is a pain, the compression rings pop in easy enough but the oil rings are a pain. I recalled the easy cheat for this from last time & put a cable tie really tight around the oil ring before starting. Then after easing the compression rings in by hand you get the base of the barrels on the cable tie & give it thump with your hand from above, that pops the barrel over the oil ring & pushes the cable tie down the piston. Then just cut the cable tie off before lowering the barrels into position & tightening the eight retaining nuts.

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Tomorrow I'm borrowing my neighbour's welder to refit the broken brackets on the exhaust as well as putting the engine in the frame. His son is down for the weekend too, so I can speak to him about making a new electrics box & how to fit the seat properly.

If anyone is wondering why I'm not fitting the head before fitting the engine, it's for a couple of reasons. One it's a little bit lighter to lift into place but mainly as it's a rather tight fit & leaving the head off makes it a lot easier. I believe it's impossible to get the engine in or out with the rocker boxes fitted, it's that tight.

[Hooli]

Not much progress today, I started by cleaning a few more bits & handing over half the exhaust to my neighbour to ask them to weld the bracket back on the pipe & replace the bolt welded to the can (as the thread has gone on it).

Then I fitted the lump to the frame & put it away again as I couldn't get in the frame of mind to do anything else.

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[paulplom]

I think there's something in the water. I can't be arsed to do anything atm. If I had the choice I stay in bed all day which isn't like me at all. I've hardly been able to keep my eyes open for the last few days.
I've been and bought some iron tablets today.

[Hooli]

There's been some progress today & some annoyance.

The head is on, with a freshly annealed 80thou copper gasket. That's much thicker than normal & makes up for the skim the head had while being repaired. The barrel & head assembly needs to stay the same size so the pushrod tubes fit correctly with 35thou(ish) of squish for the seals. I also gave the seals a thin smear of sealant for good luck, hopefully they won't leak even though leaks there are traditional on Triumphs.

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Then I built up the rocker boxes, it's a knack getting all the spring washers in. The second one was a lot easier once I knew how.

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For entertainment have a view down an intake port with the valve open, the tube on the right is typical as the ports often break through to the head bolts. Both ports are like this, with a tube inserted to seal them. Quite a lot came out the factory like it, so it doesn't mean it's been modified.

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Then I went to fit the rocker boxes & one of the retaining bolts that come up from under the lip of the head stripped the thread in the rocker box before it was even tight. Bloody annoying as the matching one on the other side of the box had been helicoiled when I sent everything away. I guess this one looked fine & was just waiting to fail. It also turns out I've lost two of the bolts than hold the boxes on, I've no idea how as they all went in a bag together as it came apart. So I'll have to get a helicoil kit & new bolts to get any further with the topend.

Finally I fitted the front brake hoses so it looks a bit more complete.

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Next time I'll have to turn her around & fit the rear brake master cylinder. Once that's in the exhausts can go on, as they'd be in the way before hand.

[mercrocker]

Coming on nicely.....

[Hooli]

Yup, I'm still planning to be on the road for the summer.

I've just messaged a seller on ebay about a front mudgard, as there is no way I'm reftting the awful handcut by a blind man plastic one she had previously. The big things left are sort the seat, get an electrics box made to replace the awful thing she had & wire her up. Wiring is easy, I just need to sort a decent way to fit the seat & then get a mate who does seat trimming to fix it.

[paulplom]

You have checked it'll fit through your front door once assembled..

[Hooli]

You have checked it'll fit through your front door once assembled..

It fitted in the back door complete before I started taking it apart.

[Hooli]

Small update.

I also posted this on a FB group for T140s & the engineering place I got the head fixed are on there too. They often offer advice & suggestions on the best way to fix stuff. They told me to send the rocker box back & they'd do it for free right away, so I've already posted it to them. They are supplying the nuts, bolts & washers I've lost too.

Can't fault that as I know it wasn't their fault.