Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Bsa bulletin board Restoring (to a point) my '68 BSA Spitfire Mk4

K70s were period tyres. similarly period are Dunlop TT100s ( AKA , K181), if I had the choice I would use TT100s. 40 years ago TT100s were a much better tyre than K70s.

SORRY I DO NOT HAVE A PICTURE BUT LOOK GOOGLE SEARCH PETCOCK 23-1077 https://www.google.com/search?q=PETCOCK++23-1077&ie=&oe=
I HAVE USED THESE ON MY 66 SPITFIRE, THEY WORK WELL, LOOK VERY CLOSE AND ARE LESS MONEY THAN MOST OF THE ONE THAT HAVE A SIMILAR APPEARENCE. YOU WILL NEED TO USE A BUSHING WERE THEY MATE TO THE TANK.
FYI THE 66-68 SPITFIRE DID NOT USE PUSH PULL TYPE PETCOACK. THE PICTURE OF THE ONES YOU POSTED ARE CORRECT.

Dave, very nice bike find! I restored a 1966 Spitfire that was in a little worse shape than yours when I started. I tried using the fiberglass tank, just like yours, after sealing with the Caswell epoxy system. This worked for about a year. I have about 300-400 miles on the bike now. The tank started leaking at the seam between the top and the bottom pan. I ordered a Brooklands style alloy tank from Holtworks. (already mentioned in this thread by Andy Higham). Getting this new tank took over a year. I am in the process of painting it now. The bike has been sitting; I am anxious to ride the bike again. I also did a timing side bearing conversion, which seems to work well. Before I ride it again I want to install an oil filter kit. I am thinking one of the same type that is used on the Norton Commandos.
+1 to Spitfire Ken, about the petcocks. Your picture shows the same ones that came with my 66. I am sure they are originals, and very cool looking. Unfortunately mine were broken beyond repair, so I opted to replace with the BAP ones. If you can repair yours to make them serviceable I would definitely do it.
This forum is a wellspring of knowledge and good advice. Most any question will receive a smattering of ideas to solve it.
I wish you luck with your Spitfire.
Fullminator

It has been a while, but home project kept me from the bike. I wanted the missus to be happy rather than annoyed about me working on it. Getting ready to take some things apart for real now. I found some SRM vids that seem just what I need as far as things to look out for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGSIWeW217Q
I did remove the drive-side cover and got vice-grips on the crank nut. I don't sense any kind of play in that end of the crank whatsoever. I did turn it a few times with the kick-start beforehand to make sure it wasn't just stuck.
Best thing now, get the exhaust off, drain the sump and get it out of the frame and on a table!
While I'm mentioning exhaust. I check e-bay and burgess mufflers in good shape are hard to find. Are Emgo any good? I want original look on the bike. Original parts preferred, but know exhausts don't last as a rule.

The Emgo ones are ok but fairly loud, the Brituro (recently out of business) made great silencers for these, crisp note and just the right amount of back pressure. With most others they have too large of an outlet pipe causing no backpressure.... in real terms you'll be up and down the box constantly becasue the bike won't pull the skin of a rice pudding...... comprared to a good silencer.

Thanks for the info. Not much luck finding a Brituro yet, but this came up in a search: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Silencer-BSA-A50-A65-1963-70-Schalldampfer-68-2732-68-2733-68-2728-68-2785-96007/173744267881?hash=item2873f72269:g:b4UAAOSw0TBcP08E but can't tell who makes that.

Can't tell who made them either but in one of the pics you can see a Federal sticker warning that they are not to be modified or tampered with. Does that mean they are original BSA ?

As you don't yet fully know the state of the motor and are planning on pulling it out, I would recommend you wait on any exhaust-related expenditures. You're likely to have a bunch of unplanned expenses once you start digging into the engine, and who knows how long all of that will take. If it were me, I would deal with getting the motor going, then deal with "must haves" like tires and suspension, electrical issues, etc, and I would leave cosmetic issues for last.'

You might hit a hurdle that stalls the project and the last thing you want is a brand new set of pipes and mufflers pitting in the corner of your shop as you wait for other work to complete.

I suppose. I know that some things are hard to come by and I've done a little shopping for things I know I'll need. The shorty mufflers on the bike right now are pretty crap.

K70 on the rear is OK, because that was where the K70 was designed to be.

K70 on the FRONT, however, is crap.

The K70 tread design does not like to be "pushed' by the front fork, and will wear with a "cupping" pattern.
Dunlop ribbed front tires were still in use at that time, and handle well.
I think you should consider a Dunlop or Avon rib-pattern front tire for that bike.

I second what Irish Swede sez about rib on front I have used both rib and K70 o0n my 68A65 bitsa and rib feels much better and lasts longer

It’s not factory, factory silencers tend to have date codes stamped on the silencer bracket.

I’d tend to buy the hard to find parts first, piece the bike together bit by bit until you have a complete bike. Then take it all apart and do the restoration. Knowing that the big stuff is all sorted. Most electrical components and everything for the engine is pretty easy to obtain.

On my bike, the silencers are the only thing I know I need to replace (other than the odd nut and bolt, and some rubber parts, which I bought as well). If I could find a nicer chain guard... I know... :-)

Chain guards from Burton Bike Bits are nice and triple Plate chrome too

The current state of things https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_MJ-BI9Og8

Regarding your carbs, remove the tops. That will allow you to move the carb bodies out of the way and then you can remove the slides from the end of the cables. The cables themselves might not need to be replaced but it's highly likely the carbs will need work so you'll be part of the way there.

Personally, I remove the top end, transmission, and clutch before pulling the engine out of the frame. This does 2 things: 1. makes the whole thing lighter, and 2. makes a great engine stand. This comes especially handy for things like using the kickstart to pop the head and cylinders off. My method involves stuffing soft rope down the plug holes and using the pistons to break the seal on the head gasket and cylinder base gasket. This prevents the temptation to hammer against the head and barrel fins and, since you've got the engine unstuck, this should work for you as well. Let me know if you want more info on this.

Electrically, you'll need to unhook the coils, points, and alternator. The coils need to come out in order to more easily maneuver the engine out of place.

Good progress so far.

Thanks, Marc. I previously tried to get the rocker box cover off and it hit the frame. I'll give it another try. I agree that a lighter engine will be easier to remove from the frame!

Hmm, I went back and re-watched your video... nothing appears peculiar on the right side that should prevent you from getting the rocker cover off. The front-center stud has to come out to get the head off, but the cover shouldn't be a problem. You gotta be able to check valve lash without pulling the motor

It was my bad. I clearly didn't try hard enough. Came right off this time and I'm exited to see the rockers, etc. BTW, did many of these come with chromed parts, or could mine have been chromed by the PO? My rocker cover and side covers were chromed and it's all shot to hell right now, except on the inside! Debating if I will be able to clean those up or just should look for good used covers.

Not sure if chromed alloy engine covers was ever an option for A65's and may have been done by a previous owner. It's quite common for chrome to peel off alloy after a while, easiest option is to simply buy new covers and polish them as I don't think it would be simple to get the old chrome off without causing further damage.

Aluminium is very pourus which is why it doesn’t last, but the factory didn’t do anything like that. They didn’t use chrome for bling but more as a good corrosion resistor. (Fuel tanks were possibly an exception to the bling rule)

As gunner says. Look for some new covers. The damage done to the ally by the caroming and de-caroming process won’t leave you much worth polishing.

Hi Allan, I bought mufflers for my Spitfire from Armours. Very nice, perfect finish. Are they any good?

Wow, looks pretty dry in there. I guess it really may not have run since 1977.

I noticed the center-front stud is already removed in the picture. Did you remove it or did it come out on its own? Be careful with that one as there isn't a ton of meat on the center tower, and it holds the rocker shaft in place so you don't want it splitting. Since the rocker cover doesn't bottom out on those points, tightening the center nuts has a vague feel and shouldn't be over-tightened. They're also likely to leak as there isn't a gasket in that area, and BSA attempted to address this with an alloy washer and acorn nut. It's usually best to seal using a sealing washer and regular nut.

To remove the head, you'll need to remove the exhaust rockers to access the bolts directly under it. Keep track of the order of the washers and thackery (spring) washers when you do this. The intake rockers can stay in place, though you'll want to pull them if you plan on replacing the valves or guides. I would definitely recommend stripping the paint off the head. That's not anything BSA ever offered.

Regarding the chrome, that also was never offered from BSA. I recently picked up a rocker cover for $25 and an inner and outer timing cover for about $50, so you may be able to pick up all 3 for less than $100.

They look good and probably the best chrome on the market, but I found you have to really push them towards the frame to allow the kickstart to clear, they were also quite restrictive for me, whilst sounded good gave poor throttle response. That said now brituro have gone they are probably the best available.

Armours silencers ordered + brackets and clamps. just need some more nuts and bolts. Already found one or two non-Whitworth bolts on the bike. Too bad those assortments are a bit spendy. I'll probably buy some anyway so I don't get nickled and dimed on individual parts.