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Psychopasta,

Any updates ?

Hey Jon,

The bike restoring bug left me for a while, but has now bitten again so I'll be back posting more soon.

- Mark

Mark,

I for one am glad to hear that and definitely looking forward to the progress.

Well, it turned out there was one more move of house in my future, so I am NOW getting back to it. Here she is, just as I left her:




I spent the day re-reading this thread to remember where I was, and going through all the bits and pieces I have, and getting them into some semblance of organized:



Now just thinking through my plan of attack

Welcome back!!

OK, I'm back in business!

Now a long time ago, far far away, I was stuck with getting the kickstart return spring into place and Jon W suggested a tool to make it easy. I bought said tool and finally got to use it! Start off with the bare shaft:



put everything in place, and I used a washer and hose clip to keep everything in place. Then set to with the new tool:





God it was still very hard to do, and it took me a lot of finagling. Eventually my personal random number generator must have fired up, because it went on very easily. I cannot now recall what configuration of tool, screwdriver and sheer brute force did it, but when it finally went on, it went on very easily, after just resisting me for an age.

The problem is that the tang of the washer faces backwards, and the side of the engine case restricts how far back you can get the tool. I'm sure if you did this every day you'd get the knack, but it took me about an hour to perform a five-second job:



Please don't break my heart and tell me I've done it wrong and need to do it over...

Then the gear changer return spring mechanism just went into place



Finally I did a trial build of the electronic ignition, which is the Wassall/Vape unit:



The stator just bolts on, and then the timing plate goes on top. The wire from the plate is not quite long enough to get out of the hole in the case, so I'll need to have the extension cable joined up on the inside of the cover:



But in order to cut the extension to length I need to decide where the transistor switch box should go. More on this later.

I also replaced the clutch rod into its tunnel. I will need to shorten this as I'm using an SRM clutch mechanism, and I won't know what length to make it until the case comes back from powder coating.

You have overwound the kickstartspring , the spring plate tang should be approx 5 O clock , it will be a lot easier to put on .The gearchange return spring legs should cross over before hitting the stop. Both legs should be in contact with the stop.

This could be wrong but looking at the parts manual, I think the spring plate is fitted with the tang facing outwards, its been a long time since I had my A65 timing cover off so happy to be corrected.

kickstart spring looks right to me (he would either have to unwind it or wind it even further to get it to 5 o'clock).

About your Vape unit: seems that the wire from the control box meet the wires from the contact plate inside the cover, not outside. So if you mount the box under the seat, you shouldn't need to extend anything. Just cut to match and put the terminals on.

Great to see progress.

The kickstart spring tang is fitted inwards( it fouls the casing if fitted outwards), if left as is the spring will break quickly, its over wound, it should be removed, , then the spring plate turned 180 , then refitted with less pre tension. You are lucky you didnt injure yourself.

I concur. It should look like what I have in these pics and the same ones that were posted previously. You have the tang at the 11 O'Clock position...not the 5 O'Clock position.

Thanks again guys!

The kickstart spring is back the way it was when I started the project. I have the 'before' photos to prove it. The spring won't work if I take it clockwise to 5 o'clock (no tension) and would be incredibly hard to wind a further 180 degrees on. Jon's spring looks like it has fewer turns than mine.

I'll fix the gear change spring, I thought it went on rather easily.

- Mark

I checked https://www.classicbritishspares.co...bolt?_pos=5&_sid=bbb932de2&_ss=r and that spring is different to my one. I've ordered up a new one.

BTW, here is how it was originally:



So I need to fix the gear change spring, but this is how the kickstart spring was. The new one from CBS looks like it will fit at the 5 o'clock position, but this one only works at 11 o'clock I think.

Ahh...much better!

Must be different types of springs out there that made their way to users until, eventually, they got replaced by the correct ones.

I don't mind it too much; that's how I've always fitted mine (at 11 o'clock), and no issues with the cover. Mine is definitely not overwound in that position as I've always installed it by hand without the need for special tool. I kind of wondered what the hoopla was about that everyone mentioned. Now I know that mine may actually be different than what a lot of people have.

Must be two different springs out there, if it works, great.

Examine the gear change spring mounting cup, it should be an eccentric mount, with the centre nut slackened the cup can be rotated to bias the spring , when you test out the gear change this cup twist can help , some early cups had the hole dead centre, these can be filed / stretched to give the same adjustability.

I described earlier how the drive side engine cover has a ding in it from a drop, and how the chrome is pitted:




I tried cleaning up and polishing the chrome, and was successful in getting rid of the rust spots, but the chrome is badly pitted and scratched, and it's not going to be that kind of restoration. So I hit it with some Rustoleum primer




followed by some VHT Black Appliance paint




Overall I've very pleased with the result. Whilst it's not what a professional would do, it made the cover look much better. I think my first coat was too thick, but this is the first time I've used this stuff. It certainly seems appropriate for my skill level

BTW, when I got the bike there was no switch on the front brake to light the rear brake light. The rear brake has one, and I guess you always use both with these bikes, but is there an approved way to add a warning switch onto the front brake?

I did it using a waterproof micro switch mounted by drilling holes in the lever mount. I had the inline cable actuated brake switch, and it made the front brake *mushy*. My 67 didn't have one as stock - it wasn't a requirement until 71?

You could have also sanded all that chrome off, (preyed the aluminium underneath was still good) and polished the aluminium..... Restored to a factory finish!

Hey guys, I have hit a snag.

I've been very disciplined about keeping all the parts I've taken off together, and well labelled, but I have mislaid the screw that holds the crankcase oil feed junction block pipe (the three way thingy that splits between oil in, return and top end feed) in. Does anyone know what this screw is?

Thanks in advance,

- Mark

My parts book says a '67 should use 68-0272

and my Tri-BSA fastener spreadsheet says that is

BOLT BSF 5/16"-22x3/4" THIN HEAD OIL UNION

Hope this helps

DJinCA

Thank you DJ!

I'm in CA too...down in San Diego

OK, so here is the replacement kickstart return spring next to my version of it:



The new one on on the right, and with the other hoop at around 10 o'clock you can see this spring is at about 7 o'clock. It was quite easy to pull it round to 5 o'clock and install it:



So 'twas the wrong spring and not my technique. I feel I am to be commended, however, for putting the original spring back in. It wasn't easy!

- Mark