Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Triumph bulletin board 55 6T restoration query

Hi all,
As mentioned in an earlier thread I am the proud owner of the Thunderbird that has been in the family since 1959. I have stripped it down to the frame. I have the motor on a stand but while I was clearing out the sidecar I noticed a receipt for a full engine overhaul 2 years before my father passed. He died in 2011 & the bike has been stored since then. It would have only travelled 2,000 KLM since the rebuild. The motor turned over easily & has plenty of compression. I was thinking of removing the head, reseating the valves, decoking the pistons & having a look at the barrell etc. Do you think this is the logical thing to do rather than pull the whole thing apart, any suggestions??

Sounds like an engine that is ready and waiting to be run again. Why take it apart? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Fire it up and enjoy.

Does the receipt detail all the work carried out in the "full engine overhaul"
Might be worth posting a copy of the receipt and get the comments of different people.
However if it was a genuine full overhaul then I agree with Jon----change the fluids, test out that you have sparks and that the carb holds gas then if all looks good go for a start up.
Just my two cents worth of course.

I agree with the two above, it would be nice to know what the full overhaul entailed. If the receipt doesn't specify details, you may be able to contact the guy (I presume) who did it. With only 2000 km on it and good compression the top end must be good, no de-coke or re-seating necessary. It would be a waste of time to mess with it. If you were to look at anything, you'd want to open the crank and check for built up crud in there, in case it wasn't done at the overhaul. However, the built up crank demands some level of mechanical aptitude to work on, as the six 1/4" bolts must be tightened to a pretty exact load. Using a normal torque wrench on all the bolts can't be done, unless you device something special. The fitters at the factory apparently had it in the wrist, which, hopefully, do I...

In conclusion, I'd leave it and trust it's OK.

SR

I would pull the carbs and clean them, carefully noting previuos settings and returning same. New tires and check brakes out.