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CA95 Barn Find

The rear axle has a 39.5mm o-ring, is there a standard thickness to the o-rings they use?
 
Well this engine rebuild escalated quickly...

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I decided I was sticking enough money in this that I'd do it right. The wheels were pretty rusted up so I bought a pair of aftermarkets and the white wall tires @ballbearian linked. I decided on new paint so I just started tearing down. Stripped all the wiring and the only thing of note was an aftermarket ignition coil that had mounting bolts epoxyed to it. The ignition coil was probably fine, but I bought another aftermarket one anyhow. The brake pads were new, so that's another thing that shows it was never ran after an attempted resto. Rear end was grimy but everything was in good shape.

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Off topic, but I picked up Bonny today

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I'm extremely happy with it! Kinda... Just having starting issues. From my research, these carbs typically have tickler buttons, but mine do not (they still appear to be Amal MKii which were stock). I have no fuel delivery when I'm kicking it. With the throttle wide open and choke on, you can kick 100 times, take the plugs out and they're bone dry. An eye dropper of fuel in the spark plug hole and it starts on the first kick with throttle wide open and carb on. More research!

But, when it starts, it runs great, I love it! Here's a quick clip from my first ride! I love the sound!

 
cmc44 said:
Off topic, but I picked up Bonny today



I'm extremely happy with it! Kinda... Just having starting issues. From my research, these carbs typically have tickler buttons, but mine do not (they still appear to be Amal MKii which were stock). I have no fuel delivery when I'm kicking it. With the throttle wide open and choke on, you can kick 100 times, take the plugs out and they're bone dry. An eye dropper of fuel in the spark plug hole and it starts on the first kick with throttle wide open and carb on. More research!

But, when it starts, it runs great, I love it! Here's a quick clip from my first ride! I love the sound!
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Let's start a new thread in Other Bikes for this one and I'll transfer this post to it.
 
I got wheels in today and finished cleaning up the rear end. I'll hopefully get the front pulled apart this weekend and cleaned up so that when the tires get here I'll be ready to take everything over to the shop to get laced up.

Question about the wheel hubs; were they clear coated from the factory? Just running it in hot water some yellowish gunk started to peel off.

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Many of the polished parts were clear coated from the factory, and the yellowish layer is just that after decades of exposure to sun and the elements.
 
ancientdad said:
Many of the polished parts were clear coated from the factory, and the yellowish layer is just that after decades of exposure to sun and the elements.
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Well I definitely peeled the clear coat off. Does this need to be addressed, or just be vigilant about cleaning?
 
cmc44 said:
Well I definitely peeled the clear coat off. Does this need to be addressed, or just be vigilant about cleaning?
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The only place I'll clear coat aluminum is the center ribs on the drums because they are so hard to clean and spot polish.
 
After a week of tinkering with a lemon of a Bonneville.... I got the Benly 100% stripped. Any tips on how I should go about prepping for paint? I know I'll spray the frame and other parts down with degreaser then pressure wash it. What would the following steps be? I do have surface rust starting inside the fenders and frame.

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If you do drop the forks (may as well), put on a towel on it's side. Those balls are escape artists.
Honda used some kind of one step lacquer type paint (no primer) and you often find very fine rust spiders under as you sand, so I would go to metal just beyond any breaks in the paint. Bilt Hamber Deox-C gel rust remover would probably be a good choice. Evaporust makes a gel too. I got some BH gel from the Clean Garage but haven't used it yet.
 
ballbearian said:
If you do drop the forks (may as well), put on a towel on it's side. Those balls are escape artists.
Honda used some kind of one step lacquer type paint (no primer) and you often find very fine rust spiders under as you sand, so I would go to metal just beyond any breaks in the paint. Bilt Hamber Deox-C gel rust remover would probably be a good choice. Evaporust makes a gel too. I got some BH gel from the Clean Garage but haven't used it yet.
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Thank you for this! Do I have to take the big nut off on top? I'm stumped by what's holding them on
 
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Whilst taking apart the front end I ran into what looked like some type of fibrous packing between the bushing and flat washers on the brake link.

What was that stuff I was pulling out? I'm not seeing anything on the the parts diagram.1000004037.png
 
Might as well. The original finish seems shot and there's clearly rust under the paint. Looks like some quality time with flying paint chips and lots of noise. Wear gloves.
 
cmc44, My compliments on your work methods. I like the cleanliness and professionalism shown throughout your build so far. The engine stand is excellent. You must have learned a lot from growing up in a multi-generation family excavating business.

In regard to your T140, your MKII carburetors were, I believe, the first without ticklers. The emissions people didn't like the ticklers because they vented gasoline fumes to the atmosphere (kinda like the vent tubes on our Honda Keihins). Instead of ticklers, your carburetors have enricheners. You should engage the enricheners, but leave the throttle closed to start your bike. Try that and see if it helps. John Healy on Britbike.com is an excellent resource for you as far as Amal carburetors go. Read what he said here.

Further down in that thread, is a quote from another guy I respect. He must be smart -- he grew up in Illinois and then moved to Texas! Here is how he said to start a T140.

cmc44 said:
From my research, these carbs typically have tickler buttons, but mine do not (they still appear to be Amal MKii which were stock). I have no fuel delivery when I'm kicking it. With the throttle wide open and choke on, you can kick 100 times, take the plugs out and they're bone dry. An eye dropper of fuel in the spark plug hole and it starts on the first kick with throttle wide open and carb on. More research!
Click to expand...
 
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fxray said:
cmc44, My compliments on your work methods. I like the cleanliness and professionalism shown throughout your build so far. The engine stand is excellent. You must have learned a lot from growing up in a multi-generation family excavating business.

In regard to your T140, your MKII carburetors were, I believe, the first without ticklers. The emissions people didn't like the ticklers because they vented gasoline fumes to the atmosphere (kinda like the vent tubes on our Honda Keihins). Instead of ticklers, your carburetors have enricheners. You should engage the enricheners, but leave the throttle closed to start your bike. Try that and see if it helps. John Healy on Britbike.com is an excellent resource for you as far as Amal carburetors go. Read what he said here.

Further down in that thread, is a quote from another guy I respect. He must be smart -- he grew up in Illinois and then moved to Texas! Here is how he said to start a T140.
Click to expand...
Thank you!!

I spent a few hours with the carbs and both had the cold start passages plugged and the secondary jets were plugged too.

Here's the first start after the rebuild, I need to dial in the air fuel a bit better and check timing, but, I just bought the British conversion kit to remove the US EPA stuff, lol.


I also bought stock pipes, but I want to make sure the new.carb setup isn't lean and just going to blue the new ones.
 
You have a nice bike there, and it sounds like you are hot on the trail of making it perfect. I know a lot of people do it, but it is considered bad form to kick start your Triumph while it sits on its centerstand, and definitely never on its sidestand. The stands and their upper stops are not robust enough to handle it. Eventually, both wheels will still be touching the ground when the bike is on its centerstand. It is not nearly so bad to do it like you showed, standing alongside the bike. Standing on the left foot peg while kicking is worse.

Oh, and I understand the little chuckle when the engine quit idling just as you got your gloves on! That's just the bike's way of saying, "Pay attention to me!"

I straddle my '64 TR6R and kick start it with both stands retracted. I used to have trouble with this, because the bike would sometimes want to fall over to the right, rather than spin the powerful 650 engine. o_O

Two years ago, I switched to a later kick lever that is about one inch longer. That made all the difference in the world. It sticks up a little higher, but I can live with it.

 
Since I'm new to paint prep (well, everything), I'm going to give a few methods of paint stripping a try and see what works best for my setup.

First I tried the paint scour pad on my angle grinder. It does really well on the flat surfaces like the fender, but difficult to get in to tighter spots. I felt like it did scuff the metal a bit so I did some step up sanding to get to where I feel one coat of filling primer will more than take care of it.

On the other side I used Citristrip and covered it with cling wrap for the night; as of this morning the paint is essentially sliding off the metal. I'll start to scraping this afternoon.

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Frame (mostly) sandblasted. The sandblaster started giving me fits when I was about 90% done. I finally have up for the day. My car resto guy has a high grade cabinet that I can finish the entire rest of the bike in. It'll just cost me a 12 pack and BYOM, bring your own media.

I might be able to sweet talk him into painting it for me, or showing me how to while I'm there.

I'm partially sidetracked with another project. My family an I are going to Traverse City, MI in three weeks so I bought a 6'x12' enclosed trailer today so I can bring a few bikes up with me. I purchased rubber coin flooring and an entire e-rail system with two chock setups that I need / would like to install between then and now.

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Any thoughts on where to find / or what I can use for these front cushion lower dust seals, 51235-200-000?

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ballbearian said:
Have you searched by that part number at DavidSilverspares, ebay, CNSL, etc.?
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Sure did, not available. I was able to get the felt seals for the top part of the arm, can't find these though.
 
cmc44 said:
Sure did, not available. I was able to get the felt seals for the top part of the arm, can't find these though.
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Sorry I don't have any extras. I guess one could be fabbed from an appropriate fender washer, if only for a temporary and wait patiently for one to show up from a used parts seller.
Don't over-torque those pivot bolts and nuts, that's why they have the special nut.
 
Just to clarify, I need the felt part, not the metal cover of the dust seal. Is there a type of felt I could cut rings from?
 
Gents, I'm back from hiatus, but have been super busy! The Benly project slowed down because of the paint removal process. Long story short, I present you my 60" blasting cabinet I now own, haha! But, the day I got it, our compressor started blowing water through it like a garden hose. I installed a dryer and regulator on the cabinet, but have been waiting for our new compressor to come in (which was yesterday).

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I also went on my first out of town trip with my other bikes and bought a 6'x12' and had a solid week of working on that installing flooring and e channels; just got back from Northern Michigan with the setup and it was perfect!

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Christened the new sandblaster on the front fender today. Worked amazingly well and left a perfect surface! Time to get moving! I've got some spot puttying to do next.

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I used an 8" diameter PVC pipe as an anvil to gently work the flare back where it should be.
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I failed at cleaning the varnish from inside the tank using vinegar. I didn't rinse it out well enough / dry it / and lube it fast enough so it ended up wayyyyy rustier, haha.

I bought a 3 step cleaning and sealing kit this time. First was a detergent I added for 48 hours a long with the bike chain and mixed it up every so often. I pressure washed it out and dried it really well with an air hose and that took 90% of it out.

Next I used a bottle of phosphoric acid and mixed it around constantly for an hour and that did away with the rest of the varnish and put a nice etching in (pic 1)

Lastly, I used a sealer and mixed that around constantly for a half hour. Let that drain out, and voila, better than new!

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cmc44 said:
Gents, I'm back from hiatus, but have been super busy! The Benly project slowed down because of the paint removal process. Long story short, I present you my 60" blasting cabinet I now own, haha! But, the day I got it, our compressor started blowing water through it like a garden hose. I installed a dryer and regulator on the cabinet, but have been waiting for our new compressor to come in (which was yesterday).

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I also went on my first out of town trip with my other bikes and bought a 6'x12' and had a solid week of working on that installing flooring and e channels; just got back from Northern Michigan with the setup and it was perfect!

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I'm way envious of you blast cabinet !!!!
 
Hey Friends, long time no type! I've been battling my old Bonneville and it's turned quite the project (but that's for a different thread).

Getting back to the Benly engine I immediately realized I made a mistake by not marking the shift drum prior to taking the shifter forks off. Would anyone be able to point me in the right direction of the orientation of where I bolt the guides from the forks onto the drum for the correct shift pattern?

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