1954‘ish VH

[SimonFletcher]

Some more paintwork. The front mudguard had suffered a bit, and rather uncharitably I initially decided that the dented, twisted and generally gashed up state of the mudguard was due to the poor state of the brakes! After a bit more consideration though, I think the bike had quite likely been through a period of neglect – maybe sat in a shed for a while with other stuff more-or-less thrown in alongside or on top of it. Whatever had happened, the mudguard was letting the rest of the bike down a bit, so I decided on a bit of selective renovation.

One of the front stays was fractured, so a replacement was bought from Draganfly. Amazing really that they have these ready to go, made in-house!

The front yard paintshop was reconstituted and the front stand and stays were sprayed up relatively easily. Next with the guard, I had to knock out the dents and bend things around a bit to realign it. This was well outside the realms of previous experience, so I had to scour around to find information on doing so. I found a thread on another forum on 'paintless dent repair' and it was quite inspirational. The author straightens up a really quite mangled BMW /2 mudguard using basic tools, a few webbing straps to put the metal under tension and 1,000 taps (and a set of earplugs). I used a ball-pein hammer, some large sockets, a large adjustable wrench (mostly used as a hammer) and an old heavy duty coir doormat to work against. The trick is to go slowly and use ten light taps wherever you initially think one heavy one might do!

https://advrider.com/f/threads/tap-tap- ... s.1387805/

After a couple of hours work, I got the mudguard back into a pretty satisfactory regular and symmetrical shape.

The back half of the mudguard was relatively unscathed, so I decided to repaint only the front half, and have a go at blending the old into the new. I did use some epoxy filler, but quite a minimal amount. The bike isn't (I don't think) in it's original paint but even so, it has been in use and shows some wear, so I want to retain some of that.

I wish I had some decent 'before' photos, but here is the result:

Really need to do something about the side stand…

A few questions:

• The clutch is quite heavy to operate, despite having a new cable and as I understand it, it should be quite light relative to other bikes of the period. I have the cover off and am looking at spring tension, but think I probably need to look at pushrod actuation?

• Is the folding kickstart a non-original item? Put on the new centre-stand a while back (one step forward), but now find that the kickstart lever fouls it when the stand is up; in other words, you can only kick the bike over, when its on the stand… (one step back!).

[will_curry]

Something must be not quite right with the centre stand or the kickstart or both.
You should really be starting the bike astride with it off the centre stand. It wasn't
designed to cope with the loads.

The folding kickstart probably wasn't original and there different bends. Tomorrow
I'll measure round both the centre stand and the kickstart but I always start mine
with the bike off the stand - it's also easier on my hip.

The route of the clutch cable makes a big difference to the way the clutch feels.
Route it down the front downtube and along the top of the primary chaincase
rather than under the tank.

Another potential issue with clutch operation is the clutch springs. Those for cork
clutches are significantly easier than those for 'fabric' clutches. These latter were
fitted to the competitions bikes and to the Huntmasters. Springs from DraganFly
are 'suitable for both' which means unnecessarily strong for a cork clutch. A cork clutch
is much smoother in action than the fabric clutch and to be preferred. Your bike would
have had a 3-plate cork clutch originally.

Somewhere I have posted the relative dimensions of the two sorts of clutch springs
on the forum - I'll have to have a look tomorrow for these too.

[will_curry]

By the way I should have said I really like the way you've got the bike looking.

[Roger Gwynn]

The kickstart lever looks 'foreign'

[Roger Gwynn]

Second thoughts it appears to be a folding one welded to an original bottom bit having blown your photo up. Nice to see decent quality pics as well as shiny bike.

[SimonFletcher]

Many thanks to you both for your replies. The clutch is next on my list and first up will be simply rerouting the cable, as Will suggests. Next step would be checking out the clutch springs to see whether too much tension has been applied etc. If the setup appears correct, I may try some new springs from Draganfly. Thanks for the suggestions.

Looking at the kickstart lever again, its obvious that there is a weld (duh… thanks Roger) and its a bit of a hybrid concoction. As well as folding, I'm wondering if it's also longer than standard, resulting in the issue with it clouting the stand? I'm tempted just to replace it. It is also a bit worn – the folding arm has worn against the stop and it angles back a bit. I'm a bit concerned that my foot might just slip off it when in use. Agreed Will, I definitely want to be able to kick the bike over when its off the stand!

[paul.jameson]

Nice paintwork Simon. Like you, I try to use the large, completely ventilated, solar heated workshop for my paintwork but find that in the winter it is all too easy for the paint to "bloom", even if I keep paint, thinners, spray gun and parts to be painted in the house overnight beforehand.

For a really light clutch cable I use nylon lined cable outer and lubricate it with engine oil after making the cable up. Be generous with the length of the cable so as to avoid tight bends when fitted. It makes no difference to you if you make the cable an inch or two longer but cable manufacturers will save a lot of money in time by making their cables that little bit shorter. Some advise you only to lubricate nylon lined cables with duck oil. I have cables which have survived engine oil lubrication without problems for 10 years.

Do go for the light cork springs which are available from Club gearbox spares man Geoff Brown. The pattern for these was the virtually new springs found in the clutch of my Healey so we know they are correct. I have them in 3 of my bikes.

Consider an original non-folding kickstart. They seem to work.

[will_curry]

Finally some measurements:

2 kickstarts measured 6" from centre of the spline to the centre of the foot piece
and one measured 5"1/2. The offset from the gearbox face of the spline boss
on the kickstart to the corresponding face of the foot piece was 1"1/2 on one, the
shorter, and 2" on the other two.

Measured on the bike with the PD centre stand the outside face of the kickstart shaft
in the gearbox was 1"1/8 inside of the outer face of the centre stand foot and the
centreline of the kickstart shaft was 3/4" from the same outer face of the stand.
I didn't remove this kickstart to measure the offset of the foot piece from the
splined boss.

All of these kickstarts have seen considerable off-road use, some of it intentional,
and may well no longer conform to Mr Burman's originals.

[SimonFletcher]

Nice paintwork Simon. Like you, I try to use the large, completely ventilated, solar heated workshop for my paintwork but find that in the winter it is all too easy for the paint to "bloom", even if I keep paint, thinners, spray gun and parts to be painted in the house overnight beforehand.

For a really light clutch cable I use nylon lined cable outer and lubricate it with engine oil after making the cable up. Be generous with the length of the cable so as to avoid tight bends when fitted. It makes no difference to you if you make the cable an inch or two longer but cable manufacturers will save a lot of money in time by making their cables that little bit shorter. Some advise you only to lubricate nylon lined cables with duck oil. I have cables which have survived engine oil lubrication without problems for 10 years.

Do go for the light cork springs which are available from Club gearbox spares man Geoff Brown. The pattern for these was the virtually new springs found in the clutch of my Healey so we know they are correct. I have them in 3 of my bikes.

Consider an original non-folding kickstart. They seem to work.

Thanks Paul, I had the same issue with bloom – probably something to do with trying to paint outdoors in November… But really, spring, summer and autumn are for riding, not renovation work? I also tried storing things indoors just beforehand, but I think the metal components cooled faster than I could paint them.
Eventually a temporary break in the weather gave me a chance to get the paintwork finished. Not an entirely professional way of operating, but needs must!

I have made up cables before – probably from universal kits, but the challenge I anticipate, would be assembling all the right bits and pieces. Which diameter cable and outer, which ferrules and nipples etc. etc. Probably something to have a go at a bit further down the line…

BTW your Healey – what a lovely machine, v.impressive indeed.

[SimonFletcher]

Finally some measurements:

2 kickstarts measured 6" from centre of the spline to the centre of the foot piece and one measured 5"1/2. The offset from the gearbox face of the spline boss on the kickstart to the corresponding face of the foot piece was 1"1/2 on one, the shorter, and 2" on the other two.

Measured on the bike with the PD centre stand the outside face of the kickstart shaft in the gearbox was 1"1/8 inside of the outer face of the centre stand foot and the centreline of the kickstart shaft was 3/4" from the same outer face of the stand. I didn't remove this kickstart to measure the offset of the foot piece from the splined boss.

All of these kickstarts have seen considerable off-road use, some of it intentional, and may well no longer conform to Mr Burman's originals.

Enjoyed the disclaimer at the end of your post above

Thanks very much for doing this. The measurements I have:

• Centre of the spline to the centre of foot piece: 6¾”

• Offset from the gearbox face of the spline boss on the kickstart to the corresponding face of the foot piece: 1⅝”

• Outside face of the kickstart shaft in the gearbox to the outer face of the centre stand foot: 1⅛”

• Centreline of the kickstart shaft from the same outer face of the stand: ½”

Significantly longer than a standard non-folder, and not as offset either. Net result – kickstart strikes centrestand. I imagine its been constructed to give more leverage / an easier kick; plus a bit tidier visually, I suppose. But having to put bike on stand to start it – just a bit of a nuisance really.

Here's a photo:

Conclusion? (I probably knew this anyway) – something else to add to the shopping list!