LH Colt restoration

[Paul_Linden]

Pete - my concern lies with a stiff oil pump causing excessive wear on the pump drive worm gear, but I'll have to wait a few months until the rebuild is finished to see if it wet sumps.

There's an interesting article on oil pumps on the Classic Motorcycle website - the last 3 or 4 paragraphs are relevant:
http://www.classicmotorcycle.co.uk/arti ... -explained

[Paul_Linden]

Pump it up!
So on with the story - here I am pushing the oil pump drive shaft / worm gear into position engaging with the work on the crank end gear.

then pushing the lock collar for the drive shaft in place.

Then the oil pump gets bolted back in to the sump. This time I'm using allen bolts to hold it in, as the original bolts were very difficult to take off.

[Paul_Linden]

On with the sump gauze and gaskets

and the sump plate.....

might as well put in the drain plug while i'm down here.

[simon.holyfield]

Simon - the chrome plating is being done by Doug Taylor Ltd, which is near Bristol. They did a good job on the Colt brake arms for me last year so when it came to the petrol tank I was happy for them to do it. The tank will be ready next week. They had a stand at the Shepton Mallet Auto Jumble last year, so they know the bike market.

Thanks for the feedback - I hope the technical info is useful, and I'll try to keep it entertaining. Spoiler alert - I found a spare crank, so that issue is now resolved.

Would you mind telling me how much the tank chroming is going to cost?

[Paul_Linden]

Here is the washer that stops the collar to the pump gear falling out - you can see the top of the oil pump worm gear here. This is a new one as the old one was close to worn out. The nut on the end of the crankshaft is tightened and locked down with a washer in this pic - some of the previous pics were taken during a dry run assembly where I was checking fitting and tolerances.

On the left is the cam fitted to 1954 Colts and BSA C's, on the right is the cam fitted from 1954 onwards, known as the "R" cam or Ramped cam. The latter is the better as it has a bigger gap for setting the valve clearances and gives smoother performance.

[Paul_Linden]

Pushing the timing gear and cam followers in. I notice that the oil pressure valve below the bottom of the timing case has already been fitted.

Timing gear and followers in place. Timing marks aligned - check. Right hand follower for inlet valve is in place (it points back) - check. Left hand follower for exhaust valve is in pace (it points forward) - check. I think we're done here.

[Paul_Linden]

Prepare the timing cover with a new oil seal.

Drizzle lots of oil over all the moving parts.....

.....and put the timing cover on. Tighten down and hand turn the crank to check everything moves all right.

[Paul_Linden]

Advance retard unit pushes on to the end of the timing gear.

Then the points plate, with new points and condenser, timing is set up approximately just before TDC on the compression stroke. I'll set it up more accurately when the barrel is on and I've actually got a piston to measure at TDC!

Points cover loosely on.

[Paul_Linden]

Now I can start on the top end.

At this point I poured half a cup of oil into the cases and waited for it to settle in the sump. Then I turned the crank by hand for about 10 seconds as a test for the oil pump. Sure enough oil appeared in the return orifice.

Piston on - the gudgeon pin was a snug push fit, and the circlips are not in yet.

[Paul_Linden]

Circlips fitted - rag is to stop any stray circlips falling into the cases. Wood is to support the piston and stop it slapping about while the circlips are fitted.

Barrel slid on over the piston, ring gaps had been pre-checked in the barrel, and ring gaps were set to be 120 degrees apart. Plenty of oil and support.

Barrel bolted down, push rods in place and head ready to go on.