1946 VH 500 Restoration

[KenS]

I found and purchased this "motorcycle" in South Africa back in 1980 before moving to the USA in 1985. It was actually the engine and gearbox in the frame with the spark plug that had a piece of pipe welded onto it, and was used as an air compressor out in a rural area in Natal shortly after I ran, and finished the Durban to Johannesburg Vintage rally on my set-dad's 1934 VB 500. Fortunately, many of the other components like the forks, tank, wheels were there as well. At that time, the restoration was sidelined when I began began a sailing adventure that lasted a couple of years, and ultimately moved to the USA in 1985.

I began this restoration in 1987 after having my mother ship a crate with all my components over to Texas. With limited storage space and time, I started by disassembling the engine that turned out to be in pretty good condition considering where it came from and how it was used, the frame was perfect and straight, as were the Mag, Dynamo, Girder Forks, Petrol and Oil tanks, Mud Guards and Headlight. The wheels rims were not, but the hubs were salvageable.

This exercise made me realize I was missing a few bits and that's when I contacted Roger Gwynn at Dragonfly Motorcycles in the UK who was an immense help. Over the next several months, I had compiled a list of spares I would need then ordered/purchased them in stages and when they became available. Over the next 2 years or so, I had the frame, forks and mud guards blasted and painted at a local paint & body shop, had the petrol tank, seat and front springs, and a bunch of brackets etc. re-chrome plated. I reassembled the engine after having the cylinder honed to remove minor scratches I assume were a result of no air cleaner during it's air compressor life, new piston & rings, valves ground and new gaskets all round. I rebuilt the wheels with new rims and spokes and then started assembly by installing the engine, gearbox, mud guards and wheels. The rest of the restoration to get it where I could start and ride the bike took several additional months. This is how the bike remained for decades for personal reasons, and over a decade of professional drag racing, and then retiring.

This October, I decided to pick it back up. I knew I had quite a bit of re-doing to do: Carburetor, fuel tank, oil etc. and this is when I realized that I had the incorrect Amal 276BP/1J carburetor. I needed a 289D/1MB to match the 1 1/16" cylinder head port. I searched and searched, I didn't feel like paying $600-$700 to have one shipped to the US, so I continued my search, contacting my family and friends in South Africa but no luck. Then I hit the jackpot, I located one, and exact match with slides and bowl, on eBay that I purchased for $160 that included other carb pieces I don't have a use for. I drained all the oil, removed the oil pump and lower scavenger screen to check them, better safe than sorry!

After filling the oil tank with new oil and making up a temporary rubber fuel line with tap and fuel filter to catch any debris that would come loose in the petrol tank while I wait on replacement seals for the OEM tap, I finally started the old girl, made small air mixture and idle adjustments, then rode it around the back yard for several laps. Talk about an exhilarating experience after all these years of the bike collecting dust in my workshop.

There is more to do now: the wiring, finding a speedo, attaching the tank badges, adjusting the forks that didn't seem to work, and the gearbox is not shifting very good so I'll have to pull it out and investigate. The attached photo is in it's current state.

[Roger Gwynn]

Glad to hear that you have almost finished the old girl, she's looking good.

[KenS]

Thanks Roger. I still have all of our correspondence, and all of the spares order forms I purchased back then. They reminded me of how much I was missing when I began the project!

[KenS]

UPDATE: The past few weeks have been spent on the wiring, removing the gearbox to inspect, and ordering replacement spares as needed. These include tail light assembly as I lost the bulb holder, sealed beam headlight, Brake light switch, Dummy battery box, 6-volt Battery, gearbox gaskets, clutch friction disc's (the original cork has fallen apart), and a kick start gear.
ELECTRICAL: The original wiring harness was still in relatively good condition except for several ends and connectors, so I remade those and with a little heat shrink, solved the frayed insulation. Installed the battery with a quick connector inside, and the original voltage regulator under the seat. The hooter did not work, and after disassembly, it had a burnt wire inside. After cleaning it up, replacing the burnt wire and cleaning the rusty contact points, I reassembled it. With a bit of adjusting, it's working great, just need the acorn nut!
SPEEDOMETER: I had two Smith Cronometric Speedo's (that are in pretty good nick) in my box of spares, but, they would not work in my tank. Rater than waste a good speedo as a dummy, I decided to purchase a cheap Indian replica to fill the spot. It turned out to be to deep so I ended up cutting the casing to shorten it, keeping the internal face and mechanism in tact, adding two 10/32 mounting bracket screws, then soldering the shortened case together, modified an original speedo insert, ad mounting it into the panel. I also located a 0-30 psi oil pressure gauge from a vintage tractor spares vendor along with new copper tubing and fittings, making it much easier to remove and re-install as needed.
GEARBOX: To my delight, there were no major internal issues, other than a very worn Kickstart ratchet pinion gear which I replaced, a damaged speedo drive worm gear on the Layshaft, and an assumption that the Gear Operating Mechanism alignment markers were most likely not aligned correctly, leading to the false neutral when attempting to shift gears. After reassembly, installing new neutral position indicators on the gear lever, adding 750 ml of SAE 85-140 gear oil, the gearbox shifts properly.

[Roger Gwynn]

That is the problem with the Indian speedos, originally made for RE Bullets, they also use a different cable fitting. If you have a speedo cable entry hole to the rear of the tank and a panel hole that is other than round the original speedo would have been a PA. Your bike being 1946 could have had either a PA or a Chronometric, the cable for the latter passes through the tank directly below the speedo and the hole in the panel is round. If you have a round hole and the chrono speedo didn't fit you will have the wrong bezel that can be easily changed. The other point to watch is that the speedo drive gears in the gearbox are very different for PA and Chrono, I don't know what Indian speedos need.

[KenS]

My tank has the hole for a cable on the right rear side to pass through. Unfortunately, the Layshaft worm gear is damaged, teeth are chipped probably from an incorrect Speedo spindle gear (which I do not have anyway) which is why I just used a dummy for the time being.

[Roger Gwynn]

The proper gears to repair the speedo and layshaft are available from gearbox spares. Like you, I use the old speedo for show and use a cycle speedo for speed measuring

[KenS]

Since it is highly unlikely of finding a PA speedo, its probably going to remain as is. Unless I could sell or trade/swap for the two speedo's I have.

[KenS]

After searching for months, I finally found my petrol tank badges I purchased from Dragonfly back in 1987 today wrapped in tissue paper in an old tool box I hardly use anymore. Must be old age? My excitement was short lived when I realized that my tank has no "mounting fixtures" to screw them on. Can someone give me information on how or what is missing from my tank please?

[Roger Gwynn]

The enamel badges did not re-appear immediately after the war or perhaps because the factory had some W/NG tanks to use up first that didn't have badges (except the very early ones). Transfers are available and I am sure Draganfly will buy the badges back for the price you paid for them!!! Did you know that Draganfly have been making these tank badges for longer than Ariel did.