1947 VG Deluxe Reborn

[Bmitchel]

My VG restoration project is finally starting to take shape so I thought I would post a few photos...

This is as it was when I found it advertised on eBay - September 2013

Photo 1 - the bike as it was advertised on eBay.jpg (41.06 KiB) Viewed 3617 times

The day I got it home

Completely dismantled for shot blasting

Some parts finally start going back together - March 2014

The dry build continues - June 2014

[Bmitchel]

The first of the new chrome arrives - July 2014

The current state of affairs - July 2014

[Bob.Murphy]

Looking good - keep us up to date with progress, the nitty-gritty detail is always interesting.

It looks as though it was almost complete, did you have to source much ??

I'm slowly gathering parts for my '31 Panther 500 - most of which was missing , its nice to see a restoration moving forward smoothly.

Good job .

Bob.

[steve.clarke]

Yes Looking good, what was the engine condition did you replace everything?
Press on cheers Steve.

[Bmitchel]

I was very fortunate in that the bike was mostly there. The only missing pieces were the tank panel, the handlebars plus all of the handlebar controls and the exhausts. The tank required extensive repairs as did the rear guard. The bike seems to have been stored for a long time with the tank removed and during that time something corrosive like manure or battery acid had fallen on it from above. The rocker boxes and the inner timing cover were so badly corroded they had to be replaced. There were several patches on the guards and on the top of the toolbox that were also corroded by the same material but not as badly. The tax disc holder contained every tax disc since the bike was first registered which was a nice surprise and means that I will be able to revive the original registration. The most recent tax disc is for 1963 so this bike hasn't been on the road for 51 years! The engine has so far received new crankshaft bearings, big end, little end bush and piston rings. All other engine components seem fine with the exception of a broken cush drive spring which I suspect is the reason the bike was originally laid up.

[simon.holyfield]

Where did you go for tank repairs?

[Bmitchel]

Where did you go for tank repairs?

The tank repair work was carried out by CW Classic and I highly recommend them.
http://www.cwclassic.co.uk/

[Keith.owen]

Hi B!

I agree ; what a fantastic job they did on your tank!

I wouldn't normally ask such things, but what did they charge?

I look forward to seeing pics of the finished machine!!

BR,

Keith

[simon.holyfield]

Their work looks very good. Would you mind telling us what you had done and what it cost?

[Bmitchel]

I have taken a few hundred photos in the course of this project so for those of you asking about the tank repairs here are a few shots of it when I first collected it. Looking under the tank badges revealed that the tank was indeed originally chrome but it had been painted black at some point in its past. At first I thought the repair would be quite simple and isolated to the underneath at the back where it had rusted through but if you look at the photo of the bottom of the tank you can see a line of rust coming through where it had gone all the way along the bottom seam. So the entire bottom of the tank had to be removed and replaced/repaired.