Project 1934 VG 500

[Roger Gwynn]

They would not have been polished originally but left as cast, unless specially ordered or if it was for exhibition. Be very careful welding these cases, in fact avoid doing it and use a modern high strength epoxy instead. The material used contained something in the mix, probably zinc and lead, that makes them prone to cracking, especially when welded. You are very lucky to have ones that are in such good condition. If the cases have a tendency to leak oil because of damage I would run the bike without oil and use chain spray to lube the chain and shock absorber. The clutch bearing will run for a long time on the grease used for assembly, bearing in mind that it only spins when the clutch is pulled in.

[AlbertR]

They would not have been polished originally but left as cast, unless specially ordered or if it was for exhibition. Be very careful welding these cases, in fact avoid doing it and use a modern high strength epoxy instead. The material used contained something in the mix, probably zinc and lead, that makes them prone to cracking, especially when welded. You are very lucky to have ones that are in such good condition. If the cases have a tendency to leak oil because of damage I would run the bike without oil and use chain spray to lube the chain and shock absorber. The clutch bearing will run for a long time on the grease used for assembly, bearing in mind that it only spins when the clutch is pulled in.

Hi Roger thanks so much, for that little crack on the thread i planned to use aluminium epoxy resin for sure, i'm not risking with this at all. So far it doesn't look it would leak any oil, I'll save your advice when i look into that this weekend.
The fact is that as i didn't disassemble the bike i have little idea how the bike actually runs, so its all new for me and to be learnt. Its the first classic bike i look at, my experience is on cars, mainly with my Austin a35 from 1957, but mechanics is completely different.
So I need to read through the workshop manual still.

In regards to polishing, the timing cover and some other bits have been polished already so I'll get the case to some extend to match this other parts, without getting it to "perfect mirror looking" polishing. Just to match current parts.

[AlbertR]

Hi all, today we stripped down most of the mechanical stuff. I won't be disassembling the engine block any further as it has been refurbished by some professionals already from the previous owner, oil pump upgraded, so looks really promising.

I will next have a look at the gearbox and all the rest of independent components.

There's a few things on the bike which im not sure how to finish off.
One of which is the rear wheel bushings. The previous owner placed these washers to get it to place, but any recommendations on getting the final bushings done?
I have an old lathe in the workshop, so I think i can machine something, but just wanna make sure i'm not missing anything out here.

[AlbertR]

Also I've been working on the carburettor without many complications, it was already clean and mostly without corrosion. The previous owner had cleaned it and also bought all the spares already!

What i dont fully understand is why the mixing chamber top doesnt quite fit in the grove as i was expecting... All the spares i happen to find online have the same square grove profile. But if it doesn't fit int he grove it doesn't seem to align very well.

Some small things like that small drain screw are off and also I'm not very happy about the condition of this cap, but it will have to make do.

[AlbertR]

I also applied some nural 21 epoxy to the best of my abilities to try to avoid the case from leaking and "fixing" a few cracks...
Some really good welder spent a lot of time on this thing before me. I'll be careful when torquing it down.

[garycullen]

Albert,
My1946 VB600 has the same carb.
In your picture showing you trying to fit the top of the mixing chamber tells me you have the carb upside down.
I just went and compared your picture to the carb on my bike. An Amal276.
The mixing chamber top should be on the other end of the main body, or the longest side, all the fuel items, banjo and pipes should be on the other end, shorts side of the body. If you can’t figure it out There are plenty of diagrams and exploded diagrams showing how these carbs go together.
Cheers
Gary

[garycullen]

For the ugly fuel bowel cap loosen off the chromed top nut and use a small flat screwdriver to open up the threads a bit.
There is a slot going around the threads at the top that allows the bolt to be tightened, distorting the cap threads to achieve a lock, so your cap won’t unwind and come off from vibration when riding. Carefully widening the gap with a screw driver may rescue your cap threads.
In any case Burlen Fuel can supply these caps for Amal type 6 and other similar carbs at a reasonable price.
Sometimes a PO not knowing how to properly undo the cap ( loosen the chromed bolt ) will forcibly wrench it with adjustable pliers and it will result in crossed or gouged out threads.
The carb cap and body originally is made from pretty soft Musak type alloy. Although new carbs from Burlen Fuel are made from a stronger alloy.

[AlbertR]

Albert,
My1946 VB600 has the same carb.
In your picture showing you trying to fit the top of the mixing chamber tells me you have the carb upside down.
I just went and compared your picture to the carb on my bike. An Amal276.
The mixing chamber top should be on the other end of the main body, or the longest side, all the fuel items, banjo and pipes should be on the other end, shorts side of the body. If you can’t figure it out There are plenty of diagrams and exploded diagrams showing how these carbs go together.
Cheers
Gary

Oooops, how i didnt realise that
Thanksa milion