Head

Got the head back from Malcolm at Lancaster Engines and he's done a fine job yet again. Remaining cast iron guide has been removed, all new phosphor bronze guides pressed in, seats cut & lapped in, both spark plug holes drilled oversize and fitted with Timesert thread inserts and finally the warped head has been true up with a light skim. A fine piece of work.

From Triumph 650 rebuild

From Triumph 650 rebuild

From Triumph 650 rebuild

Shiny

Found some polishing mops & soaps in a box of stuff I inherited a while back from my late uncle. Put it all to good use tonight putting a shine on gearbox, timing & primary covers. Hope Brian would have approved. His Vincent was immaculate.

From Triumph 650 rebuild

Fairies

The eBay fairies brought me a layshaft, mainshaft & a couple of gears which means I now have enough to assemble a decent gearbox. The originals were immersed in water & sand and had turned into a sorry mess.

From Triumph 650 rebuild

Flange

Cleaned up the mating faces of the cases with a diamond hone and some WD40. This removes any nicks or dings and gets rid of the last traces of the old gasket.

From Triumph 650 rebuild

Bearing in

Heated up the cases with a hot air gun and dropped in the new mains and transmission bearings.

From Triumph 650 rebuild

Bearing up

Clean cases ready for new bearings.

From Triumph 650 rebuild

Machining & plating

Had the cylinder block sandblasted at the local truck garage. Ted was careful to avoid the machined surfaces and kept to the fins, which were pretty rusty & clogged with dirt. Dropped it off with Malcolm at Lancaster Engines along with the new L F Harris pistons for a re-bore. Also popped in to the platers to ask if they could manage to re-chrome the rear rim. We'll see if it's a possibility once he's asked the polisher if he can do anything with it.

Knocking one out

Heated up the cases and tapped out the old main bearings, plus the needle roller and ball races in the transmission.

From Triumph 650 rebuild