Session 5: Gear Selector Part 2

Right, continuing from the previous post, we will dig down to the gearbox, and remove the selector, which we need to replace.

5. Remove kickstart spring

The spring and washer from the kickstart

Twist off the spring and tab washer, but be careful in case it is under any tension.





6. Remove camplate spindle

The spindle and split pin

Remove this plate.

On pre-1965 engines, there is a small rectangular plate, with a cork gasket. Undo the two screws, and remove the plate. Then, pull out the split pin, and remove the camplate spindle from the left hand side.



7. Remove camshaft nut

The nut and washers. The two washers fit
 into each other, as shown. 

If you can get the bike into gear, it is much easier to remove the nut, as the shaft cannot turn so easily. Take off the nut, and two washers, one on the other. Be careful, as trying to remove this nut can cause the piston to move, so if it isn't free, be careful of causing damage.




8. Undo screws

The different lengths of screw. 

Undo all the crosshead screws, to release the inner gearbox cover. There is one screw, which should have a flat head, next to the kickstart shaft, which should be left alone. Again, I could recommend ensuring you know where they came from, as they are different lengths.




9.Remove inner gearbox cover

Ready to remove the inner
gearbox cover. 

The inner gearbox cover should now be ready to remove. We found that it was catching on the frame of the bike, so we unscrewed a couple of engine mounting bolts, and lifted the engine slightly. You may find that whatever was used to make a seal around the join is holding the cover on. Carefully use a block of wood and a hammer to gently tap the side of the casing, making sure not to directly hit the aluminium with the hammer. the cover should then lift off.

The gearbox. 

10. Remove gear selector shaft

The gear selector shaft. 

There is a bolt below the gear selector shaft, which when undone, allows the shaft to be easily removed.




I will now try and find a supplier of BSA parts, to buy a new shaft, as this one has been drilled and ruined. This may take some time, so I will probably go back to doing other jobs, or start painting for the next session.

Some pictures from the inside of the gearbox:

The kickstart, bottom, and gears above it. 

Timing gear. 

Session 4: Gear Selector Part 1

As previously mentioned, the gear selector shaft needs replacing, to rectify repairs Dad made to keep it going in the past. The splines on the end which hold the lever on wore off, so he drilled through the shaft and bolted the lever on. Here is how to go about getting to the gears, and changing the shaft.

1. Remove oil

The drain plug, on the underside of the gearbox.
Note the bolt, in the centre of a larger bolt. 

There is a double bolt on the bottom of the gearbox. the inside of it has a long rod, which shows the oil level, and the outside is a drain plug. The little book we have has an interesting fact, that pre-1965 engines like this had the gauge wrong on the bolt. According to the book, an extra 1/4 of a pint should be added once the gauge is full. Engines built after 1965 had a corrected gauge. When I removed the bolt on ours, no oil came out, as we expected.



2. Remove levers

The two levers, kickstart on the left,
and the gear selector on the right. 

The kickstart lever, and gear selector need to be removed, before the cover can come off. The kickstart has a cotter pin, so undo the nut, and knock the pin out. The lever should then come off. The gear selector should have a splined end and clamp holding it on . On this bike, many years ago, Dad drilled it out, and there is just a standard nut and bolt. The shaft and selector need replacing, so we can return it to how it originally was.

After the levers have been removed. 

3. Remove exhaust

The bike sans exhaust. 

Taking the exhaust off is very easy, by removing two bolts. One bolt is the right hand passenger foot peg, bolting the muffler to the frame. When removing it, remember which way the bolt turns, as it is the other way over. It is common sense, but it's very annoying if you try the wrong way. The other bolt is at the front, bolting the pipe to the frame. The driver right footpeg needs turning, by loosening the bolt on the back, and turning it until it is out of the way. Once you have removed the bolts, and turned the footrest, the exhaust should rotate and lift off.

The exhaust, full of horrible powdery dust. 

I found the exhaust was full of powdery dust. Don't worry too much if some goes into the hole in the engine, because it will be blown out when you start it, but it may be a good idea just to knock it out.



4. Undo bolts

My drawing, showing the bolts. The view is as
you face the right hand side of the engine. 

The gearbox outer cover is held on with a bizarre assortment of bolts, around the outside. Dad bought a set of allen head bolts for it, which are currently fitted, but we still have the original bolts somewhere. Simply remove the bolts, and lift the cover off. I used a crude drawing to make sure I knew where the bolts went.

The cover, after removal. 

The kickstart assembly.

The pictures to each side show how it should look at this step. The engine is pre 1965, so later engines may look slightly different.




I will continue the disassembly, removal and reassembly in a day or two, when I have more time. On a totally unrelated note, I wrote to the BSA owners club last week, so they will hopefully send me the original manufacturing records. The records should state the original colour, so I know what to paint it.

Ammeter

The bike has  Lucas ammeter, which has a broken needle. I trawled the internet for quite a while, and could not find any information at all as to how they worked, what they looked like inside, or how to repair them. This page, therefore, should be helpful to anyone else on the internet who is trying to fix an ammeter, as I will share the knowledge I have gleaned from my attempt at repair.

As I said in a previous post, the ammeter is epoxied shut, but I found that it chipped off quite easily with a knife. Once the epoxy was off, I flexed the two tabs slightly, and lifted the back off.

As you may be able to see, the needle is loose inside the face-plate section. Inside the back,
there are a few loose pieces that needed reattaching, once I worked out where they went. 

I started by taking out the loose pieces, a swinging counterweight thing, and a very tiny pin, which is the pivot. I then undid the two nuts on the back, used as terminals to wire it in, then removed the coil and the plate under it. Below is a picture of all the pieces laid out.

I left the remains of the needle and its pivot in the case, as they were fine. In the back of the case is the magnet (explained below).

I thought this would be a good time to explain how ammeters actually work, very basically. The needle is attached to a pivot at the bottom of the casing. It can move freely. In the back of  the casing is a magnet, as you can see above, so that when there is no current flowing, the needle moves back to the centre. When current is flowing, an electromagnetic field is induced in the coil, soldered to the two terminals on the back, which moves the needle. The more current, the stronger the field, and the further the needle moves. 

There is a second pivoting arm at the top of the case, which is the part that is loose above. It has a fork at the end, which fits around a tiny protruding pin on the pivoting bow-tie shaped piece at the bottom, that has the needle attached. Hopefully this incredibly high resolution picture explains how it all fits together. You may want to click on it to see it a bit bigger. We could only guess that this second pivoting piece was some sort of damper, to control vibration. 

The pivoting piece on the left is what the needle attaches to,
and the one on the right is the one mentioned above. 

Once repaired, it is then very easy to put back together. Put the pivoting pin into the hole in the anti-vibration thing mentioned above. On the back of the casing are two tiny screws. These adjust the distance between the two sides of the pivot, because in the end of the screw is a depression, which the end of the pivot sits in. loosen this off before reassembly. Lift the arm and pivot as one piece into the casing, and seat the bottom of the pivot in the top of the screw. Then, while gently holding the pivot vertical so it located with the top, carefully tighten the screw until it is held in. Hook the fork at the end of the arm over the pin on the needle assembly. Now, gently move the needle back and forth slightly. If you find that the hook rises over the pin and doesn't stay located, then remove the arm and pivot you just put in, take the pivot out, turn the arm piece over, and reassemble. One way over it works nicely, and the other, the hook end rises up. 

It may be worth putting a small blob of epoxy over the head of the adjusting screw, so it doesn't vibrate loose and break the ammeter again. Once the internals are put back together, put the back and front back together. It is then probably a good idea to test it, before epoxying the casing back together. Voila! A working ammeter. 

I realise that I haven't actually fixed mine yet, but I haven't had time with exams. I have a busy couple of weeks, so I won't be able to do any work for a bit, but I will continue once I have time again. 

Session 3: Electrics Continued

The connecting block (in my fingers) and
 to the right, the brass connecting "bullet". 

So, I have repaired the broken wire; it was a simple soldering job. The before and after photos are to the right. It was easier than I expected, because the wires have brass "bullets" on the ends, which plug into connecting blocks, so I could solder it separately. You may be able to see the brass "bullet" in the upper photo.

The repaired wire, plugged into the block. 

Once I repaired the wire, I tested the final wire on the bike, to the brake light. This did not connect, so I have removed the brake switch for further examination. There was only one wire connected, which seems suspicious, and on closer examination, it looks like a connecting tab may have fallen off. While cleaning the switch of the thick layer of grease (it is bolted on to a greasing nipple), the other tab fell off, so it may be a good idea to find a replacement switch. The tab could be soldered on, but I think continued vibration would break the solder joint. There is a blob of solder on the tag already, so clearly it was not a strong enough bond.

The front of the switch, showing the trigger usually operated by the foot brake lever.

The back of the switch, showing the two points where tabs would have been connected. Notice the solder blob on the right hand one. 

UPDATE: It is just as I thought, there were originally two connectors on the back, as shown here http://www.britcycle.com/products/391/391_31827_002.jpg  It would also appear that new switches are in the region of £30, which seems like a lot to me, but may be worth the money. 

Moving on again, to the ammeter. 

As shown in the picture below, there was a slight fault that needed sorting out. Dad and I reckoned that the needle had broken off and is somewhere inside, shorting out. 

I have managed to chip off the epoxy, and have opened the ammeter up. As expected, the needle is still there, so just needs reattaching. At the bottom is a picture of the two halves. 

If you are really observant, you might
notice a minor fault. There's no needle.

The back, which appears to have
been epoxied shut. 

The two halves of the ammeter. The needle can be seen loose inside the
front, as seen on the left. 

Session 2 - Electrics

Right, I have just finished another session, although it is more of a continuation of Friday evening's. This time, I was working without Dad's supervision, now I know what I'm looking at. I removed the ammeter, ready for fixing separately, and took off the oil tank so I could access the ignition switch. Then, I tested every wire on the whole bike against a circuit diagram. Everything is connected as it should be, although there is one broken joint and one wire that needs replacing.

It is a testament to how simple and yet effective old British engineering was, that I can even do this at all. On a modern bike, one would have no hope of even finding the wires, let alone being able to check that everything is connected correctly. Here's a picture of the bike with the oil tank removed as well.

Session 1: Assessing Jobs

I have finally got underway, and have done one session now. I have assessed the whole bike, and this is the list of things that need fixing.

Frame and Forks:

• paintwork good, stove enamelled in 1980
• oil seals need replacing

Painted panels, mudguards and fuel tank:

• fuel tank, oil tank, battery cover and centre panel need respraying - need to identify original colour
• rust in fuel tank
• badges and transfers need applying
• all badges missing, we have some of them
• tank missing badges and kneepads
• original seat is in serviceable condition, might be worth getting a new one to protect the original
• rear mudguard - need to decide whether to repair and paint, or replace
• front chrome mudguard needs new stays and mounting brackets are broken

Other:

• stand and foot rest at wrong angle
• passenger footrests jammed
• restore and refit front number plate
• new kickstart rubber needed
• replace tyres

Electrics and Instruments:

• ammeter needle broken off inside
• there is understood to be an igniton fault
• needs new battery
• sort out how battery clip works/get new one
• may not be original speedo
• mileometer doesn't work
• complete wiring trace and test
• ignition - reface/replace points and maybe condensor

Engine:

• drain oil and remove gear cover and selector shaft - source and replace along with lever
• top of carburettor loose
• ensure piston is free
• adjust tappets, points etc.
• refill oil, gearbox oil and clutch oil
• perform routine maintenance checks

I have also taken the tank and seat off, and removed the headlight, so I am ready to start doing the electrics next week. I have learnt what all the parts are called now, and have a copy of the wiring layout, so I should be good to go.

Seat and tank removed

I've finally got the go-ahead, so hopefully I will begin work before long, although it may get delayed by exams...