Sloper motor

[Mike Farmer]

 

Greetings, After many moons of doing other things the time has come to attack the Sloper. Somewhere I have all the dating info, but where??dunno

The rolling bits have been refurbed and rebuilt two or three years ago. So now its engine time. The engine is now all in bits and condition is quite good. Unfortunately the crank has been fitted with a mis-alignment and has suffered some damage. Murdered the bearings but not done any damage to the castings. Damaged the oil pump drive.

So main question: where is the best place to start looking for parts, other than the normal obvious--Ebay etc.

Any advice very much appreciated.

Mike

[mark quinney]

Hi Mike
Have been trying to rebuild a Sloper  for the last couple of years and often seems like getting parts is like finding a needle in haystack ,  i've bought odd  bits from  cornucopia in Germany ,  Burton Bike Bits , kidderminster motorcycles  , dragonfly motorcycles , I had my big end rebuilt by Alpha  bearings at Dudley  and bought my main bearings from George Lodge bearings at Hull  , Piston rings from Thorntons, ( not the chocolate makers )  can't remember where they are  off top of my head , I had my forks overhauled and the bushed etc by  Jake Robbins engineering  at St  Leonards  and brake shoes relined by Villiers engineering .  I was very lucky to buy a complete engine at one of the founders day meetings , I've bought a gearbox off an advert in old bike mart  and pick up the odd bit at autojumbles. Generally you are very lucky if you can find anything and eBay is often the best place as  things turn up every now and again . When bits do turn up they are never cheap and seem to attract a premium due partly to being pre-war and of course the rarity I think the main thing is to realise it won't get done quickly due to  availability of the parts but you will get there in the end , good luck with the rebuild regards Mark

[Mike Farmer]

 

Hi Mark.

Thanks for that. I must say that I never expected(or wanted?)it to be a quick and cheap job. As its actually my son's so  the time fram doesn't really bother me.
Actually I noticed in another post where someone was suggesting , having parts made in bulk. Damn good idea if any demand exists. What sort of price to have B/E bearing refurbished?

So we shall see what we shall see.

Mike

[mark quinney]

 Hi Mike
Bought a couple of little bits when I had  the big end done but didn't see any change out of £500  ,  you were probably looking at my Sloper valve  posting  about having valves made but as of yet only had one reply ,  don't want this to sound like an advert but if you look on eBay there are listings for Sloper head gaskets and Sloper  gaskets  ,  due to not been able to find any and didn't want to spend hours trying to make them myself I had these made  so I could get my engine rebuilt and the more I had made the cheaper they became . It seemed like a good idea at the time should also help keep several Slopers on the road . It's  obviously a bit of a gamble I certainly won't get rich on the profits and don't know if I'll sell them all or even get my money back but then again I'll probably waste a few bob on the horses tomorrow
Suppose if I don't sell the head gaskets I could open a hoop la stand at a fair

[Mike Farmer]

 

I used to do that quite often with vintage tractor parts. Certain things were easy to sell on but others hung around for ages. Certainly no profit but often the only way to go. As for the price well that was to be expected.

Mike

[BEVANC]

Hi Mark,
I'd be keen to buy a gasket set, assuming it also fits an S29 ohv 500, but the GBP 40 quoted for postage to N.Z. is more than the cost of the parts, making it just too expensive for me unfortunately.
Cheers,
Bevan

[mark quinney]

Hi Bevan  I assume the £40 postage cost is on your eBay screen as  part of the eBay global shipping system  I've put postage at £2.30 posting in England .  I had to post some off today so whilst at the post office I enquired about postage to New Zealand and if you required it tracked and signed for would be approximately £11.50 including envelope etc  or if you didn't require it to be tracked it would be approximately £6.50 . I don't know how long it would take to get to you but I did buy some blue star valves from Australia that took nearly a month to get here to England . If your interested  in the gaskets PM me and I'll send you some details .
Cheers Mark