BSA Thunderbolt build, its going to be a while

[Thunderdome74]

Hi Everyone, new guy here,Thor from South Afirca.
I happened upon this BSA... a frend said he was clearing out his garage , and it was a good price. I have done a couple of Hondas (Cb750/CBX/Goldwing)and BMW's(R50/R60'R25) , but they all have been metric... so i suspect i will be asking alot of questions 

Ok i rekon the pics will do a better explanation than i, and i will update as i get on....



As I got her











So been stripping and polishing. I didnt feel confident i my mechanical ability with a british bike (and my lack of imperial tools) , so i managed to find a guy who redid the engine for me for a great price ,and replace the head with a later one (the original has a stuck oversize valve)

[Thunderdome74]

The headers were toast so i know a guy who made me a set out of stainless, using the broken originals as a template, then it was alot of polishing of the cans (aslo stainless, as i wanted to save what i could)




AS i said i didnt feel confident on the engine work , but he did send a great pic while he replaced the head
OLD/NEW (69-72 i believe?)



Nice pic of the engine after he finished


I didnt like the condition of the casings, years of embedded muck


So many hours of scribbing , with alubright... it cam out ok

[Thunderdome74]

Took all the stuff off that i wanted to chrome, then decided the mudguards would look great chromed (i think they might have been originally) so some prepping for chroming, hoping to get the holes closed as well





I also sent all the nuts and botls off for nickle plating as i'm trying to save what i can

[Thunderdome74]

And we got the chrome and nickle back, i think they did an amazing job, was very chuffed as all my life i have had terrible chroming jobs,sticking with these guys!





and they did the nickle


While waiting for the chrome i send the other stuff off for painting (The painter still has the stuff as of writing, but hes a great guy so sent me some pics of the progress:)



The tank was another story, i stripped it and sent off for chroimign, there were a few dents (luckily to be hidden by the painted area , but there was a bunch of pinholes from a previous repair, thankfully they agreed to braze them closed, so finally got the tank back and was well chuffed






I tought the tank looked fantastic,



I then pinstriped the areas i needed the painter to paint and off it went to him

[Gup holland]

Welcome Thor, you've got a nice project. On the first pic , the down mudgardstays are mounted the wrong way round. The bend has to gone be downwards and not up.
A lot of chrome you got, hope you don't get in trouble with it. With threads and thickness of the chrome on your axels and so on.

Success on the project, greets alex

[Thunderdome74]

Thanks Alex, yeah the thickness is a concern, especially the fine thread on the chrome bit of the forks, will have to see how it goes

The pinholes in the tank


Pinstriping


Done some more polishing




And started putting some bits together while waiting for the frame and painted bits, was not positive about the underside of the mudguards chroming so gave em a lick of paint









I got make some designs and got em laser cut outta stainless, for the clocks and tank kneepad replacements(first attenpt i didn't take into account the holes are offset






And that where i am currently,, thanks for looking

[Gup holland]

Must say, love to see the outcome of your bike,

Stick to these chrome guys, what I can see is they did a good job, iv'e seen otherwise.

Is it for you easy to obtain spare parts for BSA over there for you?

Gr alex

[Thunderdome74]

Spare parts... Nope...it's kinda an old bike network thing... I know a guy...

We can order from England or the US (ordered stuff from David silver for the Hondas) but it's a bunch of problems in that our currency is not too healthy so everything is expensive, and then shipping, going through the post office, often results in the item being 'lost'.
Other option is to Dhl..but then it makes sense to do it with other people to save costs.. sigh.

But I think I was lucky with the 65 in that everything was there, and lucky the guy had a spare head. She was cheap enough that spending on chrome and stuff is still in budget

But if I say it all easy going it's only cos I haven't really started putting her together..issues will arise I'm sure, especially as I know very little about bsa's... But looking to learn..
Thanks

Edit.forgot the third way to get stuff(I got clocks,fork boots and seat cover) if you have friends or family coming down for a visit...

[Thunderdome74]

Times been pretty tight , but i think i managed to lace the wheels correctly , and testfitted a few parts...
(if this is the wrong forum please let me know or if you see me messing up something:)

[Thunderdome74]

And i recieved some exciting photos from the spraypainter, getting excited now, but will only get them in about a month

[Allan G]

Lovely work!

my only criticism would be with all the money and effort you have gone to, it would be worth your while having the spline on the gear change quadrant replaced as the spline is completely stuffed, or look out for a good second hand unit.

Best of luck with the project.

Allan

[Thunderdome74]

 it would be worth your while having the spline on the gear change quadrant replaced as the spline is completely stuffed


This is helpful, although i'm not sure what you mean?
(My ignorance is coming to the fore)

[Thunderdome74]

So you mean this


I saw that, PO must have had problems with that as well (drilled hole ?)

I will be looking out for one, thanks for reminder!

Oh and this idiot, during testfitting ,left the mudguard precariously balanced on the bench, crash and shattered  the new taillight i got with the bike, so now its back to polishing the old scuffed one...
...gives me something to do in front of the telly i suppose

[Thunderdome74]

Ok, got the engine in (work keeps interrupting ) and stared to hang a few things on , getting a feel of how it goes together



A question about the swingarm and bushes,i have a badly printed schematic
So looking at this one


Part 24 Is labled as Seal housing, now i have a single washer that will fit but it def wont fit in between the frame andswingarm(also is ID is bigger that the shaft)
The reading the forum i picked up it needs to be BOLT_CIRCLIP_KNURLEDSPACER_BEARING)_TUBE SPACER_BEARING_KNURLEDSPACER_LOCKING PLATE (threaded) with the bearing being a block with groove running in middle? IS this so far right? There are no Orings i can see, the bronxe bushed are in the swingarm , and after fitting (no tightening yet) the swingarm i have about a 1/10th of a mm play side to side and am hopint the tightening will pull this gap closed, but the knurled spacers seem to just rub against the sides of the bearings?
=

[Gup holland]

Hello, I just had new bearings fitted. Set came from Harris performance.  Didn't use the o-rings. In my case a 1970 frame there is no room for also for part no 24.
In our case they used a dust excluder, just a rubber sleeve like on triumph I believe.
My opinion you need some side play , if it is tight it cannot move smoothly.

Here some pic's from my swingarm.

Gr alex