1948 HRD Vincent -Ashtray to Driveway

brt651

Been Around the Block
Hello and thank you for looking,
If your like me and like to look at something different I hope to get your interest as I take this engine/bike from Ashtray ( its primary use in the 70's ) to the driveway.
I'll be a little slow as I have other projects to do as well , and by no means am I an expert on HRD/ Vincent for that matter. But I have been given the opportunity to do this bike for a mate.
So here it goes
cheers
brt651
P.S The true driving force is to knock Swannie off his perch with his BSA Goldstar project. Ha Ha only joking. But that bike is a wonderful credit to him.

Here is the engine as it arrived
 

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Right side crankcase after blasting.
Has the counter bores machined to accept 600 cc Top End kits. The 2 start oil pump is installed as are all new cam and breather spindles in the timing chest. also gearbox bearings fitted.
 

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The timing side of the right crankcase.
 

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This is a poor picture sorry of a Terry Prince crankshaft.
It has a 40mm Big end pin and 30mm mainshafts. The Crankcases have been machined for larger main bearings. The main bearing bores are a bit of a weakness when using the standard 1'' mainshafts.
The "o" ring on the main bearing is to facilitate assembly. I cut it off after the bearing started in its bore.
 

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This picture is a dummy run of the crank in the cases
The conrods are made by Argo Engineering In Maitland NSW Australia.
 

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Gooing up ready for final case assembly.
 

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Cases assembled now with stainless studs I had made locally. Actually my mates brother is a machinist.
 

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This picture is of the shift plate with its bevel installed.The STD geabox is a 4 speed. This gearbox is a Surtess 5 speed box made by Quaife.
After installing the bevel it has to be ground on the underside. the half pinion is its shifting mate. The small springs and chamfered screws are fitted to aid engine assembly.These hold the half pinion in 1st gears position when assembling the box. These parts are new and on further discussion I decided to leave them out as they have a tendency to break in service. Instead of relying on the spring you install the G40 shift shaft and hold the pinion in first gear.
 

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This is the 5 speed being installed. A fiddly process. I did a couple of dummy runs before the final procedure.
 

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See in the previous photo of the spanner nylon tied to hold the pinion in its assembly position?

This photo shows the gearbox installed and the G2 cover with new main bearings and seal ready to be fitted.
One thing I'll give Vincents for is that every part of the bike has a number. Which makes finding parts very useful. I know every bike would have a number. But this is a simple system. Not 9 numbers long. Each part starting with its main part of the machine. G = Gearbox E=engine and so on.
 

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The pistons are installed and so are the lower section of the 2 piece head studs.
The B series engines had a 2 piece stud. A hollow outside one which holds the cylinder head down and a inner stud that holds the UFM ( Upper frame member) mounts to the engine. Quite well made for the era. But this was done away with I believe on the next generation which is the C series.
 

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  • 6.5 pistons and head studs on.jpg
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As we go along you will see parts marked as HRD -Vincent or nothing.
HRD stands for Howard Raymond Davies
Vincent stands for Phil Vincent
And nothing stands for when they shipped the bikes out of the UK they didn't want them to be mistaken for H-D. Or something to that. Maybe even copyright. Not sure
A better picture of the crank maybe?
 

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Cleaning the new 600cc cylinders before assembly.
Because of a computer crash last year I have lost some photo's. I'll keep searching.
Remember to always back up your photo's.
 

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I new if I kept on looking I'd find another picture of the crank. I have another new one somewhere.
 

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I'm installing Mark 5 cams to this particular engine and also to engine number 3. That's another story.
Make sure you make room for the followers in the the timing chest. As this picture shows.
 

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Sorry for the photo's jumping around. I have just found another folder.
This is the Quaife 5 speed
 

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Here I'm checking the gearshift operation after installing the gearbox. You may have noticed that the front lower section of the shift housing has been cut away. This shift housing is off the second engine that goes in the Norton ( NORVIN) frame. That's another story . The kick start section has been cut off.
 

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this is great !! thanks for sharing :) i dint know they used finger followers,veery cool to see all that detail and the crank and rods are a masterpeice :-* :-*
 
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