1964 Triumph Thunderbird 650 Street Tracker project to be For Sale

grandpaul · Jul 2, 2016

Next shop project: Turn this non-running, incomplete, dusty collection of parts into a street-legal '64 Triumph Thunderbird 650 Street Tracker.

Classic Storz bodywork, Akront shouldered alloy wheels, and early 70s front end. Otherwise it will be mostly stock and ABSOLUTELY MINIMALIST.

Nothing on it that is not essential to the bike being street legal and totally roadworthy. Not even a battery! (2MC capacitor will do)
I MIGHT go with upswept scrambler pipes; at least in initial run testing. Oh, yes, that's a dual-carb Bonneville head.

This bike is for sale as-is, but with carbs and new Dunlops already installed.

Or, at any point along the build, if anyone is interested in finishing it themselves. My aim is to get it running, tidy, and street legal without a total overhaul and/or powdercoated frame; pretty much as it appears with the unpainted bodywork and slightly dirty/worn frame & cycle parts.

Or, it can be built to the buyer's specifications, whatever they may be...

NO QUESTION, it WILL do the ton!

grandpaul · Jul 3, 2016

Rear brake drum in good shape, one slight scratch-

Rear brake shoes have about 30% wear, no chips or gouges at all-

Front drum in very good shape-

Front shoes only have about 10% wear, excellent shape-

grandpaul · Jul 3, 2016

New Dunlop K81 Gold Seal universals installed with new tubes & rim strips. Brakes cleaned & sorted. New RK 530 drive chain.

Handlebar mount bushings replaced, intakes swapped for bolt-ups to suit rebuilt original Amal monobloc carbs with velocity stacks. Like-new later style footpeg rubbers with flat tops installed.

I'm going to mock up the scrambler pipes tomorrow for a photo...

canyoncarver · Jul 3, 2016

That is going to make somebody a very neat bike.

grandpaul · Jul 3, 2016

Yeah, it's going to be tough to resist the temptation to take it off-road...

grandpaul · Jul 4, 2016

Upswept Scrambler pipe options:
Bare / straight
Mini megaphones
Mini mufflers
(I also have the original TR6C mufflers with birdcage heat sheild, not pictured)

canyoncarver · Jul 5, 2016

I like the minis. The third one. Clean lines

grandpaul · Jul 6, 2016

Having just sold 2 bikes, the pressure is off, and I'm REAL tempted to get this bike done and NOT sell it!

surffly · Jul 6, 2016

I have a soft spot for scramblers.
Thinking about doing something like this with my 750 Commando.

Looking forward to this build

grandpaul · Jul 6, 2016

surffly said:
I have a soft spot for scramblers.
Thinking about doing something like this with my 750 Commando.

I only got as far as the mock-up stage...

grandpaul · Jul 7, 2016

Hard to make out with this bad photo, but the pistons are .040 over

Rockerboxes all done with new gaskets (2 studs and 3 nut on order)

Ordered kickstart ratchet spring, kicker shaft, return spring, mainshaft locktab washer, cam oil seal, and gaskets; all else is ready.

grandpaul · Jul 13, 2016

Reinforced & powdercoated swingarm

Rear brake parts installed & working great

Tranny done, kicker bits done, clutch cable, abutments, lever & shop-fabbed trunnion done

grandpaul · Jul 13, 2016

Pistons, before & after.

Cylinder in place with clean cam followers and new base & head gasket. Ring end gap was right near max spec, it's going back as-is.

Early '69 head.

grandpaul · Jul 13, 2016

Clutch basket slots are in decent shape, just a bit wavy, not notchy.

Clutch centre is also in good shape, no notches (blurry photo, sorry)

Clutch plates were in good shape, just need a bit of cleaning and straight back in they went.

grandpaul · Jul 13, 2016

I had a dozen good used clutch springs in a bin, so I sorted the best three of the collection and installed them. Also swapped out the old ET alternator for a newer unit with timing marks.

Late 60s primary cover with timing window.

Triumph points are as easy as it gets, the AAU has a notch, cam has a pin. Automatic alignment when you set the points plate at midrange. That'll let the engine start, then just strobe time them a bit.

BOTTOM END IS DONE!

teazer · Jul 14, 2016

I am intrigued. It's been a long time since I built or raced a Triumph twin and am out of touch with pricing. Given that you are just assembling a pile of used, but presumably usable, parts to make a complete bike out of it, what sort of price do you think it will sell for?

I think I'd like another pre-unit close fin alloy T100 based Triton, or maybe T140E in a miles chassis. Or maybe an Atlas with upswept pipes to bring back dreams of my long past youth.

grandpaul · Jul 14, 2016

I'm leaning away from selling it after all; I have other bikes I care for less than this one.

grandpaul · Jul 14, 2016

Aluminum deposits on the valve faces; looks like this engine had previously holed it's pistons (all 4 valves were like this). I went with a new set of valves that I had on the shelf.

All 4 ports looked similar to this, aluminum sputter everywhere. Took a good while to clean the head up to useable condition; it was a real pain to carefully scrape the valve seats without scratching them, then I lapped in the new valves.

New valves, lapped, with all clean springs, seats & collets.

grandpaul · Jul 14, 2016

MUCH cleaner valve seat & port.

Not just red RTV silicone, but PAINTED OVER red RTV!

All clean (both intake & exhaust areas).

grandpaul · Jul 14, 2016

Valve pockets cleaned up, they had caked on shellac sealer all over the place

Head spiffed up and ready to go back on.

I didn't try to remove all the aluminum sputter in the combustion chambers, I just smoothed everything up and made sure the gasket face was clean and flat.

TOP END DONE! Decent compression, probably a few PSI down from where it would be with all new rings & pistons

1964 Triumph Thunderbird 650 Street Tracker project to be For Sale

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