880 Norton Sprint Special - "real - time" build, lots of photos

Re: 880 Norton Sprint Special - "real - time" build, lots of photos

damiansd said:
Grand Paul, this is a beautiful build. With all pics you'll have an awesome coffee table book.

Hee hee

With all the pix I have I could have more than 50 coffee table books (restorations, custom builds, salvage builds, total refurbs & engine overhauls).

I researched diligently for over a year (before the days of google, then also with modern search engines) and NEVER have seen any other shop that does daily project updates. I had a friend in Sweden that had a live camera feed in his frozen shop, but he only worked on his turbo dragster New Bonneville a couple of days a week.

Almost 40 of the above mentioned builds are on one (and typically 3 or 4) forums, some of them are on 6 forums, and also the most recent half-dozen are also on Facebook.

Check out the date on THIS build thread; it was my first on-line build, although I retroactively posted up a few that I had completed years before. Wow, that was almost 16 years ago...
 
I would find it difficult to keep up with your pace on building. Excellent work. I am slow as molasses on my complete builds, but I rarely build entire bikes for anyone other than myself. I don't do daily documenting mainly because I don't think people would find the same five models of one cylinder engine rebuilds over and over very compelling. Also there are still some people that don't want to share all of their secrets. :-X

Some of your bikes have me staring at the screen for a long time. I am not normally attracted to the Nortons, thruxtons, triumphs, bsa's, etc., so for me that says a lot. Fantastic works of art, many of them are.

Gotta wait for an auction to end then I will promptly send payment for Old Bikes. Very much looking forward to it.
 
DohcBikes said:
I would find it difficult to keep up with your pace on building... Fantastic works of art, many of them are.
Gotta wait for an auction to end then I will promptly send payment for Old Bikes. Very much looking forward to it.

When I have client money to work with, it goes even faster. In this particular case, I'm spending some savings to make it happen ASAP so I can sell the bike and recoup not just my savings, but what I put into the Dreer parts years ago. My wyfe knows I need to keep my nose to the grindstone and has been relieving me of my share of Daddy duties and honey-do's.

I appreciate your enjoyment of the bikes I've built, I still look at the pix for a while when I run across them, too.

I am sure you'll enjoy the book, it's got a bit of humor thrown in, and some of my CAD drawings of various bikes I've owned. I basically went back to several forums where I've posted tips & tricks over the years, and various specific step-by-steps, and copied them to a master document to create my boilerplate, then just filled in the gaps covering everything from the front tire to the tail light.
 
Finally flipped the jack around to get a look at the primary side and shim out the backside of the clutch basket to keep it from scraping on the inner primary cover. Under an hour to pull it down, shim it, and torque everything back up.

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Got the other two cylinder bolts installed, so that's it for that LONG wait...

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I'm using a "flame ring" gasket instead of solid copper; I've had success with both, and 1 or 2 leaks with both. It's all about proper torquing, really...

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This little tool makes installing the timing cover easier, with a guarantee that you didn't distort the lip on the cam nose seal.

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Painted and installed the headsteady, wish I had the late style spring & saddle addition, but money is limited. This is better than the very early style flat one I had powdercoated, that will go on the parts bike.

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A sharp eye will note the first case of mismatched bolt heads; it's getting down to the bottom of the barrel (at least they are the same size bolts, same thread form, etc)
 
The book says set the timing at 28 degrees BTDC...

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CCW rotation on the Norton cam (so, according to the book)

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Voila, static timing is done. Gotta love electronic ignitions.

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Got the exhaust system installed, but I need to fab up special brackets to accommodate dual rubber isolators on both sides.

There is a chance I'll have it fired up by the weekend...

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It's basically down to cleaning up the carbs, oil & fuel lines, adding fluids, FOUR BLOODY OUTER HEADBOLTS (3 day wait), new battery and start kicking...
 
"Carburation day"

Matching 932 left & right bodies

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Matching 3-1/2 slides

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280 main jets (book calls for 260s, but I'm going to run a K&N dual-neck air filter and replica Dunstall Decibel muffs)

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106 needle jets, and stock needles (not pictured) per the book

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They're not new, but they will run correctly

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Air filter should be here in a day or two. Still need to trim back the bottom cable sheaths to enable the slides to drop all the way down into the bores.
 
Just a shot of the controls...

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...and here is the single rubber isolater that needs to be a double with different bracket.

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It's going to be tough waiting for those 4 headbolts. I can have that engine running in 2 or 3 more hours.

Meanwhile, I need to switch gears and get the tank cover properly fitted to the tank, then have the tank cover and sidecovers painted to match the seat.

Besides the 4 outer headbolts, all that remains to get the engine running is:

-Adjust vales & install rocker caps
-pre-charge crank with oil
-dress threads and install timing cover
-install spark plugs
-install new throttle cable (ordered today, didn't want to mangle a good set of choke cables)
-route & connect oil lines
-install new battery
-install fuel taps, gas cap & fuel lines
-fill oil tank
-fill tranny
-nip up primary cover and add primary oil

Almost half of that list is lubricants, so really only a handful of chores to do today.

Once I get it test fired, check for leaks, verify alternator charging, and strobe time it, I'll have a pre-ride list of stuff remaining:

-install new o-rings in front brake caliper, connect hoses & bleed system
-weld up rear brake torque arm root mounts & re-install swingarm
-cut extra links off 530 chain and install master link
-install new tube for rear tire & install rear wheel
-add fork oil
-test brakes and controls

TEST RIDE!

Looking like the test ride won't be till next week, but I MIGHT have it running by Saturday afternoon...
 
The engine is 99% done. Now just waiting on 4 headbolts and a throttle cable assembly to fire the bike up.

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As always seems to be the case, I was digging through my "stash" of 880 engine parts for my "one of these days" 880 build to go in my blue bike, and I ran across a set of headbolts. Bazinga! Torqued down the head, adjusted the valves & installed the rocker inspection covers.

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K&N air filter arrived just before lunch-

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I picked up a nice little AGM battery that fits perfectly in the modified space. I'll use thin chem resistant rubber foam padding before I strap it in.

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Now it's REALLY getting close. The throttle cables should be here today, and I already have the oil ready to pour in. I can use non-resistor caps just to fire it up and check oil return. Today might just be the day...
 
"Let there be light!" And there was light...

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...and horn, and spark...
 
While the rear tire is having a new tube installed, I took the opportunity to finally fab up the mounts for the rear brake torque arm; this involved removing the swingarm which gave me an opportunity to address what I perceived to be an uncomfortably tight gap between the left side spindle hub and the backside of the primary case, as well as revealing a troublesome situation involving the removal of the spindle in-situ without disturbing the primary chaincase (as is the case with a stock swingarm spindle, you draw it out by it's threaded core).

Having successfully removed the aforementioned bits, I laid out some bits of scrap angle iron for the mounting tabs and then cut them out on a band saw. I clamped them down to the table saw bed and drilled them, then dressed them with the belt grinder to final shape, and stripped all the red primer from the bits. My friend Enrique then obliged me and welded them up.

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So nice.
 
I chucked the left side spindle hub in the lathe and trimmed 1/16" off it's outer face (no photo); that will give me at least 1/8" clearance which is generous without sacrificing ANY interface with the swingarm ring clamp that situates it.

Next order of business was the other end of the torque arm where it is held onto the brake backing plate. This arm already has a very nice bushing in place, but it needed an intermediate bushing to properly fit the 3/8" fastener. I sorted a while and found a close match, but it would require some work. As it is just less than an inch long, that was going to require some fiddling to successfully bore the inside to the finished 3/8" plus a touch, AND turn down the outside dimension to match the torque arm bush's I.D.

Time to make a tool! I scrounged around and came up with a stub of 5/8" round steel bar stock from a previous project (Featherbed swingarm spindle conversion). I bored the I.D. to 5/16", then threaded it to 3/8". Oops, I used the fine thread tap. Never mind; I flipped the piece around in the lathe and bored the other end, then tapped it with the 3/8" coarse tap. DUAL TOOL!

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Next, I bolted up the oversize bushing that I intended to re-size to suit the project

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Lastly, I turned it down and it fit to a nice snug sliding fit. Done.

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A couple of notes: Once the tool piece was set in the lathe to begin it's fabrication, it had to remain chucked in there so as to ensure it, and the bushing, would all be concentric. Also, the shoulder of the tool and head of the bolt had to get slightly trimmed in order to make a full pass on the bushing at both ends.

Not pictured is my solution to the spindle removal problem: I had Enrique weld a nut to the end of the spindle so it can be easily unscrewed from the left end hub, simply by using a ratchet from just between the kickstarter and footpeg. I have no idea what provision Kenny Dreer ever had for removing those spindles (there were only 3 in existence) without removing the primary & case.
 
The postman brought a few small items including the resistor caps for the plugs, and the overhaul kit for the front brake caliper

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This is where the swingarm spindle typically beats up the backside of the primary case when either the case is installed wrong, the spindle tube gets loose with age & wear, or both

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