Although the Norton chopper rescue was a pretty striking transformation, this little old Tiger was pretty dang sad.
The owner delivered this barely-rolling hulk to my south Texas shop all the way from south Florida, just because he wanted to go over EVERY aspect of the restoration from top to bottom, and front to back. We spent a good 2 hours, using a 100-point list I came up with. Funny thing, he was on somewhat of a budget, so it was determined the bottom end would not be split open - HIS DECISION, against my strong advice.
Sure enough, the bottom end bit him in the butt after about 4 months of hard riding. However, he was very cool about the whole thing, and took full responsibility for the necessary repairs (all new bearings and seals, thankfully no destroyed parts). I was actually surprised it held up as long as it did, and I only attribute it to the VERY thorough flushing I did with good fresh solvent for several days in my pump-equipped parts wash tub.
While we did use some middle-quality parts, the overall restoration came out looking very nice. The FIRST thing he did when he arrived to pick it up, was to whip out his rolling shop stool and cleaning bucket, and go from one end of the bike to the other, laying on a heavy coat of bike wax. He's from Florida.
Later that day, we loaded up and took off to the Texas hill country with our wives and he got to complete a full run of the "Texas Trinity" FM 335, 336 & 337, with his wonderful Cherokee wife Mae Lynn who, sadly, passed away a few years later. We have some great memories!
The owner delivered this barely-rolling hulk to my south Texas shop all the way from south Florida, just because he wanted to go over EVERY aspect of the restoration from top to bottom, and front to back. We spent a good 2 hours, using a 100-point list I came up with. Funny thing, he was on somewhat of a budget, so it was determined the bottom end would not be split open - HIS DECISION, against my strong advice.
Sure enough, the bottom end bit him in the butt after about 4 months of hard riding. However, he was very cool about the whole thing, and took full responsibility for the necessary repairs (all new bearings and seals, thankfully no destroyed parts). I was actually surprised it held up as long as it did, and I only attribute it to the VERY thorough flushing I did with good fresh solvent for several days in my pump-equipped parts wash tub.
While we did use some middle-quality parts, the overall restoration came out looking very nice. The FIRST thing he did when he arrived to pick it up, was to whip out his rolling shop stool and cleaning bucket, and go from one end of the bike to the other, laying on a heavy coat of bike wax. He's from Florida.
Later that day, we loaded up and took off to the Texas hill country with our wives and he got to complete a full run of the "Texas Trinity" FM 335, 336 & 337, with his wonderful Cherokee wife Mae Lynn who, sadly, passed away a few years later. We have some great memories!
