My other project(s).. post-war Sunbeam m/c's

[Bfg]

Wonderful ..    I look forward to hearing what you find out about it Mike .  

       Certainly it would bring the broadest grin to to the cheeks of anyone who saw it run or who rode it..

Thanks for sharing,

Pete. 

[Bfg]

Ok here's a quick update of latest progress.. 

 

Starting off with getting the electrical box in place, which sits just below the saddle on the right-hand-side of the bike.   Within it, aside from it being the main junction box for electrical connections, are the coil and voltage regulator - so there's a decent amount of weight in there.  On its hinged door are an ammeter and the combined ignition / lighting switch.  Inside the door are spare bulb holders .. a nice detail. 

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^ The pressed metal construction is pretty tough, but a support plate (shown) fits on the underside to prevent the holes from splitting. Of course over the course of many years quite a few bikes have it missing ..and yet I've rarely seen a split box. Never-the-less, as I have them - I'll refit them.   The battery box (2nd photo) is slightly larger in size and of similar shape, but a mirror image, as it sits back-to-back with the electrical box. Inside that is a hefty cradle (Right in 2nd photo) to take the weight of the original type 6v battery.   

My intent is to move the battery (I now use a modern gel-battery which requires no maintenance) to the smaller and less-convenient-to-access tool box, which sits on the bottom frame tube next to the left hand footrest, so immediately below the old battery box.   And I'll leave the battery cradle in the garage, as I'll be using that box for tools and as a general purpose hold-all.  I decided to modify a spare electrical box backing plate (I'm holding in the 2nd photo) to fit this box, but isn't making slotted holes a pain ..in the ol' flat plate ! 

Where these boxes are suspended under the frame, directly under the saddle, there's another little plate ..also with slotted holes.. 

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^ I had one of these, but not another for the second bike ..so while it was off - I used it as a template to make a second. 

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^ although I temporarily positioned both boxes (to ensure they were aligned to each other and the frame) - I then took the battery box off for easier access to the distributor and when re-tightening the cylinder head bolts while running in.   NB. the small plate, I made a copy of, sits on the top of the electrical box (indicated by red arrow) and its main purpose is to lower the box by that 2mm plate's thickness - so the hinged doors of those boxes doesn't scratch the frame.  It's an odd detail which might easily have been overcome by combining the frame's two brackets and lowering it by the 2mm.  Hey ho., I'm probably missing something profound.

 

Moving on., with reassigning the use of the tool box ..as it used to be, to now be the battery box. .

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^ two modern 6v - 4.5ah gel batteries (taped together) I've been using.  These are petite compared to 1940 - 50's  6v lead-acid batteries ..and they'll tuck nicely out of the way, inside the (former) tool box.  To level the box's floor (which has the heads of its mounting bolts protruding)  I cut a piece of 3/8" thick plywood to fit in there. Subsequently painted, I then glued a couple of strips of rubber to its underside, so as to offer some insulation from vibration.  I also drilled a 3/8" (10mm) hole in the rear curved face of the steel box, through which I'll run the battery leads to the electrical box. There's wiring to the brake-light switch and horn down there anyway, so the battery wires will run together with those. 

Although no fuse was fitted originally, I use a spade-type fuse (within a watertight holder) on each of my bikes., so I'll place that conveniently - for when I want to connect the top-up battery charger.  And yes, I did touch-in the paint around the hole I drilled.    

I acknowledge moving the batteries to down there is bit of a compromise ..not least because the former battery box now has to be removed to get these batteries out and off the bike, but that's not a big deal me as it's not something I do very often.  And I'll just make the old battery box q.d.  That occasional inconvenience is little compared with now having a usefully sized (double the volume of the tool box) and easily accessible handy cubby hole box to stuff 'thing's in. 

- - -

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^ for ease and to save my back while I fit the engine's ancillaries & exhaust, and to do a few jobs on the wiring - the bike is now back on the lift (home modified) . Under the white-painted crate is a Sealey bike lift,  which I found to be useless when changing the engine oil and otherwise very dangerously unstable.  But with the (3/4" thick plywood) crate bolted onto it, and the extension to support and securely clamp the front wheel,  plus the addition of legs under that end - it is now a useful bit of kit.  

So, onto the exhaust pipes . .

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^ aluminium headers and (as fitted to Nudge) stainless steel down-pipes .. looking Ok., but a little dreary from that bike previously being used for my all-weather commute to work.

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^ With a good bit of elbow grease - the down-pipes in particular came up better than I thought they might.

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^ Yes that's pretty  

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^ It's an after-market down-pipe, supplied by Stewart Engineering, which for some inexplicable reason are always too long (see arrow). I've had this several times when I used to restore customer's bikes. Then I'd have to chop 3/4" off the top of the tubes. Those fitted to Nudge (as bought and subsequently used) had a stepped kink in its flexi-pipe ..but it's a job which I really ought to do correctly now.

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^ Conversely., these are the chrome plated steel down-pipes off  Pudge  ..which as you can see are the right length (height).  As this is Pudge's engine, I may as well use these for now, and sort out Nudge's later on when I fit her own engine.  

So back to polishing..  these pipes and its aluminium headers.

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^ I'd already had these apart so there was less work to do.  The gasket face of each header (..to the cylinder head) did need redressing back to being flat though.  The above shows the olive used to (mostly) seal between headers and down-pipes, and how the screw collar joins and clamps them together.   It works very well as a very firm assembly, but the exhaust gasses blow through the split in the olive. 

I'll fit them for now, knowing that this will blow ..and I'll come back after a few heat cycles (starting the engine and letting it cool again several times - to let things settle in place). Then I'll apply a little exhaust sealing putty.  Again during assembly I use copious amounts of Coppaslip, which smokes like anything for the first 5 minutes ..but it does help prevent corrosion and binding of the aluminium threads, as well as helping the pipes slip together and be unstressed. 

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^ Next up was to clean the exhaust silencer. On the S8 (Sunbeam's more sporting model with slim section tyres), which Nudge is, the exhaust silencer is cast aluminium and of a narrow upswept design.  I guess it is Art-Deco in style ..which I think is rather nice.  I don't honestly know what the original finish was - but I'd guess it was most likely to be cast matt or grit-blasted finish with just the styling flashes being polished bright.   Of course, over the course of 70 years, these exhaust pipes get salty and scarred ..and have otherwise been polished and then scarred again.  If I was getting anything else blasted I'd take it back to matt, but as I'm not - I'll quickly rub it down and polish it up yet again.  

Can't really complain when one thinks that this (very likely to be a 1953 exhaust silencer) is still going strong and in use today !

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^ Polished, fitted and if I might so  - looking rather neat. 

So, another job done. 

The clamp for the back end of the flexi-pipe (which of course is used because the engine is rubber mounted) extends inwards and is bolted to the underside of the frame, so the silencer's front end is held secure.  The silencer's weight is mostly carried on a hefty stud through the base of the rear suspension upright.  There is also another bracket, from the down-pipes to the underside of the gearbox, but for whatever reason that bracket has been cut off.  That's of no concern, as I've done without it before - and not had an issue.

Just one last piccie for today, and that's taking a step back to earlier in the afternoon when I loosely positioned Pudge's  exhaust silencer on this same bike and down-tubes.. just for comparison. . 

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^ this is the Sunbeam S7 and S7-deluxe exhaust silencer.  I understand that with the narrow wheels and tyres on this bike (an S8) the rounder and lower set silencer tends to grind against the road on hard corners.  The fat tyres of the S7 are enough to make the difference. 

To our eyes, its chromed metal may look quite commonplace  ..and with its mounting clamp (by the rear suspension) being on top - not so attractive as the (less expensive when new) S8's silencer.  I guess in the 1940's ; cooking pots n' pans were made in aluminium whereas chrome plated fittings were something special.

I'll leave that thought with you. Have a good evening,

Pete. 

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[Bfg]

Batteries arrived today and I was surprised that they were a.) Yuasa batteries,  b.) they are 12ah,  and c.)  it says on the front "Designed For Standby Use" . . .

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^ The e-bay advert  < here > is a little misleading but I'll give it a try anyway.  I'm not worried about it being 12 rather than 14ah because it's replacing 2x 4.5ah = 9ah batteries.  "Designed for Standby Use"  is of concern because that implies slow and frequent trickle charging ..so  I tried to call the seller on the number given on the delivery slip and on their ebay listing but that didn't go through (as if it's a disconnected line).  Hey ho.

Good news is that the size of the batteries works very well in its new location . . .

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^ with this battery sitting on a pad of 1/4" neoprene, on top of the 3/8" plywood, which is sitting on foam rubber strips to isolate the battery from vibration - the height in the box is perfect. The lid of the box is a domed so there will be enough space for a 1/4" thick pad on top as well so the wires will not touch.  The narrowness of this battery (2") also means that this battery can be fitted or lifted out of its new home without disturbing the (former battery-) box above it. - That's an unexpected bonus 

There's another 1/4" thick pad of neoprene inbetween it and the outside of the box and 1" polystyrene packing around the other three sides. so it's snugly in there and cannot rattle around. 

As long as it works re. charging I reckon it should be a neat improvement, insomuch as in freeing-up the sizeable former battery box for things like my waterproof over-trousers and in offering easier access for tools stored in there. 

Pete.

[RobH]

Yuasa list it as a general-purpose battery suitable for standby or cyclic applications:

https://www.yuasa.co.uk/batteries/industrial/emergency-lighting/np-vrla-general-use/np12-6.html

[Tony Grestock]

Hi, 

Have just bought a Sunbeam S8 with an extended deeper sump than standard, but not with the usual Stewqrt Engineering spacer. I wish to extend the oil pick-up pipe, but am unable to find any aluminium tube with an inside diameter of approximately 11.2 mm. Can you tell me please where you buy your aluminium tube? Or do you have a short section i can buy fro you?

Best regards

Tony

 

[Life Behind Bars]

Hi

Great posts on your Sunbeam rebuilds. I'd be the first to admit, I love riding mine but I know very little about it!

Question: The chain tension guide. Is it designed to be fitted with or without a gasket? A previous owner has put one on, but it leaks oil. The way it is machined suggests to me it doesn't have one!

Thanks in advance, 

Tony

[Bfg]

Hi Tony,  my apologies for the late reply but I haven't been online for some time ..I've been busy making new rudders for my boat. The Sunbeam's cam-chain tensioner's body screws into the side of the engine without a gasket, but I use ptfe tape around its thread - carefully done so not to get any bits of tape inside the engine ..ie., not on the first couple of threads and wound anti-clockwise around (against the turn of the thread) so that it doesn't peel off as you screw the tension in. 

The chain tensioner's cap has three fibre washers, two very tiny, one under each screw head, and then a large diameter one around the cap's base. I put Wellseal on one side of these and let them mostly dry before assembly.

Often the head gasket seeps oil just above this, which is where the oil-way is drilled through the block and cylinder head. This oil is under pressure as it feeds lubricating / cool oil to the overhead camshaft. The leak occurs when the aluminium head is a little buckled, has been damaged by wedging a screwdriver blade in, or the cyl head bolts haven't been re-torqued after a rebuild.   NB. the two smaller cylinder-head nuts on the sides don't really do much but help keep the head flat. They should have thick washers but not be over tightened as that can crack the casting. 

Hope that helps, Pete

[Lebro]

Pete.

Your mailbox is full (I tried to send you a PM)

Anyway, what I was going to say was, Our Thames Valley Group leader David Goswell & his wife Janet are moving away from our area to Suffolk.

I wonder if you could contact him (details in TR Action) & welcome him to the area, & perhaps introduce him to any local groups.

He does not use the forum, so won't be aware of you.

Cheers

Bob

Edited July 12, 2023 by Lebro

[Bfg]

 

21 hours ago, Lebro said:

Pete.

Your mailbox is full (I tried to send you a PM)

Anyway, what I was going to say was, Our Thames Valley Group leader David Goswell & his wife Janet are moving away from our area to Suffolk.

I wonder if you could contact him (details in TR Action) & welcome him to the area, & perhaps introduce him to any local groups.

He does not use the forum, so won't be aware of you.

Cheers

Bob

 

Wilco Bob, I'd be glad to. 

cheers, Pete

[Dave I O W]

On 7/12/2023 at 10:13 AM, Lebro said:

Pete.

Your mailbox is full (I tried to send you a PM)

Anyway, what I was going to say was, Our Thames Valley Group leader David Goswell & his wife Janet are moving away from our area to Suffolk.

I wonder if you could contact him (details in TR Action) & welcome him to the area, & perhaps introduce him to any local groups.

He does not use the forum, so won't be aware of you.

Cheers

Bob

That's very thoughtful of you Bob, Well done!

Cheers

Dave.

[Tony_C]

Recognise this one Pete?

It was in the airport restaurant at Geneva, we were en route to Nice with hand baggage only or I would have tried a cheeky offer; some proper (over?) engineering for the time!