Norwich & District
Section of the VMCC
Norwich & District
Section of the VMCC
TONY'S TALE
PART 4
My next project was to have a go at the museum’s 1930 A.J.Stevens 500c.c. model R8 sloper. This machine was in a sorry state and needed a great deal of work.
The fork spindles and all the links were condemned and had to be
remade. The front wheel is incorrect, it is in fact an Ariel WNG wheel
and, guess what, there was a 14 tooth speedo drive gear in the brake plate
(see part 2), surplus to requirements as the speedo is driven from the
gearbox on this machine. We decided to retain it but the anchor bar and
the full brake gear had to be made. A mid 30’s AJS front mudguard
was fitted. A standard ribbed rear mudguard was fitted but the numberplate,
lifting handle and all the stays had to be made. The rear brake plate had
to be remade and the chainguard was fashioned from a newer AJS chainguard.
The magneto platform had to be remade and the mid-ships battery carrier
made from scratch. The only eight inch headlamp we had was from a car,
this was adapted for the switchgear and for the fixing trunnions.
The engine was in fairly good order, the oil pump drive and bush and the
vernier magneto components were remade. Most of the gear change components
had to be remade from scratch.
This is now a running machine but requires new exhaust pipes with Brooklands cans. I have ridden this bike on private land and it is a very nice machine.
Whilst working on the A.J.Stevens machine I acquired my Norton Dominator
99 as a basket case that had been stored in an attic since 1976. It had
been stripped by a previous owner and all the parts jumbled up. When
I got around to starting this project I was surprised to discover traces
of the original red paint on the inside of some of the parts. I had always
thought this to be a black and silver example. The decision was taken
to put it back to its original red. The engine was the biggest problem
with this restoration. The cylinder barrel was +60 and oval with the
cam follower tunnels in poor condition. Cylinder liners have been fitted
and the tunnels reground with oversize followers, not a cheap job! The
cylinder head has new guides and valves; the crankshaft has been given
its first re-grind, new shells of course fitted and superblend main bearings.
The camshaft was made up and re-profiled. Over 250 parts were made for
this bike, mainly in stainless steel. This is a lovely machine to ride,
the engine just purrs but I have had it nip up a few times with these
wretched Italian pistons even though I have put 2,000 miles on the clock
now. This restoration spanned a period of three years.
Currently I have two projects on the go. For myself I am giving my 1949 Scott
Flyer a good tidy-up. For the museum I am restoring their 1934 Triumph
2/1, a 250c.c. twin port machine which is in an extremely sorry state.
More on both of these projects at some future time.
