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Checking parts for fit…

Well, it’s been a busy week, what with this and that! The visit to Pud’s place was a highlight in more ways than one, but more of that later…

I got stuck in with the back wheel setup, after turning a longer thread on the spindle and cutting it off appropriately to fit the frame. This is my solid axle alternative to the proper, QD setup that would be usual on this rig. I turned up the spacer necessary for the right-hand-side cover over the speedometer drive thingy (which I shall leave in place to protect the threads) and had the original that was used for the drive-side, so all fits nicely for the purpose of getting everything lined up and to fit!

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And no, this is not the hub and rim I will be using, either! I have another cast steel hub all powdered up and with new bearings and I will be fitting a good quality, shouldered Alloy rim with the correct drilling for the hub! The retaining nuts for the drum are being re-chromed as I ‘speak’.

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Here just aligning chain-guard and getting an idea how it all goes together. The mock stay is only there to line up and keep the guard off the sprocket! Note the clever use of gardening-wire to keep the brake-pedal from drooping!

General layout, all a bit Heath-Robinson until I receive the rest of the real parts, but it gives me an idea of what is there and what is not, and when I do get it, where it all goes!

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The engine and chain-case are still empty, just fitting pedals etc to see how much space there is and what can be adjusted (or needs to be) to fit neatly without any chafing, rubbing or pressing (or force)!

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The view from the other side. Note the completely wrong ‘ears’ on the rear of the other tank. This tank has been ‘repaired’ at some time and not done with a frame to try it out on! They should fit, of course… I only put it on top to see how much room there is between the tank and the head. I think that this is still sitting a bit high, I’ll have to ‘adjust’ my fittings slightly.

This is actually a postwar tank for Dowty forks, so has a different profile at the front end to the one fitted to bikes with Webbs. A lot ‘sleeker’, to avoid the teles on full lock.
I actually suspect that the ears might not be as wrong as they look, since the forward mounts are, to my mind, a bit too close to the front of the tank! Only comparison with an original and unmolested tank will tell!

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Just below the steering head on the right, the tunnel-gap incorporated in the tank (to allow the wiring for the headlamp to pass through without chafing) can be plainly seen!

My visit to Pud’s was very fruitful in another way! I managed to get quite a few of the annoying things that I have been looking for to complete the bike. By no means finished acquiring parts, but some of these are very difficult to get people to part with, even if you do find someone that has them! He was so kind as to let me go through all his boxes of Velocette goodies and make a pile on the floor of the bits I needed immediately, which looked so:

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Disregarding the rear wheel in the background, there is an original front hub complete with brake-plate, brake-shoes, Speedometer drive, both drive gears for the hub and the plate, a newly refurbished 1936 Chronometric speedo with NOS drive-cable and mounting bracket, a sidestand, complete gear-lever (which was new!) setup, a handful of mudguard stays to keep and some to copy, brake-pedal return spring, footrest square mounting bars, original footrest rubbers, all the bits that fit on the frame and forks to fit the stays to, nuts and fittings for the rear stand and side-stand and a front and rear mudguard, bare in primer, made up from originals back in the 70s. I need to fit a valance to the back one and fit the reinforcement, but I think that I’ll just keep them as spares anyway! Oh yes, a rear brake-plate torque-arm and a felt (?) Velocette flag from the fifties, two tubular 8” headlamp brackets and the doo-dads that hold the seat-springs on the frame and a pair of new pillion footrests and rubbers! All in all for a very reasonable price and I am very happy! Some will need re-finishing and then it goes straight on the bike! I was a bit worried about the front wheel and brake-plate not being right (could be off a Rudge?), so now I have the right bits and a completely new speedo, drive and cable, too!

YAY! Thanks a million, Pud!

© peter gouws 2012

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