Another Sunbeam...

Can I take it the bottom of the tank we’re rusted through and so needed removing to seal the tank?

Great thread, and good detective work to uncover the history of this bike. please keep us updated on your progress

Hi Bubb,

Yes, there was more holes in it than a Swiss cheese! I think it will repair, quite easily, but i don't have the equipment to do it sadly..
 
TAX ENQUIRY

The plot, as they say, thickens...

No more to report as yet, but a question to 'The Learned'..

I know that trying to get information from DVLA is like trying to get blood from a stone, but, does anyone know if/where i can find the road tax history of a vehicle?

If i could speak to someone, who can tell me for instance, 'Yes, the bike was taxed in 1961, then 1954 and in Ireland, then London etc..(you get the picture), I could piece together the history a bit easier?

Thanks in Advance...

Steve.
 
OK, so its been a while since i posted but work has kind of come back to life, so I found a few days over the last few weeks to do a bit more!

Carb and exhaust on. This was no big deal although getting the threads on those manifolds started was quite tricky! Anyway the carbs and air filter are now on. I had to machine a spacer for the air filter, bit of a mystery really, the air filter where it fits to the carb was too big, there is a spacer already on the carb as you can see in the pictures but it wasn't big enough, so i made another out of a bit of bronze i had as scrap, worked a treat!

Distributor in and timed, oil switch on, plugs gapped and plug cover on.

Dynamo stripped and cleaned, tested OK so i think with a decent reg on will charge no problem.

The wiring...It was a bit of a mess, OK, everything was there, but not connected, but i didn't like the harness, too messy and too many blue bullet terminals, which in my opinion are the work of the devil himself.. So i set about tidying up the wiring. I made a new loom for the dip/horn switch (the golf ball type thingy on the left bar end) and had to make the small mushroom style terminals inside said switch, which took an absolute age to get right, but very rewarding when it went together and worked! The left handlebar grip 'twists' forward for main beam/back for dip. An interesting concept that actually works very well!

Toolbox on, few adjustments here and there..

Grips.

I decided to re-bush the inverted levers as years of use had made the holes oval, this was done without too much fuss, then proceeded to scrape all the silver hammerite paint off them, and prepare them for nickel coating. The grip rings looked very shabby, chrome peeling off and showing corrosion, so i set about taking the chrome off with a wire wheel, only to reveal tat the rings were Bronze! I decided t polish these up, along with the 2 smaller rings on the left bar, with new AMAL grip rubbers they look quite smart i think.

Oh, and i have soldered 5 holes in the bottom of the tank up. The tank is a spare, so i cleaned it out best i could, which of course showed up the holes... A bit of soldering later, and i have a leak free tank! That was until i put the taps on.. The taps are the original ones, and absolutely pissed out when fuel was added, so i stripped them and made some new corks out of a wine bottle cork, and we are now leak free!

So, i decided o oil it up and attempt to start her,

I'll save that till tomorrows instalment...
 

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A few more pictures...
 

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What an elegant solution for dip and main beam in 1948. Yet people rave about the rotary switches on GS’s , goes to prove there’s nowt new with bikes!
 
That story about the cellar bikes reminds me of a house in Juniper Green I visited many years ago. I was in search of a set of Roadholder forks and had been told the house was owned by a chap who had a few Norton spares in his cellar. A few? Did it hell. It was chock full of stuff the chap had collected over the years, including a "garden gate" Norton International, various side valve and ohv single cylinder engines but no roadholders!

I often wonder what happened to that treasure trove when the chap (he was a decent age then) passed on! Probably ended up in landfill! :tears

Anyway, carry on! Great thread :thumb2
 
What an elegant solution for dip and main beam in 1948. Yet people rave about the rotary switches on GS’s , goes to prove there’s nowt new with bikes!

Yes I think it’s a lovely solution and it works on the old ignition switch logic so it’s dead simple! The bike came with a few spares but I had to source some tiny plunger springs and make the brass mushroom style connectors, took bloody ages but very rewarding...
 
Well, throttle time today. The throttle is a weird set up, a kind of ‘push and pull’ set up really, the sleeve as you can see pulls the 2 brass sliders apart, the outer cable is fixed into the left side slider and the inner to the right, the twisting motion just pulls them apart! Maybe slightly over engineered methinks...
 

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But bloody clever and fitting for a bike that was aimed at the premium market, surely?
 
Smudger


That looks great. You are doing a fantastic job of getting that bike back on the road looking good.
The twist grip looks great, as do the polished ends. I love the idea of left grip movement to turn the lights dip/main. Nowt new in bike design, I bet someone in the custom world has tried this, or at least they will if they see this thread!

Keep up the good work. I Think I’m envious of your collection of bikes; Vincent comet, bsa Roundtank, s7 & s8....... I would happily have them all (so long as you will come and look after them for me!)
 
So its time for an update.

No surprises really, i filled the float chamber up with fuel, and after the third kick it barked into life, for probably the first time in 40 odd years!!

Sounded crisp, oil pressure OK and apart from a couple of (hopefully) minor leaks, the engine is good!!

So, ordered 3 new cables (JJ Cables, Warwick. Brilliant knowledge and service!) and fitted up. Now the clutch/throttle and brakes work!

So i turned my attention to the rear light. The OE rear light is an odd thing, small bayonet type fixing and tiny light, also very very unobtainium......

I went to a classic car meeting in Calne a couple of weeks ago and found a similar light, which after some thinking, could be made to fit the S7. The light was i think from a car, but in my mind, with a few modifications, could be made to look quite right on the bike.

It was painted black and had no base, so i found a spare piece of brass in the odds & sods box and machined a boss for it, the black paint on the lamp was removed as i didn't really like it which revealed the whole lamp as brass, i think it looks kind of OK and really suits the bike? It matches with the brass rings on the handlebar grips!

More to follow..
 

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Here is the light that was on the bike when i got it, not correct but a good light nonetheless, but i do prefer the one I've fitted, looks posh to me!
 

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Nice one Smudge .... I thought that old Rapide was mi moms for a minute or two ;)

i-zSZj6RF-L.jpg


:beerjug:
 
I love the foam pipe insulation on the edges of the bike lift. It speaks volumes of the bruised shins that have prompted this technical mod 👍
 


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