Hairy Holes

For a change I decided to do some work on the bikes today. I have an early 1950s Ariel VH 500 which I bought a fair few years ago in a proper state. It was cheap tho. Since then its had various parts loosely attached to it, mainly to try to get a V5C for the bike with the original registration, which was successful.

I was thinking about part ex-ing it with a mate who is building another Ariel, but common sense went out of the window and I've decided to get busy and do it myself.

 This is how it looked at the start - not Selly Oaks finest. Its actually a 500cc single engine in a twin frame, hence the odd looking engine plates (odd if you know Ariels anyway...)

And after an afternoon of spannering:-

 

And finally:-

 

Its now all in boxes - the trick is to get on with it and not leave it in boxes for the next five years. Glad I bought an air impact gun - made removing those seized and tricky nuts a doddle.

What I have in mind for it is something like this:-

Gonna be tele forks not girders but I reckon I have the makings of a pretty nice bobber in my garage. And when I get bored with that I can convert it back to standard.

Some of the other residents of my garage were wheeled out into the sun so I had space to work.

1938 Ariel 500 Red Hunter in the foreground. Its still got the 1950s VB stealth tank on it which I fitted `temporarily' while I painted the original panel tank, which of course I haven't finished yet. To be honest I quite like it like that. 1954 Velocette in the background.

My first Ariel, bought in 1996 or 97. A 1928 Model D - 500cc OHV engine, 3 speed Burman gearbox, hand change, total loss oiling system. Gonna be nice if I ever finish it (the engine is fairly complete but I haven't done anything to it for a while).



Things

Been busy again.

Went up to Teesside to see my Mother. Had a day out in York while we were there. Ain't been to York for 30-odd years.

The wimmin went into the Minster:-

But I couldn't be arsed with that so I had tea and cake here:-

 

Then I went for a walk through one of the gated streets:-

 

 

And bought this in a funky record shop I found:-

 

 

 

On the Sunday we went to Seaham to see a new monument to the survivors of WW1. Its an all welded Tommy and while it don't look too big from the road, its a good 12-15ft high when you get up close and theres some great detail:-

 

Along with rebooting my Northerness I also restocked in brown beer while I was there:-



Fun and games continues with the VW. The shagged rear wheel bearings I found turned out to be fine, but I had them out and washed and regreased ready for reassembly:-

Of course I snapped a brakeline taking it all apart so I made a new one:-

The other inhabitants of my garage:-

 

Yeah Its Dubs Again

In the ongoing saga that is my 1972 VW Bay Window we are still trying to remove the rear hub carrier to change the wheel bearings. Three out of four bolts gave in with a minor struggle, the last one resolutely holding out.

So I brought in the tag team:-

The results of a two hour battle included setting welding gloves on fire and fixing a shagged air tool, the offending bolt head has been mostly removed. Just need a gentle caress with my Powerfile and a few twats with my biggest hammer and we should be back in business.

In order to add a bit of disorder, here are a few shots of my garage:-

Looking out towards my Bay on the drive, Velocette and Ariels in the foreground

Looking on from the main door. Surfboards and motorbikes.

1938 Ariel, which works, and below the surfboard (ideal for a beginner, well battered but for sale if anyone wants it), is a 1928 Ariel and a 1953 Ariel, both projects. Sneaking into the picture bottom right is the tank and frame of a 1920 Ariel project.

 Still hibernating - my 1913 Ariel TT model.

1930 Ariel and 1954 Velocette MAC - both in good order (no, really..).

Where the...erm...magic happens...arf arf.

Fun With Dubs - Shagged Rear Hub Bearings

Imagine my amusement as I struggled to find out why the handbrake cables wouldn't adjust up only to find that both rear wheel bearing are sloppy. Laugh? I nearly shat.

So, the major problem, at first anyway, is to get the 46mm nut off the stub axle. Two tommy bars bit the dust before I enlisted the services of an air impact gun. even that couldn't shift them though so I sent for the cavalry - Plus Gas and a hot air gun. That sorted them out - resistance is futile.

The drive shaft, brake drum and internals came off easily, and the hub was no trouble

The brake backing plate has seen better days so I will replace it. I have a new slave cylinder to fit too. Of course the nut on the end of the brake line was solid so that section of brake line needs replacing too. Oh good.

I got as far as loosening the hub carrier bolts - I got three loose but one isn't having it. I have left them soaking in penetrating fluid and will see how it goes next time. Now to order some (more) bits....

Nostalgia - It Ain't What It Used To Be...

Took a look at the Vintage Nostalgia Show near Warminster on Saturday. It was a nice day, the sun shone and there was cake. A pretty good show all in all. Some pics:-

Let there be cake. And there was cake:-

Let there be Volkswagens. And there was Volkswagens:-

Let there be hotrods. And there was hotrods:-

Let there be random classic cars, scooters and water pistols. And....yeah, you guessed it...

There was even Tiger Moths:-

All in all a good day out. Reckon I might do the weekend next year if the van is fixed up by then (which it will be...).

In Van News, I have two shagged sets of rear hub bearings. To get at them I need to remove the 46mm nut on the end of the stub axles, something which VW clearly employed blue arsed Baboons to flog up back in Wolfsburg. The results of the preliminary investigation:-

Also went skating in Tetbury. A nice mellow bowl, and the sun was shining so I went by Velocette:-

The bowl:-

Fun With Dubs - Bastard Electrics

My Bay is a bit of `special' - Audi 80 watercooled engine shoe horned into the engine bay. Of course, cooling this needs a radiator, so theres a huge BMW radiator and two cooling fans, one on each side of the rad.

In case you've forgotten what it looks like:-

Now as the electrics were put together by a colour blind fuck wit, some of them don't work, and tracing the wires is a pain where red turns to blue turns to brown within the first metre of wiring.

So I'm gradually working my way through the systems and fixing connections and making things work. Recent successes include reversing lights which had a lot more chance of working once the switch was actually connected to the battery and the lights themselves.

This afternoon I was looking at radiator fans. The one behind the rad works off a manual switch in the cab and also a thermo switch. After figuring out what does what it seems to be OK. But the rad on the engine side was kaput. 12V made their presence known but no turny fan.

Nothing left to do but take it to bits:-

Of course the first thing I did was lose one of the tiny nuts that hold the motor case together. I still haven't found it. Stripping the motor revealed no damage so I gave it a good hose out with electrical cleaner, reassembled and put 12V on it from a spare battery. Success. I now have a working fan (with only three casing screws...).

Next its find out why one of the relays under the dashboard is consuming power, and then its time to weld the chassis (and probably burn the fucker to the ground).

Keep tuning in for more fun.

Sunny Saturday

Usual activities for a sunny Saturday.

Bought a set of these beauties in the week:-

And bought a set of horns for the VW -  the Type R horn for snails it would seem. Fortunately I'm fitting it to a vehicle which isn't that fast...:-

Fitted the new horn and then found that the battery was flat. Hmmm...I suspected that I had a parasitic drain but thought that the battery was just shagged so changed it. More investigation needed.

While charging the battery....:-

...I got on and serviced the Velocette. Changed the gearbox oil, lubed the cables and chains, greased the swingarm pivot and pumped up the tyres. Ready for action now.