Progress has been slow, parts not fitting and that sort of thing.
A huge amount of time was spent making flanges for the brake backplates. I really did start with flat sheet cut to circles, and fold over the edges at 90 degrees to form the lips. No creases or other folds - all panel beating. Then cut out the middle, drilled holes, tapped those in the backplates and screwed into position. Finally ground the bolts flush with the surface so the the operation of the brakes was unaffected. I an quite proud of them, but you can hardly see the finished articles.
Tyres now fitted (only bust one tube) and .... ta dah .... on its wheels with connected steering (it still needs sorting - more anon).
The scene in the shed 3/06/2002
However, the following day after an abortive attempt to install the engine, I found that the engine plates were anything but a set! Quite obvious the engine only went in before due to the top tubes being the wrong diameter! The front plates seem reasonable, so I'm now in the process of making a pair of rear plates. They will be paired with a front - and stamped L and R (as will the fronts) to avoid confusion. However I was unable to obtain 3/16" plate and had to settle on 6mm (3/16 is 4.7mm). More weight!
New mounting bolts on order, as the old ones are non too bright. Two of them are the wrong size and a third was chopped by me rather than remove the timing cover (I don't want to disturb the rebuilt engine - cost enough!)
March 2003
Considerable fun and games (I'm not sure if that is the right term!) was had with the engine plates. I made the erroneous assumption they were the same on both sides. As the holes in my engine are not symmetrical the plates were considerably out on one side, and actual fitment was progressing badly. As the MTWC AGM was approaching I hung fire and sure enough, among the many goodies on offer were a nice set of plates for it. Turns out the JAP 50° is near enough the same as the later Matchless. Now if one specialist who shall remain nameless had said this - I'd be a bit further ahead and he'd be richer. Ho hum.
Anyway plates procured among other stuff, and after some tedious filing of holes to suit my engine and my car (they are all a bit different), I finally achieved went from:
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to this |
At the point of the latter photo, I thought I'd got the drive shaft and engine alignment right, but on talking to Colin Wilson I think I'll have another go. Although he thinks I'd probably be ok, he aims for 10 thou end float (I've 34) and what I think would be better precision in squaring things up. The drive shaft needs to meet the flywheel at as near to 90° as possible.
Anyway the clutch is on (but will have to come off again for the alignment). However I think I now know what I'm doing with it, and have reconditioned the pressure plate assembly.
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Before
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After
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New toggles (MTWC), adjusting screws (Clarrie) and springs (Hobco - St Albans - most odd nuts and bolts have come from there).
On 22nd March, I put the Elk on my trailer and hauled it round the M25 to Colin Wilson's works. He is going make the seats and sort out the mess I laughingly call the steering. Still I have the leaky radiator to mend, two period Newton shocks to recondition (a real rarity these days) and the tatty lumps of metal I call the wings to mend.
On the trailer outside my house
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And yes, the Landrover Defender is my daily car. Rated at towing 3.5 tonnes so yes, made short work of that little load!
The car came back from Colin's with nice new upholstery, a comment "you should not run that engine" and steering which by my book was still not yet right.
Eventually with the help of Park Street Engineering, and John Hoare steering satisfaction was obtained. If the steering column was two inches longer, it would have been a lot easier (and I really did think about a new end for the column).
The engine comment was because it looked like this:
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This is one of the nuts on the stud that hold the barrels on. Not much thread is there? The nuts are a little deceptive as they are counter bored Matchless ones, and a little longer. Correct JAP pattern ones are now fitted (stainless). |
So I took the barrels off, extracted the studs, put new longer ones and replaced the barrels. A tad easier said than done as the removal of the studs was heart stopping to do. They are 7/16 Cycle thread studs - very fine and alloy really ought not to have threads that fine. Do note, inserts are available, albeit pricey from Recoil (Australian competitor to helicoil). The new ones are nipped - no more and held with nutlock (grade down from studlock). If they ever need to come out, then it will be a case for Recoil, as the threads are ok this time, but another attempt attempt at removal will probably strip the threads.
Anyway, I'm as happy as I can get they are ok and it now looks like this:
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Much nicer! You can just see the tips of the studs coming out of the nuts - as they should. Also the manifolds are on (made new studs from steel and nuts from brass), the rocker covers (new studs again) and most of the carburetor! At the extreme right you can see a Newton shock absorber. Restored and working by me with help from Revolution Bearing and Seals. The seals were made to order, about £5 each and I can give details if anyone needs them (mail me). |
Part 3 The beginning of the end, or is it the end of the beginning? (with apologies to Winston Churchill).
