Cylinder Head

Head type fitted to Engines built from 1959 .Used on 88 and 99 standard and reputedly polished up a bit for early Sports Specials. Bigger inlet valves and compression raised by 1 compared to earlier head.I used to wonder if they fitted this head to the 650DL  to match the enclosure ,but now these  are totally extingt , I will never see one.

It looks like you have an earlier barrel as it has the mounting hole for the generator strap

!960 Models ,many built in 1959 , Normal practise. And yes that's a dynamo barrel ,do you have more than 1 barrel?.

Looking at your engine the inlet cover is a bit lop sided, often the stud needs a little tweaking to get things to line up.I would probably wait till I have a good runner before parting with the spares. 

Apart from the chain links ,everything looks normal . Pullers only needed for crank gear and Engine drive sprocket .   Distributor sprocket pin can be punched out ( support sprocket) and re-used.

The normal carb size is !1/16  and I doubt there was any difference between the 88 and 99 std heads,otherwise they would probably have stamped them for ease in stocktaking. Never had a pukka 99ss but its possible that for the twin carbs the ports may have been polished out a 1/16th to match.Not worth the trouble, Some engines work better with a step which sounds daft though.Doubt the spring links pose a real threat,Running in ideal conditions,nothing to catch against. Just not needed,something else to cods up when in a rush.If buying a crank gear puller try to get a NORTON one as  very similar triumph ones need mods to fit. A cutaway timing cover is needed to get the chains right,or a jig .

Your cam chain is one tooth out. The spot marks should have 10 links between them. You have nine. Good job it has  U clip. I would lock wire the u clips. Because I like to play with my lock wire pliers!

hello  now the real facts are the first downdraft heads where fitted to The Norton Manxman 650 as standard  and all 650s after this  some hand single carburettor with a single carburettor manifold to adaption and these when on the 650 Standard  from august 61 and then the DL thereafter So all De-Lux 650s had a downdraft heads now the first Norton Manxman,650s  where built from the 7th of November 1960, And even my Norton Manxman was built in early  December 1960,  Most Norton 650 de-luxe model and standard models where sent for export  And most where sold in Iron curtain countries  like Yugoslavia and Hungary  and the Baltic countries,  I do wonder how many have survived out there  But as for the Norton Manxman 650 survival cases to date I have 63 on my register world wide  And I will not disclose any of the owners  and Nor will I disclose any farther information on these models,    Yours  Anna J   

Hi Anna, the reason I was curious about the 650DL is that the enclosure was designed for the horizontal carb of the 99. The 650 must have had something special to fit.  Hi David, I once wired up the clip on the 99 ,it was very quickly cut through by the sprocket but caused no harm at the bottom of the chain case.Don't think I want those bits of stainless wire in the timing case.

Has John picked up on my post about incorrect cam timing? It's going to be very sluggish if the cam is 15 degrees out.

The bigger inlet valves weren't standard on 1959 (Wideline) models.  They were an optional extra and only standard for 1960 models onwards.  Mine is a 1959 99 "Special" (Not "Sports Special") as confirmed by John Hudson when I wrote to him in the early 1960s.  So called because it has most of the optional extras for 1959, including the polished head ex-works - a bit tatty when I bought it from Pride & Clarke in 1965!

Hi Robert, is your Caps Shift stuck or do you keep pressing it by mistake when entering "1"? LOL!

The head in the photos wasn't fitted IN 1959 though, except for maybe a few late models with Slimline frames?  Mine was built in July 1959 and has the "Standard" style head, but with the optional larger inlet valves. I didn't think they issued these heads with side finning until later - around 1961. 

1" ports were standard for the 88 and it may be that the 99 still had the same head ports but 1 1/16" carbs.  I'll have to delve into my workshop one day and find a head!  In Mick Walker's "Norton Dominator" book he talks about opening the ports to 1 1/16" from the 1961 model year, implying that they were still 1" until then?

One important point about 99s (at least when fitted with twin carbs) is that they perform better with small-bore Siamese pipes - John Hudson told me this and advised me at the time that "an SS" silencer should be used.  Dunno what that is so I always used the standard "handed" cigar shaped silencers, also use on my 1961 Navigator.  Apparently the Siamese option cost no extra but you had to specify it or they would supply a standard twin silencer model.

Sorry Lionel, My 99DL build date was at the beginning of Nov 1959  ( The club checked the factory records and wrote to me). Seems to me that there could have been both types of head being fitted  at the same time ,one type to wideline and one to slimline,why not?. Seems odd but they were a small operation ,waste not want not.  The factory was at that time building Blue/dove 99's and Red/dove 99's ,must have made life difficult as  they soon stopped doing that and standardised the colours. Mine was the 86th built, production must have started Sept/Oct  59 I think. So possibly 300 in 59., The total was 1250 in a 2 -21/2 year span.Shame we can't thumb thro the records.

John, my information came from the "man himself" - John Hudson!  You are overthinking this and getting bogged down in technicalities.  The Norton Siamese pipes WERE small bore, in that they were smaller bore than the standard twin pipes.  I still have them somewhere - very rusty but possibly restorable.  I'll check the bore.

99s with twin carbs definitely performed better, higher BHP and "Go Faster Stripes"!  It is also mentioned in Mick Walker's book.

I'm still pretty certain that there were no heads in 1959 or 1961 with those 'fins'.  I would think that someone has changed the head.

Somewhere in my  dusty  library I have a good side photo  of  the prototype  slimline  88/99 DL in a factory setting  wearing some lightweight tank badges and before the tickler slot got stamped in the side panel.  I 'm thinking that would be early 59.. and it has the 60 head. And its no good quoting John Hudson at me!!, I corresponded with him and went on a train trip with him. He supplied me with bits for my 99 engine ,a proper gent . This 99 is my 3rd slimline from that early period,and all had that head. Also consider that was "my time"  ,I don't have to ask, I was there.And have the wrinkles to proove it.I am looking for some new small bore Siamese pipes ,the chrome has long gone home on mine.They do work better than the big pipes.Sound better too.Finding some that fit that don't have that awfull Commando collet may be hard.

Hi John, I have an original  very worn and pimply front brake lever /choke on my bike ,it has the Amal stamp and the odd extended nut fixing. I have had to change the blade on the clutch side ,but still have the Amal one.  Pattern lever sets are very variable in quality and must be 7/8" clamp AND 7/8" pivot/nipple centers for the clutch. Weirdly if you measure measure the  orriginal clutch and brake lever sets you will find the brake to be 1" centers ,Perhaps Norton thought the front brake should not be TOO powerfull ,More likely some brakes were spungey and would reach the bar and needed the extra travel.

In the early 1960's money was tight, I left college with a good education and straight into good jobs, I lived at my parents  home so was better off than many. I could just afford either a girlfriend or a bike ,not both. No way could I experiment with fancy parts or frippery, Just keeping things working was a challenge,the bikes were usually well worn but std appart from a set of "ACE" bars and a bit of checkered tape. 

Late 1959 and 1960 are the same, as the first slimline came out in late '59.  The heads were essentially the same, but just had larger inlet valves from then onward - until the next head change.  There is a site with all the different head types over the years.  Splayed inlets heads may have been next, then the downdraught?  What I was mainly getting at is that the machined side fins weren't around until later.

I never met John, not even when he worked in my neck of the woods at Scooter Repairs in Southampton - where my Brother took his Lambrettas for work - in between Nortons!  In fact I never knew that he worked there until many years later!  Shame!

Southampton, as you know, was the home of racers Alec Bennett and Syd Lawton and their shops were the main suppliers of my Norton parts.  I sold my 99's QR camshaft to Barrry Lawton as he wanted a softer cam in his Domiracer.  I fitted an SS cam in mine as I thought it seemed a good idea, paired with new 9:1 pistons.  In hindsight it wasn't much different as I had kept the radiused followers and single carb.  Money was tight when I was 18!

Re lock wire: I have a spool of thin stainless steel locking wire.  I use it on the primary chain clip.  The wire diameter is smaller than the chain link thickness, so it hasn't been cut by the sprockets since they fit inside the inner links, and the wire goes inside the outer links.  Timing chain links are of course thinner.

Hi David. I’ve tried to visualise how you wire lock the chain clip but I can’t work out where the wire goes and where the twisted together ends sit once the job is done. Do you have a photo or two please?

Thanks

Tony

Don't forget the chrome tape John!  I still have remnants of it on some old bike parts.  It was a  cover-up for worn or rusty chrome.  Oil product stickers were also good for that.  My old rear shocks still have an "STP" one!