Electra rebuild

Just checked and it looks like I didn't put new seals on for those shafts. I guess the old seals are in there and they are the ones that are seeping. Nothing catastrophic.

Peter,

Many thanks for getting the jacket on and getting the measurements and info I needed for the seat mount - much appreciated.

I'm glad you mentioned the chamfers for the spacers as that's not something I would have done .

I'll post some photos of the finished parts when I make them up.

I'm assuming there's no form of seal where the exhaust enters the head - it just pushes in and sits there?

Ian

I fitted some silencers that I had (not Norton ones). They fit and looked great but unfortunately they interfere with the brake pedal and kick start, so reluctantly I had to buy a new set.

Just a few things left now. I need to get grips (I thought I had some already), footpeg rubbers and a battery. I would like to go for one 12v battery instead of the two 6v. What are you guys using for a battery?

New points have been ordered as I can't get the bike to time correctly. The points looked OK but must be a more worn than I thought.

I'm curious too; the frame/engine number on my bike is EL/364, judging by the information I can find I think it's around March 1963 production date - any ideas?

Ian

It's alive! It's alive!

After much fiddling with the timing and just couldn't get it set right I remembered that the advance unit isn't keyed to the shaft as I had been thinking and that all I had to do was get it set in the correct position. Timed the points then after filling the float bowl with petrol, 3 or 4 kicks and it started up! It sounded wonderful. After a couple of minutes it settled in to a nice idle. It had wet sumped after sitting for a few weeks with oil in it, but after a bit of a puke out of the breather everything pumped back in to the tank. I put a short video on the facebook page. Not the best of quality as I was on my own at the time. It's running great. I just need to finish up the paint work on the tank and get my seat back from the seat guy (it's been 6 or 7 months now) then we'll get it on the road!

Thanks Patrick. Plug caps came straight from our spares service here. They've been great at supplying me all the bits I've needed.

Well, my Electra seems to like to wet sump , so here's my solution to it...

I also decided to go the two battery route so ordered those yesterday. Still trying to get mt seat back! I just had a read through the thread again and saw that I sent my seat out in October 2015!

New photos added to the facebook page on the Norton. Photos show the two battery set up and our solution to a flooding carburetor.

Bike is running great and idling well. We ran it up and down the gears while on the bench and everything worked nice and smooth. Speedo worked too (remember how cruddy that was).

Still waiting for my seat so I can get it road tested.

Even though the button for the electric start has no connections (see previous postings) I jumped the two wires in the headlight that connect the starter. Bike started right up no problem!

Just to let those interested know -within the next couple of days I'll be shutting down the page with all the restoration photos on it (as well as all the other bikes). I'll still be checking in here if anyone would like photos of any of the details.

While I'm on here I would like to thank everyone that has contributed to getting the Electra up and running. It's not quite finished yet, but I have appreciated all the input. After I get a few miles on it I'll get back to some details (like the centerstand) and keep you informed.

Seat arrived back yesterday! Got a couple of the spacers for the seat made up per Peter's recommendations before I stripped a plastic gear in my lathe. I'll finish up the rest when the new gear (and belt) arrive.

Thanks for the comments Patrick. As for official tests there are none. The only hassle is getting the bike registered if there's no previous paper work on it. Fortunately I have the old "pink slip" for it, which is like the V5, which might make it easier. I imported my 1956 Airone into California and it was a bit of a nightmare getting it registered. I even had to pay sales tax (8%) (plus many more fees) even though I had bought the bike and registered it in the UK. It ended up costing about 600 pounds to get the paperwork straightened out and that was after the shipping company kept upping the ransom money every step of the way. It's a long story and still fires me up just thinking about it. Anyway, all is well now, the Airone is on the road and the Norton will be soon too.

The Electra has now gone out under it's own steam! A few minor things to fiddle with as expected. The ignition was cutting out when it revved up and that was found to be the connection plug for the ignition switch was a bit loose. The carb is a bit rich so the needle needed to be dropped. We're getting a small amount of oil coming out the breather but I'm thinking that may be because the rings haven't bedded in yet so we're getting a bit of blow by. We'll see hw that theory pans out... Apart from those things every thing else is working fine.

Thanks Andy.

I closed up that facebook page. There was no interest in it - it only got halfa dozen responses in two and a half years. It felt like I was just doing it for myself and besides there are plenty other pages out there that cover the same things and do a better job of it than me. I thought I might start a page just for the Norton lightweights though,as they don't get a lot of positive representation and if I do I would repost all the photos again. Is there something in particular you want to see?

Ian

Out and about on the Electra today to a bike party (albeit only a mile away, hence the riding attire).

Running great and no leaks!

Photo uploader is acting odd. Here's two more photos...

Good spotting guys. They're not my bikes but the red one on the right is a Greeves scrambler, the orange one on the left is a twin port CZ on the left at the back is one of two RH67's, straight back, a Vincent Black Shadow, and the blue one in the foreground is a Simplex. I'm surprised the RH67 was recognized.

Ian