The Bonneville Project

Circlip pliers - how handy?

I wonder how many times I'll use many of the tools purchased as part of this restoration.

My latest purchase is a set of circlip pliers, bought in readiness for dismantling and reassembling the forks.

So far as I know, I only need them for one job.

Shuttle valves are fastened in the bottom end of each stanchion by means of a retaining nut.

Circlips prevent these shuttle valves recessing into each of the stanchions.

I purchased the circlip pliers them while waiting for the replacement stanchions ordered from Len Craig & Sons.

I’m going to take the shuttle valves from the old stanchions and fit them to the new ones.

The circlip pliers cost £6.50 - cheaper than new shuttle valves which retail at £11.00 each.

There's nothing wrong with the old valves anyway.

But whether I'll use the circlip pliers again, who knows.

Fettling the fork tool

The fork service tools I ordered have arrived safe and sound.

Neither are original - like many service tools on the market they are copies.

In fact, the fork sleeve nut spanner has an improvised handle made from a old twist grip, which made me smile.

I fought the temptation to go dismantle the forks straight straight away but promised myself I would that evening.

True to my renewed enthusiasm, I ventured out into the workshop later only to find that the sleeve nut spanner didn't fit.

Not an EXACT copy of the original tool, then.

This was really frustrating because the tool so very nearly fitted but not quite.

The centre of U-shaped mouth of the tool needed filing down so it would fit around the sleeve and allow the nuts each side to screw into their respective holes (click on the photo top left for a larger picture).

Trouble was, I didn't have a file. Plus it was late and all the shops had closed.

I managed to get hold of a file this morning and it did the job in 10 minutes.

The tool now fits and I've dismantled the forks.

Fork service tools

After much pondering, I've ordered my first two service tools.

These are non-standard tools which I apparently need to dismantle and reassemble various bits of the bike.

I say "apparently" because some people argue that you can do without them.

The first tool is a fork sleeve nut spanner (part no. 61-6017), so I can loosen the dust excluder and remove the stanchion to check it is true (see picture, top left).

The second is is a special spanner (60-0779) so I avoid butchering the fork top nuts (see picture, right).

I bought both tools from LP Williams.

In total, and including postage and packing, they cost £39.96. Expensive, perhaps, but a small price to pay to avoid damaging expensive components.

Workshop manual dissected

Are workshop manuals and parts catalogues tools?

Not in the conventional sense I guess, but strictly speaking they are just as vital as a decent set of spanners, which is why I'm posting this under the workshop and tools category.

Yesterday I split the workshop manual into 11 separate A4 folders - one for each of its sections.

The sections are: general data; lubrication system; engine; transmission; gearbox; frame and attachment details; wheels, brakes and tyres; telescopic fork; electrical system; service tools; and conversion charts.

Having these sections in their own folder makes it easier to access the relevant chapter for whichever part of the bike I am working on.

There's an added benefit too: it makes the whole project seem much more manageable because the workshop manual is now in bitesize chunks, rather than a weighty doorstop.

Polishing kit

A polishing kit is a vital tool to restore sparkling life into those dull, dirt-covered metal parts.

I bought a 15-piece general purpose polishing kit from Polishing Kits and Accessories (an Ebay shop).

Suitable for polishing aluminium alloys, brass, copper, steel, iron and stainless steel, it is aimed at metals that have been polished before but which need to be restored to a bright finish.

The kit contains:

3 x Sisal Mops (1"x1, 1.5”x1, 2”x1)
3 x White Mops (1"x1, 1.5”x1, 2”x1)
3 x G Mops (1"x1, 1.5”x1, 2”x1)
1 x Bar Grey Polishing Compound (80g)
1 x Bar Blue Polishing Compound (80g)
1 x Bar Green Polishing Compound (80g)
1 x Steel Arbour (for fixing mops to an electric drill)
1 x Bag Vienna Lime
1 x Dust Mask

The kit cost £17.99 plus £2.50 postage and packing, making a total of £20.45.

It came promptly after I ordered it and arrived just as described.

Workshop lighting

For a cost of about £100, we have run some lights into the workshop from the house, together with a double plug-socket.

Actually I say "we", but all credit must go to father-in-law John who spent a couple of days doing all the electrical stuff and wiring.

The strip lighting really brightens up the place and will enable me to work longer hours.

The workshop is now ready to go - it's important to be working in a friendly and welcoming environment, especially in the winter months that lie ahead.

I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the garage if this project is going to be completed in time for the bike to be ridden in summer 2007.

My deadline for finishing the project is 8 April 2007 - my birthday - and I am confident that time has been well spent turning a dusty old garage into a comfortable workshop.

The workshop

My workshop is a single-car brick-built garage, which is too small to contain anything but a very small car.

Until the project, the garage was used as a store room for anything (including junk) that didn't fit in the house.

So I cleaned it out, painted the walls white and sealed the concrete floor to minimise dust and put a few shelves up (see pic for work in progress).

Being a novice restorer, I have very few tools. My workbench is too small, I have no vice and I don't possess anything resembling a bike jack or lift.

I'm not really a gadget man, but no doubt I'll be adding to my tool collection very shortly.

The plan is to buy whatever is necessary as the restoration progresses - without spending excessive amounts of money and without doing things on the cheap.

First of all though, we need to install some lighting.