Featured She Lives !!

Put my project Trident together enough to see if there was any life in the old girl. Choke cable is knackered so held it on with me finger. First prod of the starter and she fired but didn't catch, same second and third time, fourth prod and she burst in to life I was unbelievably chuffed as I know it hasn't run for years. I don't have a complete air box for it yet or an exhaust so I only ran it for about 15 seconds. I will now start taking it apart and will redo it bit by bit until I have a nice working bike. Still loads of parts to find but I have found someone that is breaking one so I should be sorted. Also I might be buying another complete bike so I can see how mine goes together Does life get any better than this?

 

I posted some in the newby lounge. Will hopefully do a vid tomorrow or maybe just get on with taking it to bits. I bought 2 of them, the second one is less complete than the first. I am probably going to buy a third one next week so I can see how it goes together properly It's all a bit of a mine field as lots of bits are missing, some bits are wrong and I have 2 different versions. Add to that the fact I did not take them apart and it's a bit of a puzzle. I'm getting there though, but a very long way to go.

 

So I got the parts I had ordered today, Can't believe how little I paid for them and what great condition most of it seems to be in. It enabled me to start a dummy run of putting things together so I can better see what I have and what I still need. I have bought a few new bits eg throttle cable, brake pads etc and should make pretty good progress over the next week or so as long as work doesn't get in the way too much. I have taken the front wheel off, removed the discs and given everything a good clean ready for paint. The fork seals need doing, the headstock and wheel bearings look and feel spot on so I will leave them. I will drop the engine out and paint it black with polished Triumph emblems, I think it will look much smarter then. I was going to put on the 94 Sprint fairings but I think I will save them for the other bike and get the original headlamp and bits for this one. Unless I change my mind, again

 

i got a new airbox with a job load of parts I bought and now see where the other end goes. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, this is damn good fun

 

Got some more done today, my dummy build is now complete to the point that I know where everything goes and I know what I am short of, it's not as much as I thought - rear caliper stay, Rear mudguard and a choke cable, I have everything else or it's on order. The tank is hideous, it will get stripped tomorrow, I will be keeping the fairing and twin lights for now. I am shocked at how big it is. I'm only 5ft 8 and a lithe and athletic 13 stone ish so it feels really big. Not sure I have enough heft to get it on the center stand but I will worry about that later. So now the taking apart begins, I will start at the front and work my way back, I've already removed and cleaned the brake discs and mounting bolts, the wheel is next, followed by the fork seals.

 

Got the engine out now, what a sod of a job. The whole thing is built in layers, you have to do everything in the right order or it goes shit shaped really quickly. Time consuming but not overly difficult, I now need to weld bolts to the corroded header studs so I can get the headers off. Then it's clean up and repaint in satin black. The oil had to be drained but it needed a change anyway, it will of course get a new filter at the same time. I remain confused as to why the Haynes manual says to remove the swing arm pivot bolt, I'm sure there was no need to do so. Oh well. Incidentally take a look at how much grease is in the front sprocket cover. If I put that on the market shares in all the oil companies would crash.

 

I have used the acetone / atf trick before, it does work really well. In this case though the nuts were so badly corroded that I couldn't get a socket on 3 of them. Not a bother though, the weld a bolt on too it trick worked and the headers are now off. I have cleaned the engine ready for paint, the only fly in the ointment being the water pipe from the pump to the rad broke. The thin bit that has the pipe joined was corroded to nothing and the bolt that holds the end of the pipe to the engine was also seized and sheared. Waiting for bits so can't do much more until they arrive. Might take the shock off so I can seperate the swing arm from the frame to make reassembly a bit easier.

 

Been a bit busy but not as busy as I would have liked. Wentt to sell some of my bike jumble today but very few people turned out :-( Oh well, back the the workshop Got my tank stripped, cleaned, filled and primed, very pleased with that. Also cleaned and painted the front wheel and put back on the discs I cleaned and painted in the week. Very pleased with the look, I think it will look well on the bike. Going to clean the frame up next, hope to get the engine painted Monday or Tuesday and get the engine and frame reunited ready for everything else to go back on.

 

Got my engine painted today, will let the paint harden for a day or two before I attempt to reunite it with the frame. Also got the first paint of coat on the tank, I've gone for a slightly different colour that I think will contrast better with the black - it's not as bright as it looks in the photo, the flash has made it look lighter I think it will look splendid. Still thinking what to do with the second bike.
Maybe a cafe racer? Who knows.

 

I did it with a n aerosol. It's special engine paint. There are a couple of bits where I could have tidied up the castings a bit more but they will largely be hidden anyway. I was in two minds as to whether to polish the clutch cover etc but decided on the all black look instead.

 

Christ on a effing bike!! Whatever you do - DO NOT USE PJ1 Engine paint. The useless pissing stuff is not petrol proof. I reinstalled my carbs today and despite the paint having been on for 2 days some petrol leaked out and the paint came off like I had put Nitromors on there. The whole job is now completely ruined and it all has to come apart again. To say I am furious is a massive understatement. There is no warning on the can, to sell a paint for an engine that won't resist petrol is utter madness. I'm sure even Halfords standard satin black would have done a better job.

 

Now that paint gate is over I have made a bit more progress. I still maintain that PJ1 is not suitable due to the high curing temperature before it becomes properly cured. A bike will normally only get to just over 100 degrees but it won't cure until 150, quite how the average home mechanic should do that is not clear. Anyway it's all black where I want it black now, the electickery is all in and working, bits are getting cleaned, checked, painted and reinstalled. I have had to use a fair few of the bits from the second bike as so much of the first bike was no good eg rad, fan, and loads of nuts bolts brackets etc. It's definitely not worth me rebuilding so if anyone needs a complete spare engine or a nice set of Sprint plastics in blue give me a shout. Anyway, here's what it looks like today, the tank has not been flatted or polished yet, it's just on there to keep it out of the way for now.