26th March 2011
I discovered a message on our answer phone on Friday afternoon. I was surprised to hear Patrick's voice telling me that he had got my engine running. As it was late on in the afternoon I decided it was too late to call back and it could wait until next week.
We were just finishing our tea when the phone rang and it was Patrick, this was unprecedented, twice in one day! I said I was surprised that he was still working as it was by now after 1800hrs. He said he had had a good week and had gone to visit friends when he decided to give me a call again. Apparently he had finished three engines during the week, one of which was mine.
From what he said he has changed the stator plate and coils for another set he found, I'm not sure if he also changed the flywheel. So with the electrics working he was able to start the engine. He sounded pleased that it started easily after a couple of kicks and would tick over comfortably. Another thing that pleased Patrick was the fact that there were no apparent oil leaks after the engine had run. He said that after some previous rebuilds he just couldn't stop the leaks despite having changed gaskets and used silicon sealant. Unfortunately I shall not see the engine running in its test rig but at least I have the comfort of knowing it all works. I will try to treat the engine as a working unit and not get involved other than connect the electrics and controls. It should then just be a question of kicking it over for it to burst into live (or not as the case may be). This happy day is some way into the future as there is still plenty to do on the rest of the scooter.
We next got round to talking of payment. Patrick summarised the work that he had done on the engine including fitting Heli-coils in a couple of threads and ended by saying he had left the rear hub and brakes unassembled so I could get them painted. I think he said he had spent 35 hours working on the engine. I failed to tell him that I have decided to assemble all the bike to MOT standard before stripping it again and having it all painted again. I must remember to tell him before I pick the engine up, possibly Thursday. I think Patrick's run through of the the work he has done and the parts he has fitted was to prepare me for the final bill.
I plucked up courage to ask how much I owed him and he gave me a figure which was a lot higher than his original estimate. This was to be expected considering all the additional work that had been necessary so I swallowed hard and got used to it. Having become accustomed to the new cost Patrick then said that there was VAT to add! Now we were really talking big figures (big to me you understand, not to Patrick). So how much did it cost? I'm not going to say how much it all comes to yet, I'm going to wait until I have some photos to help justify the expense
Over the past days I have become accustomed to the cost and have accepted that it costs what it costs. I have to remind myself that it was me who started the journey so it's no point in complaining. I think that most of us would like to think that there is some way of recovering our investment even if it's only the cash spent and the labour has to be given free. I have already reached the point where this is no longer possible and there is still a long way to go. I will just have to console myself in the knowledge that I'm bringing an otherwise scrap machine back to life. That can't be bad.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
OUT OF THE BLUE
16th March 2011
I had been thinking that it was about time I gave Patrick at Scooter Surgery a call. It occurred to me that he might have won the lottery and runaway to a tropical island. So it was pure coincidence that he phoned me yesterday.
We talked for about forty minutes during which he brought me up to speed with his progress on my engine. He now has the rear casting attached to the gearbox casting and the bevel gears set up. This had proved to be no easy matter because every time he tried to tighten the two parts together the cover at the end popped off ( I assume this is at the rear end of the casting and is fitted into the cover plate.). After numerous attempts to find the reason he discovered that the transmission shaft was from a French built machine and not an Italian machine. Apparently the french version is longer with extensions at each end thus even with the shaft fully driven into the gear box it is still too long. This is the reason that the cover pops off as you try to assemble the two castings. Patrick had a spare Italian shaft which he fitted without any problems.
When Patrick came to assemble the flywheel he found that the coil on the stator fouled the centre cam on the flywheel. When I bought the scooter the flywheel was loosely in place and the centre retaining nut was hand tight only so I didn't notice any problem. I guess that I may not have even tried to turn the engine over as it was out of the frame and there was no piston or barrel fitted. It was only later that I decided to have this "spare" engine rebuilt when I found it was the original unit for the scooter. Patrick is looking into the best solution to this problem, change the stator or the flywheel. Apparently there is a further problem with a missing stop which restricts the advance and retard mechanism. I'm not sure if this is on the flywheel or the stator. Patrick talks about drilling out a rivet and replacing the missing stop with an Alan screw to provide a stop and restrict movement.
It all sounds as though it's getting rather expensive. I asked Patrick if he had any idea of what he had spent so far. He said he had the hours but didn't keep a running total. I have no alternative but to carry on, I need an engine and this one will at least tie up with the paper work. In any case the one that was fitted in the scooter when I bought it need a lot of repair work on the crank case mounting lugs. We talked about the problems of buying a scooter which was not complete or had suffered extensive amateur work. I always knew that it's not a good idea buying a "basket case" where you don't know what you are missing or what it should look like. Knowing this I still went ahead and bought the scooter caught up in the general excitement of the chase (make cautionary note for next time). I still think the one on the Isle of White would have been a better bet even if the engine was seized, at least it had all the bits there. Never mind, that's water under the bridge and I'm committed to this path. It's obvious that the person to make the gain will be the guy that I sell the scooter to. He will get a complete scooter (assuming that I eventually do finish it) for fraction of what it cost me but he won't have had the challenge and fun that I will have had along the way.
Patrick hopes to have the engine running next week so that will prove interesting. That is unless he finds more problems!
I had been thinking that it was about time I gave Patrick at Scooter Surgery a call. It occurred to me that he might have won the lottery and runaway to a tropical island. So it was pure coincidence that he phoned me yesterday.
We talked for about forty minutes during which he brought me up to speed with his progress on my engine. He now has the rear casting attached to the gearbox casting and the bevel gears set up. This had proved to be no easy matter because every time he tried to tighten the two parts together the cover at the end popped off ( I assume this is at the rear end of the casting and is fitted into the cover plate.). After numerous attempts to find the reason he discovered that the transmission shaft was from a French built machine and not an Italian machine. Apparently the french version is longer with extensions at each end thus even with the shaft fully driven into the gear box it is still too long. This is the reason that the cover pops off as you try to assemble the two castings. Patrick had a spare Italian shaft which he fitted without any problems.
When Patrick came to assemble the flywheel he found that the coil on the stator fouled the centre cam on the flywheel. When I bought the scooter the flywheel was loosely in place and the centre retaining nut was hand tight only so I didn't notice any problem. I guess that I may not have even tried to turn the engine over as it was out of the frame and there was no piston or barrel fitted. It was only later that I decided to have this "spare" engine rebuilt when I found it was the original unit for the scooter. Patrick is looking into the best solution to this problem, change the stator or the flywheel. Apparently there is a further problem with a missing stop which restricts the advance and retard mechanism. I'm not sure if this is on the flywheel or the stator. Patrick talks about drilling out a rivet and replacing the missing stop with an Alan screw to provide a stop and restrict movement.
It all sounds as though it's getting rather expensive. I asked Patrick if he had any idea of what he had spent so far. He said he had the hours but didn't keep a running total. I have no alternative but to carry on, I need an engine and this one will at least tie up with the paper work. In any case the one that was fitted in the scooter when I bought it need a lot of repair work on the crank case mounting lugs. We talked about the problems of buying a scooter which was not complete or had suffered extensive amateur work. I always knew that it's not a good idea buying a "basket case" where you don't know what you are missing or what it should look like. Knowing this I still went ahead and bought the scooter caught up in the general excitement of the chase (make cautionary note for next time). I still think the one on the Isle of White would have been a better bet even if the engine was seized, at least it had all the bits there. Never mind, that's water under the bridge and I'm committed to this path. It's obvious that the person to make the gain will be the guy that I sell the scooter to. He will get a complete scooter (assuming that I eventually do finish it) for fraction of what it cost me but he won't have had the challenge and fun that I will have had along the way.
Patrick hopes to have the engine running next week so that will prove interesting. That is unless he finds more problems!
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