Ignition

The points were corroded and all furry but cleaned up OK. I see I added a dedicated ground wire to ensure timer has perfect electrical connection.

I'll need to reset the timing... on my to do list before starting.

I have another ignition rotor. It has more of a tail either side the brass tip. I think it can benefit with this because of the engines' odd firing order. The one pictured above is from a Bedford truck.

Carb and Manifold

Readying the carb..

 Brass glands were beaten up so I carefully refaced them

 Made a new bowl gasket. Also renewed washer for the bowl nut.

 Sealed the carb to manifold with 515

 New seal for the strainer and a buff up

Air Filter

The air filter got a birthday..

Remarkably tidy inside

 Great condition

Fresh oil filled to level mark

Job done

Hose got some better suited clips than what it had before..

Seat Spring Bracket

25 years ago I was told the seat bracket where the spring mounts to the frame was wrong. Amazingly I remembered this. For sure it was custom made but it was supposed to have a twist where the springs bolted to it. I add the twist today. Here are the before and after pics.

Before..,,

 After...

Drive Chain

This chain is Duckworth. It would have been what Valentines Army Surplus had. They had rather a lot as I recall. However it wasn't good quality. It stretched very quickly.

Foot boards

I picked up another set some years ago which I'll probably use. Easy to swap over.

Heads

Heads were cleaned up with soda blast. I have NOS gaskets.

Rust & Corrosion

Corrosion on the primary looked worse than it was. A brisk scrub with a brass wire brush and some penetrating oil sorted it out.

 Timing cover had some light rust which was easily removed.

Rear brake

Rear brakes are in very usable condition. Plenty of shoe material, nowhere near the rivets. Brake drum is good.

Gear Shift Knob

The gear knob was from a V8. Faint outline of the letters V & 8 were visible. It was also cracked. I'd acquired a nice knob a couple of years ago. It was easy little job to remove the old one, buff the thread, add a spot of antiseize and fit the replacement. A locknut keeps it secure.

Old vs the replacement. Look carefully at the one on left. There is a V & 8 superimposed on the top face. Probably from a c1930's Ford V8.

Horn

The horn cover was upside down so I dismantled and rearranged the parts. The tin cover is an old one with some odd paint on the inside and some patina marks indicating use. I buffed it clean then added Penetrol till I decide when/if it gets painted.

Hot Leather

Beeswax-for-leather was applied, allowed to soak then polished. The responded well.

Starting to get a shine...

More applications to come.

Clean up time. The puzzle begins..

The horn's paint came off with a wipe. It wasn't keyed on at all. The cover condition and screws are perfect. I wondered if it was NOS (at one time). When this bike was being restored there was a lot of parts around. Going further back, C1973 Valentines Army Surplus, Hamilton, NZ had large quantity of NOS spares. Earlier they even had whole bikes in the crate.

The rear fender/guard cleaned up OK. The licence plate bracket is hand made.

Wiring has Lucas style connectors. Wire colors are also Lucas. C1970

The front end survived well> Most of the grease nipples are missing. I recall the previous owner saying he put them away safely, then forgot where they were. They are 5/16" fine thread. I need to source these.

36Tooth. Obvious need for replacement. Pondering about whether to gear up slightly. It's 3 speed after all. The brakes are what they are, faster cruising speed might not be appreciated. Hill climbing would also suffer.

Good looking seat with a few repairs to the pan.

I've no idea what I did with the key but I found this one amongst my large selection of odd keys. It's a numbered lock and the key matches. The toolbox is a repop from 20+ years ago. Upon opening, I found a T-shirt and a joining link.

Today was the day

Today finally after many hours of preparation the 741 was finally pulled out. It's amazing what 20 years can do. Junk and scrap metal was stacked everywhere around and it took quite a bit of effort to clear a path. Both tires were long flat making the task harder.
Bike has escaped major damage but has some surface rust. Amazingly all the paint on the horn completely fell off with a light wipe. It was like the paint wasn't keyed on at all... ever.

Valves

NOS valves from WW2 in the grease wrapper. These came from Don Doody, Canada.

First time out of the wrapper since 1940's..!

Marked: IN 43681 Eaton

Valve covers buffed and cleaned up.

Assembled, ready to install.

The 741 in 1993

The 741 in 1993

The bike was a fairly reliable rider. I registered the bike in the days before VIN tags. It has a NZ license plate from that era. The registration label is dated 1998 as the last year it was used on the road.

Details...
Ignition switch : original, working.
Ammeter : original, working.
Battery : Lucas housing with small Jap 6v battery inside.
Speedo : original, working.
Blackout lights : Complete, working IIRC.
Fuel taps : both original, working.
Saddle bags : Believed to be original army issue with army number painted on.
Headlight : Lucas lens/reflector
Tire pump : original with clips.

Stand by for more pics as I find them...

Top end

Barrels need new valves and guides. Important to keep the intake valve to stem clearances reasonable to reduce air leaking into the intake manifold.

I bought NOS valves from Canada. Guides, rings gaskets and spring I already bought 20 years ago. One spring was broken. Barrels are nickel plated.


NOS wrist pin/gudgeon pin snap ring/circlips were really difficult to insert. I made 2 special tools to help get these in. They are very high tensile making them difficult to compress into the piston.

NOS valve springs were noticeably longer.. new to the right.

Bores deglazed ready for new rings.