Daysie's Diary

[Lee337]

Been in the garage cleaning up a few bits, starting with Daysies rear and her brakes. Starting off with the brakes, I've removed the front brakes, an easy task. They're in pretty good order, and the calipers have cleaned up well. Before removing the hydraulic lines, I thought I'd pump the brakes to try to make removing the pistons a little easier. I think I may have a battle on my hands though as only one of the eight pistons actually moved. I have a sealey brake piston removal tool, but from past experience, it's pretty much useless. So as I revently bought an air compressor, I'll try compressed air to remove them. If that fails, I'm probably going to visit my tame Triumoh mechanic to see what he can do. I'm going to replace all the seals anyway, but if necessary, I'll have to replace the pistons as well.

Now on to the back brakes. Taking the caliper off was easy, again onlyy two bolts & they undid wilt little effort, but that's where the fun started. The brake line runs effectively insiude the chain guard and there's a plastic cover, held by two screws, both of which were seized. Lots of Plusgas, a pair of molegrips and 40 minutes later, the cover was off. Next up, there are two P clamps which hold the brake line against the chain guard. Both bolts are seixed and not easy to get to without removing the chain guard. There are also four bolts holding the chain guard on, two of which are seized. More Plusgas and that is being left to soak overnight.

Meanwhile, I decided to remove the rear brake master cylinder. I'd noticed when I got Daysie home that the rear brake pedal didn't move and it now turns out the clevis pin that attaches the brake pedal to the master cylinder plunger is... Yes, you guessed it, seized. More Plusgas. On top of which, the brake switch fell apart in my hand when I tried to remove it.

By this time, I'd been in the garage for around 3 hours, not entirely on Daysie as Tabitha needed a bit of TLC, so I gave a few more bolts the Plusgas treatment and retired for the day with a beer.

Cheers

[Lee337]

Just a few pics from this weeks work on Daysie.

[Sin_Tiger]

Callipers that are marginal like that, I throw them in a bucket of diesel for as long as I can leave them, or remember where I left the bucket 

Real tough ones get stuck in the old powder coating oven set at about 100 C for an hour or so, has only failed me once  on that occasion the pistons weren't going to be saveable so it was "Ye Olde Maritime Hot Spanner" grind a bit of flat bar to fit inside the piston and weld it to the piston inner, let it cool for a couple of minutes before levering it, hasn't failed me yet 

[Lee337]

Good thinking Sin...

Got some diesel lying around somewhere & if not then I've also got some paraffin I bought last year for the greenhouse heater. That and an old washing up bowl may do the trick.

Ah, found the diesel

[Lee337]

Good call @Sin_Tiger, a couple of days soaking in diesel * nit only did the pistons come out of the rear caliper fairly easily, the caliper also looks nice & clean.

Will post up some pics at the weekend.

[Sin_Tiger]

Why this usually works, unless the pistons are rusted solid, is that old rubber seals that are hard have perished and will be easily softened by the diesel. The only thing to watch out for with the two pot sliding calipers is that the rubber seals for the carrier sliding pins will also be affected and will need replaced, unless you remove them before hand. With the four pots the internal O rings can be affected but most seal kits for those usually include new O rings.

[Lee337]

A coupe of days soaking and all is now clean - I don't smell of diesel, the oil under my finger nails has pretty much gone and I no longer have to sleep in the spare room because I smell like a 1960's garage monkey.

As for Daysie, she now has clean brake calipers after soaking them in diesel for 3 days. I've managed to get all the pistons out with no damage and although some of them are a bit 'crusry' around the top, where the dust seals sat, I'll give them a good clean with some fine wire wool. As I don't have to replace any of them it saves me around £120 to spend on other bits.

The rear subframe, mirror brackets and the magnesium dash intrument surround went off to the powder coaters on Saturday and should be back with me in 3 - 4 weeks. He's quoted me £142 which I didn't think was too bad.

In other news, I've removed the chain guard which was posing a problem with a couple of seized bolts, with a combination of Plusgas and mole grips. The clevis pin that attached the rear brake pedal to the rear master cylinder proved problematic. I had to remove the whole assembly and put it in the vice to try to free it up. Countless hours spent with a combination of Plusgas, pliers, molegrips and finally a hammer didn't budge it. Finally heat from my blowtorch and the hammer freed it up with no damage other than to said clevis pin.

The air box has also been removed after a fight to get it loose. It turns out Haynes Manuals do have their uses. the early Daytonas have a hidden bolt securing the front of the airbox to the frame. Another example of Triump's design mastery here, the bolt is tucked away behind the radiator and would have all but been impossible had I not already removed the radiator.

I was expecting to see three badly perished vacuum hoses running from the throttlw bodies to the IACV (for the uninitiated, the Idle Air Control Valve, which I've seen referenced as ICAV IVAC IAV and stepper motor in varoius places), and I wasn't surprised - at least with the state of the vacuum hoses, but unlike Tallulah Tiger, there was no IACV to be seen.

Turns out the IACV on early models is not sat above the throttle bodies as in later models but tucked under the throttle bodies behind the clutch actuator arm. Who knew. Looks like it's going to be a PITA to get to but as at least 4 of the 6 hose connectors are not connected and two of them seem to be bunged up with crud, it's got to come out to be checked & cleaned. I have a copy of the Triumph service manual on the PC so I can see the laptop heading for the garage when it comes to this piece of work, that or the printer's going to get a hammering.

The remainder of Saturday was cleaning stuff. I had some Rubber & Vinyl cleaner which I used successfully on Tabitha to cklean all the wiring loom and assorted plastic bits so did the same for Daysie. While I have yet to check any of the electrical system, at least everything looks clean now. I also used some parts washer solution and a rag to clean up the frame, engine and any other bits I could get to. I've still got cleaning to do, namely the wheels and those hard to get to bits at the back of the engine.

While cleaning the engine, quite a bit of the engine powder coating came off. Hardly surprising as it was sitting for so long. Most of it was around the front where antifreeze from the leaking radiator got to it. The water pump housing and the housing where the top hose goes in to the engine is also a bit ropey. It was also peeling off on the underside. Not sure what i'm going to do about this yet if anything as it's mostly covered by fairings, but as is my way, I won't be happy leaving it, so I'll have to clean it up & find some sort of engine paint just to tidy it up

Any suggestions that doesn't require removing the engine are greatly received.

On order and currently awaiting delivery is a socket big enough to remove teh rear wheel. It's a big bugger, 46mm and the torque setting for the nut is something over 100Nm, so as with the front sprocket nut, I think the torque gun is going to be let out of it's case, but that's for another time.

[Lee337]

Update:

Having cleaned up the caliper pistons, I've decided to replace 5 of them. There's a little corrosion above the seal but it's where the dust seal sits. So while they're possibly usable, I'm taking no chances as they're all from the front calipers.

[Sin_Tiger]

  brilliant progress, have you set yourself a goal, like get it back on the road before Christmas    as you're fairly cracking on.

I use some biodegradable degreaser called something like "Powerforce", it's supposed to be diluted 10:1 but being me I use it neat, it's not 10x more powerful like that but I don't leave it on alloy for very long    A steam cleaner is a useful tool, just one of these cheapo kettle type that you have to stop and refill, gets into all the nooks and crannies where you sprayed degreaser and they usually have a long articulated hose / nozzle.

I've recently used some brushing engine paint (I'll get the name tomorrow) which goes on and seems to stick better than Hammerite.

[Lee337]

I thought about using a steam cleaner for the inside of the fuel tank but wasn't certain the plastic wouldn't warp. I have one of those steam floor mops which I'm sure has a hose attachment, so will have to see if I can find it.

As for timescale, I've set myself a goal of finishing it before my bike insurance becomes due, but as that's not until July next year, I suspect it may get finished sooner. I'm in no real hurry but admit to starting work early most days, so I can finish early & get a couple of hours in before dinner.

[Sin_Tiger]

This is the paint I used for the graphite engine casings and frame touch up on the 1200. So far it's lasted well.

https://e-tech.uk.com/

[Madruss]

Great to see the progress so far 
I could have taken more photo's of my tiger's teardown but I became too depressed.
Happy days an hour ago,  battery & fuel. As the pilots say "clear prop"
Lovely to hear the note from the exhaust once more.

[Lee337]

Remember those horrible, manky looking brake calipers from a few weeks back? Well, they're now transformed. Having ordered 5 replacement pistons and some seal kits, I spent around an hour last night in the garage putting them back together. Given the state of them when I took them off the bike, compared to what they look like now, I'm pleased with the result.

I've recently picked up a replacement fuel plate which arrived yesterday as the original was scrap and the first replacement was a 14 hole, not 10, so the 14 hole is going on eBay (unless someone from out Tiger Triple family wants it) some time in the next couple of weeks. It does mean I now also have a spare fuel pump as I bought one in June, but the one that came with the fuel plate works fine.

Remembering the mistake I made when bringing Tabitha back to life, wghere I cut the chain off before undoing the front sprocket nut, I've not done so this time and while I've also left the rear wheel on, I've finally loosened off the rear wheel nut, using a combination of an old electric rattel gun and brute force. Sadly, the front sprocket nut remains firmly in place and no amount of force has so far budged it. I have been spraying it over the past few days with Plusgas and have an air rattle gun on the way, so I'll have another go at it when that arrives.

Other than that, it's more cleaning, labelling and finding places to store stuff away & deciding what to order next (when I get paid). For info, total spend so far is a modest £292, although my most recent estimate to fininsh Daysie currently stands around £1500 (but then I went over Tabitha's estimate by around £400, so we'll see how it goes).

[Sin_Tiger]

Great progress 

If the sprocket nut won't move even with the wheel locked and a Forth Rail Bridge bar on the socket, the only answer is heat. The technique with heat, in this case, is getting it applied quickly and precisely, so a single point, or small pepper pot Ox/Acc nozzle is the best choice. MAP gas guns with a plumbers nozzle are usually too slow and vague to be as effective.

A mistake I see often is trying to apply that much force directly, which can lead to the much of the force being lost due to the angles involved. When applying large amounts of torque like this, it's best done using an extension bar which is properly supported, that also reduces the risk of the socket coming off and causing damage.

An axle stand or a jack adjusted to precise centre height is the best support.

[Lee337]

Been quite lazy this week, still not managed to get the front sprocket nut undone, but have got hold of a windy-gun (air torque wrench for those who don't know) so will give it another crack next week.

I've removed the vac lines from the IACV and all of them are perished, the valve itaelf has also been removed and cleaned.

The alternator is currently sitting on the bench, having also been cleaned up. Not certain if it all works so will have to look into that but the casing was pretty mucky. A combination of Machine Mart Parts cleaner fluid, clutch/brake cleaner and some electrical contact cleaner & it's come up ok. I also had the air compressor fired up & have everything a good blow over too.

Next up, I removed the water pump. To my surprise, it wasn't seized but there was a lot of dried coolant all over where the hoses connect. The hoses are shot, so will need replacing. Might as well replace all of them & have found a place on-line where I can get a replacement set for around £70 (AS3 Performance).

The hoses I've removed so far are pretty clean inside, although well past their best, which I'm hoping is good news for the coolant galleries inside the engine. My concern is that the water galleries inside the engine are furred up. Of course, I'll need to flush them through but where the radiator leaked, it mostly drained the coolant. There was some coolant in the bottom hose and water pump but not much anywhere else. So while there was a lot of evidence of dried coolant on the outside of the radiator and on a couple of hose joints, the water galleries may not be that bad. Fingers crossed.

I took a look at the forks this week as well to see if a good polish would be all that's needed. The area where the forks compress, they're pretty clean with very little signs of pitting, but above that, they're pitted quite badly. Not as bad as Tabitha's were but bad enough. So the question now is, do I strip them down and get them rechromed or just replace the oil & seals? I edging towards a complete strip down & rechrome.  The rear shock is a different matter. I have no idea what condition it's in other than the powder coating on the spring is peeling off, but the place where I bought the rear shock for Tabitha, also refurbishes shocks & will powder coat the spring for a reasonable £190, approximately £150 less than a new YSS shock.

I've also had a good look at the wheels. Ffrom a distance, they look fine, but close up, you can see the finish begining to bubble in a few places. The front is fine, but if I'm going to have the rear powder coated (& I haven't made my mind up yet) I'll have to have the front wheel done too so they match. That would add another £220 to my project cost, bringing it ever closer to my estimate of £2000

So, more questions than answers this week.