classic motorcycle forum

I made a compressor using penny washers and the "correct" old brake rod which I found under the bench.....



In situ with rather rickety spacers on top.



close up of the cut down penny washer.



And the components separated. The main spring is a substantial item......



You can see the build up of rusty muck around the bottom which is what I think is stopping the bearer rod on the other side shifting.

The Norton approved spring compressor is an old rear brake rod(!) with cut off penny washers and wing nuts so I will knock up something similar. The idea is to slide the assembly sideways till the 1/4" rod will enter then tighten it down. What can go wrong?

Getting back to the one which is stuck, no movement. I'm coming to the conclusion that there's a build up of rust on the lower end of the bearer bar stopping it from going far into the slider (although it has moved a couple of inches), and I'm concerned that if I try too hard it may split the slider by the wedging action.

So I'm leaving it under pressure for a few days. If I see no movement I will hacksaw round the top shroud so it drops down and will give access to the top spring. Use an angle grinder to cut through the spring as near half way down as possible (probably finish with a hacksaw taking Rex's warning into account) which I should then be able to wind the top half into the bottom to get access to the top of the bearer rod. Then cut off the top of the bearer rod with the angle grinder, releasing the whole lot.

I'll probably finally withdraw the remains of the rod downwards. In a worst case I'll take it to someone who can bore the remains of the bearer out, or maybe press it (beyond my skills and equipment).

I'll get a pair of springs made using the good one as a pattern (many years ago I used Paul Savage in Redditch and I see he's still around). If I'm careful I should be able to get the top shroud welded back up, and I can make a new bearer rod.

In the meantime while I wait I've pulled the primary drive apart and note that the gearbox mainshaft appears to be bent, along with about 1/8" end float (probably the bronze thrust washer on the sleeve gear). And the clutch centre is badly worn....

I have no idea of numbers but if you look at any edition of the Blue or Green uns for the immediate post was period they are flooded with ads from Claude & Rye etc for "newly registered" re-enamelled 16Hs which of course are the ex-WD models. There are very few ads for new bikes at all from any manufacturer other than tiddlers.

Sadly, the other side is proving much more reluctant even after getting it to 200 C. I'll persist with the penetrating oil after letting it cool down a bit. The bar has moved a couple of inches however so maybe whacking it down may help to free things off (we don't do bodging on this forum.....)

That was actually suggested elsewhere. They could I suppose be bent but I would have thought this would cause binding of the bearer rods in the frame abutments and they slide quite happily there. Unfortunately there's no way of seeing what's beneath the shrouds without destroying them. I suppose as a (very) last resort I could use an angle grinder to go through the shroud, spring and bearer rod, all of which could be replaced but I'll be patient.

I can in fact get the rods out of their tapers but of course they move together with the sliders. It does demonstrate to me that the springs work. The problem with walloping is that the whole lot bounces on the spring.

I'll probably try heat later in the week. Yes, I was thinking of the spit balling up as being the optimum temperature.

Meantime I continue to squirt penetrating oil down......

Thanks John.

The thread at the bottom end is very poor, at least on the bolt that screws into it, having been somewhat butchered previously (and the one on the other side has a metric bolt in it!!). I do suspect PO has had a go at removing these and having failed passed it on to me. It may explain why he fitted a 4.00 section rear tyre rather than the original 3.25".....

I've tried clamping both sides up at the top but the bearer rods still turn. I'll try cleaning out the penetrating old with brake cleaner, find a setscrew that will fit the bottom end (should be 7/16" cycle by the look of it - very hard to get at - and tighten it all up. I'm not hopeful at this stage as it all seems very firmly stuck together.

WRT grease nipples, as near as I can see it's .226" major diameter over the thread x 26 tpi which makes it look like 1/4" BFF. Is this a standard nipple thread? They're not something I'm familiar with, and BSP seem to be 28 tpi. There are only about 3 full threads showing so hard to tell......

Many thanks all.

I'll try the grease idea - as you say, one of those daft early nipples where the grease goes everywhere except where you want it. The forging is as said a very nice component.

The previous owner probably did apply the grease gun but not effectively. Most things on the bike have been fairly well maintained (except for the use of metric threads here & there)

I have put a suitably sized socket under the bearer rod with a trolley jack pushing it up and the weight of the bike on it and left it overnight but as I expected no movement as yet.

I'm going to turn up a stepped drift to fit in the lower end and try with the trolley jack and blowlamp as suggested. Otherwise I'll probably need to strip it to a bare frame, which I was hoping to avoid at this stage, and take it somewhere - a proper job would be to get it hot then use a press to push the bearer rod out. The rod only comes out upwards as it is tapered on its bottom end to locate into the frame abutment.

I'm in no rush but was hoping to get it on the road before too long to discover what else needs doing.......

Thanks for the wheel bearing tip as well.....

I had a feeling this would happen.....

I'm starting to get down to some work on my 1952 Norton ES2. I did have a feeling the rear suspension wasn't working and have discovered that the alloy slider on at least one side (all I've looked at so far) is seized onto the bearer rod. After slackening the pinch bolt and freeing the taper the bearer rod is free in the frame but the slider just moves with it.

I've run penetrating oil down the join as much as I can but suspect large amounts of heat (which I don't have) will be needed, I don't really want to get down to the bare frame at this stage as I was hoping to get the bike up and running to discover what was needed. Seems I've got to this point already.

This is the arrangement:



Any helpful suggestions welcome.