1959 Dommie Restoration

[Some_Bloke]

I thought I'd start a restoration thread on the forum to catalogue my experience of restoring a motorbike for the first time. Actually, it's my first time restoring anything. Prior to this project I had no understanding of how an internal combustion engine worked. A couple weeks later I still have no understanding but I at least know what it looks like. My hope is that I'll be able to receive pointers from all the experts out there at each stage of the rebuild and that, once finished, anybody who, like me, has no experience of restoration will be able to read through this thread to get a good idea of how it goes.

Chapter 1 - in which I collect the bike of my dreams

Saturday 22 September 2007

Picked up the bike from its previous owner, Tony. Used the trailer that Matt (the mate I'm going to be restoring the bike with) had borrowed and drove up into the Natal midlands along with my wife and her folks. The bike looks like a complete heap of rust. But it's MY heap of rust now.

[Some_Bloke]

Chapter 2

Saturday 29 September 2007

Work begins. Day spent buying drawers, sealable containers and tools. Cleaning out Matt's garage. Cataloguing bike. Left early because my wife was upset about something only to find out that this would make Matt even more upset than Jess. And even more wife-ish. Never cut short an engineer's cataloguing session. We've discovered that the previous owner chopped off the tail section of the frame in his quest to convert the bike into a café racer. Looks like I'm going to learn how to weld as well.



Sunday 30 September 2007

Returned to finish cataloguing all the parts. Matt still grumpy about being interrupted mid-cataloguing. After a couple hours we finish making lists and I head home. Matt's got a serious case of plumbers crack and I've already decided I'm buying him a belt for Christmas. Or a one piece overall. Good news is that the frame and engine numbers match and the previous owner had ordered quite a few spare parts for the cycle. Can't wait to get a look inside the engine.

[Some_Bloke]

Chapter 3

Saturday 27 October 2007

Bike restoration was interrupted early due to the World Cup. South Africa won or, at least, every other team lost. New Zealand especially. Hopefully there won't be too many more interruptions. Bought a sports calendar so that we can plan around important events in 2008. Outside of the Currie Cup, Super 14, Tri-Nations, Cricket Tests in Australia, Olympic Games and end of year rugby tour there's not much on. There are at least five Saturdays available in 2008, a big improvement on the two from 2007.

Spent the day dismantling the bike. Good news is that all the bolts came off quite easily and there's little corrosion. Bad news is that Matt still doesn't own a belt and I've seen more crack than a Columbian customs official.



Managed to disassemble most of the bike but we've left the engine and gearbox attached to the frame for now. That's likely going to be a whole day job removing those two and we don't particularly want to rush it. Worryingly there's already one stray bolt that we found after cleaning up.



Closeup of the carbs. The bike is listed in the archives as a "Special" (not an SS, the engine stamp is 99c) so it may have been an owner requested mod for twin carbs or something else. Anyone else know what it could have been for?

[fidobsa]

Good luck with the project. I suggest you get some kind of manual before starting to strip the engine as you can easily damage things if you use the wrong methods. A general restoration book would also be invaluable if it's your first such project. I don't know if it's still in print but a mate has recently lent  me a book called The Vintage Motorcyclists Workshop by Radco. This is mainly aimed at pre 1930 bikes but I have also picked up plenty of tips in there which will be handy when working on my newer bikes.

[Some_Bloke]

Thanks, fidobsa. I've bought the Roy Bacon book "Norton Twin Restoration", which has proved to be a goldmine of useful advice, and a very generous person on another forum has sent Matt a workshop manual for the Dominator. As amateurish as it sounds, each step is normally conducted with one person reading from the manual and the other working on the bike.

[L.A.B.]

Closeup of the carbs. The bike is listed in the archives as a "Special" (not an SS, the engine stamp is 99c) so it may have been an owner requested mod for twin carbs or something else. Anyone else know what it could have been for?

The carbs would certainly not be the originals for a 1959 Dommie, as those fitted are Amal Concentric Mk1 type and were not available until about 1968.
The twin carb manifold may not be original either, If it was, then the carbs would have most probably been 'Monobloc' type, it could have come from a tuning specialist like Paul Dunstall or other Norton tuning specialist as a twin carb kit at a later date,-hence the Amal Mk1s?

[Blue]

i noticed the chainguard youve got on the bike has been chopped and messed about with - if you want to restore the bike to original, id suggest you keep an eye out for one starting now, because theyre notoriously rare

same applies for the correct mudguards - if you havent got them, its never too soon to find some

the engine is stamped 99c? thats odd, to my knowledge the model 99 was usually stamped with '14' to denote the model

anyway, looks like a great project since you seem to have all the bits.  be sure to keep track of all those nuts bolts and studs, its painful trying to track them down when you havent got em; theyre available, but disappointing to have to stop for the sake of a nut

[Some_Bloke]

i noticed the chainguard youve got on the bike has been chopped and messed about with - if you want to restore the bike to original, id suggest you keep an eye out for one starting now, because theyre notoriously rare

same applies for the correct mudguards - if you havent got them, its never too soon to find some

Thanks, Blue. The chainguard does look chopped but there is a spare, which I hope is original spec.

There is the number 14 stamped into the side of the crank case and 99c stamped at the rear.

There is also the number 2448. Does anyone know what this means?

We have got a new mudguard for the tail and a relatively decent spare for the front. We've also got quite a few petrol tank, oilbox and toolbox spares, all with slight variations, so we'll have to figure out which one is correct for this model.

[RichP]

Have you thought about asking the Norton Owners Club to do a factory records check ? They should be able to confirm the specification or if anything extra was fitted. Well worth joining anyway !

By the way, that's a nasty crack that you've got to deal with there, isn't it ? I would suggest that running over the area with an acetylene torch would be the best method of making sure that it doesn't appear again - Be careful that you don't ignite any unburnt exhaust gases though

[JimE]

The twin carb head was available on the 1959 bikes as one of a number of optional extras, and you bike was therefore a 'Factory Special' - this was the forerunner to the Slimline SS model introduced a few years later..

Many of the parts shown on your photo's are wrong for the year (if that is important??).  You will have great difficulty sourcing some of the tinware, but not impossible if you have deep pockets.

You really ought to get a 1959 Parts List, dealers catalogues,    and join the NOC asap.  A copy of Bacon's 'Norton Restoration' would be an asset also.

Good luck.