1952 triumph thunderbird painted rims

[thunderbird]

Thanks for your reply David,i recognise your user name from ebay and have bought a few parts from you for my project,i had decided to leave the spokes unpainted which is good if this is how it would have been,all of my info for spec i have taken from Harry Woolridges book,i dont have any period pictures to go by but have looked at several pics on the web but they do seem to vary in detail.If you have any info or finer details for this year it would be much appreciated,i do have a question i have just started dismantling the sprung hub wheel i have undone the nuts that hold the brake drum on but it wont come off, any tips.dont worry i wont be attemting to dismantle the spring box .Thanks Steve

[52t-bird]

Hello Steve,It is very difficult to do a correct detail restoration today because of good intentioned but poorly restored bikes held up as good examples.The Thunderbird profile is in my opinion one of the best examples of this .The bike used has so many wrong parts on it is embarrassing.Still none of us are perfect and i would never hold my bikes up as correct but if you do then my arguement is be correct!Re period photos the best source is old copies of The motorcycle or photos of the bikes when new like for example in the foreward of original parts books.Difficult sometimes to get but worthwhile when you do.You even have to be wary of Triumph brochures as they can lead you astray as for example if you followed them you couldnt fit any cables as they were left off!

Re your sprung hub brake drum once you have undone the nuts you have to drive the sprocket/drum assembly off as the bearing is a tight fit on the spring box and the bearing is a tigher fit in the drum.There are various ways to do this from using an alloy drift on the sprocket( but be carefull not to beat the teeth off!)to undoing the other side plate of the sprung hub and driving the spring box out to displace the sideplate. Note if doing this you have to 'feel' that the spring box is lined up with the 'springbox shape' in the sprung hub rather like a key in a key hole otherwise it will all get jammed up.Note also the lengths of the spindle as if you hit it with a hammer(with an old nut on to protect the thread)you can and most likely will move the spindle over to one side. It is a painful job but with patience it all works out but be carefull as despite its weighty construction a sprunghub is quite fragile and easy to damage. Any problems email me on triumph@dwright!9.fsnet.co.uk. I am happy to discuss detail finish of your bike for instance what parts are black? regards David

[thunderbird]

Hi David.thanks very much for the tips on dismantling the sprung hub,this is a job i had put to one side as did not want to break anything taking it apart, so your insight will be a great help,thanks for your email i will be intouch,one of the questions was what items are black as i know a lot of the bike is polychromatic blue for this year.Thanks Steve

[harts44]

Can anyone tell me that paint code for the polychromatic blue?  I think it is a Dupont colour but their site is useless and i have been running through information on the internet and in books without any luck.  Can anyone help?  Thanks Heather  

[TBS]

Silver blue sheen with a hint of green from:
http://www.msmotorcyclesuk.com/

[thunderbird]

you can also get the paint from RS http://motorbikepaint.co.uk/

[harts44]

Hmmm thanks ill try to contact them for a paint code but i am in Canada so i am not sure about how it would travel over or if that is even a good idea to ship it.  Does anyone have a pic of their bike in that colour (polychromatic blue) i am trying to make sure i have the right one.  Thanks again Heather  

[TBS]

Don is US based and is a paint supplier www.triumphman.com