Made quite a bit of progress on Project Pan today!
Managed to sneak an hour or so in the garage this morning before Mrs Goblin and the goblin horde took me out for an early fathers’ day meal.
Before we headed out I managed to remove the clocks and fairing A-frame. It’s in good condition, but I’ll tidy it up a bit before it goes back on.
We returned with cake from the local Polish bakery, so a pre-garage session brew-and-cake was requisite. Would have been rude not to! Gotta love having Polish heritage…
Now full of tea and cake, and with no other commitments for the day, I resolved to get stuck in. First up, the radiator! After fighting the cheesed-on hoses, using a bit of silicone spray to assist, I managed to eventually get the rad off.
It’s every bit as ugly as I expected.
That cheesed-solid section to the bottom right has me concerned the core may have rotted. Another worry is the state of the top and bottom edges of the core - they seem to have swollen and delaminated like thick tin foil. If anyone has any advice here, please let me know!
Putting the radiator to one side for now I pressed on with my list. Knowing my aim was to get the front end out today, I took the handlebars and ancillaries off, which took longer than expected as I stopped to photograph every cable and hose route in detail. I know they’re in the workshop manual, but photos show bolts too, which is VERY useful come reassembly time!
Next, I set to loosening every bolt I might need to put weight on at some point, whilst the front wheel was still in. Wheel spindle, forks, steering stem bolt frame rail… anything that might destabilise an unstable bike sitting two feet off the floor on a workbench.
The next job was to take out the three bolts holding the clutch slave cylinder into the cover. Now, it’s worth pointing out the clutch didn’t work on the bike when I brought it home. I figured it might need bleeding, but thought taking a look was prudent. I also wanted to remove the clutch cover and give it a good polish.
The slave cylinder took half an hour, with a rubber mallet and careful prying (without damaging the seat!) to remove. What I found shows bleeding it was the least of my concerns….
Yummy! I guess that’s why the clutch didn’t work…
Another half an hour and I had the clutch cover off (it was gummed on and incredibly tight on the dowel pins). The good news is the clutch itself looks pretty mint.
At this point I stopped for a brew, and while doing so dropped a whole £4 on a 17mm hex socket via eBay to loosen the fork tops.
I then, being impatient, immediately grabbed Goblin tool mk1 from the other day, a 17mm spanner and a fork stanchion from a CB900 Hornet (a previous restoration, ultimately really disappointing and quickly sold) and did this…
…to quickly loosen both caps. I promise I’ll use the proper socket when it arrives! Fork tops loose I then removed the ignition barrel and popped the top yoke off.
Sensing victory was near I put a jack under the engine, with a piece of wood, and gently lifted the front of the bike until the back wheel came against the bench…
…before ratchet-tying the wheel to the bench frame itself as some insurance should the jack go down for any reason.
the front end could then come out
I was very pleased I’d loosened those bolts earlier - putting weight down on them with the bike like this would be tempting fate. It’s pretty solid - It’s the way I’ve done front ends for years now. I do have a headstock paddock stand for fork removal, but it doesn’t work if you need the yokes out too.
The last job tonight was to remove the left frame rail ready for prep and paint..
Before tidying up I investigated the clutch cover oil seal. It looked a bit iffy…careful prodding confirmed this. It’s cheap to replace - I just hope the cover isn’t too badly corroded where it sits.
It had glued itself in and was utterly knackered.
Anyway, having neglected The Horde for a day, I tidied up and retired for the evening for a well deserved beer and a game of Yahtzee
Yes, I’m also a board game geek, I make no apologies!
Off to see my dad tomorrow. It’s Father’s Day after all. And he has a paraffin parts washer….
Mike