1970 Velocette Thruxton recommissioning

 

It was a little difficult jumping back into the Thruxton, I hadn't made up my mind what to do about the front tire. Rather than take the front wheel on and off several times, I thought to make it all into one go around. The right side clip on was cracked meaning that either the triple clamp needed to be removed or the fork tube would need to be dropped. The wheel and fender need to be removed if one wants to install the lower fairing section as well. As for a tire, currently the selection out there is somewhat thin. I'd like to stick with an Avon speedmaster MkII or Dunlop K model; I'm not finding much...

But then there was the drip...

At first you get hopeful, a spot of oil on the floor could have come from anywhere. Wipe it up and hope for the best. Just keep an eye on things over time. Maybe a loose crush washer, maybe a loose nut on the bottom of the fork leg. There was silicone sealant on the bottom of the fork tube, but I knew better. It was more likely crash damage to the slider. Velocette sliders are made of three parts; the upper bushing/seal and spring holder, the lower casting to hold the axle and a section of tubing between the two. All of these components are soldered together and one of the reasons NOT to powder coat the legs as the ovens used in the  powder coating process will melt the solder. 

This is not the first time I've faced a leaking solder joint on the right hand side leg. In fact it seems to be a common location as this is also where all the brake plate is pinned to stop it rotating in operation.

In reality, I kind of expected this the second time I saw the leak, it's a thing.  The repair sounds somewhat straight forward;  clean off the paint, de-solder the joint, clean up the parts, tin the tube, reassemble and re-solder. Maybe....

Having an older right side leg with the same leak meant I could try and see how difficult this could be.  First was stripping the paint back, followed with setting the casting up in the vise and heating it with a propane torch for a bit. I was able to get the solder melted but didn't quite have enough heat to completely soften the whole solder joint in the casting.  From what I recall, the tube is set quite deep into  the casting. So that is that for the time being.  We'll approach this later.

While on the subject of soldering, I'll also need to make up a new throttle cable. The crash also did a fair bit of damage to the throttle.  You can see where the safety wire had done it's job keeping the throttle together.

So, tires, solder, paint, throttle cable, fairing....  on goes the list. Just keep pressing forward we'll get there.