3TA Centre stand, speedo and general advice required please - recommissioning project

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Re: 3TA Centre stand, speedo and general advice required please - recommissioning pro

Thanks Kashif for the link, I don't think my pockets are deep enough to buy a genuine vintage ammeter at the moment having just shelled out for the genuine speedo..

Can anyone give me some ideas on what might be happening with my front forks please?

After I sorted the clutch out I went for a short ride and the bike felt like it was skipping over the road surface - not absorbing any of the bumps. When I parked up and checked the fork action they appeared to have no movement in them so I suspected that there was either too much or too little oil in them.

Over the weekend I slackened the bottom bolts to check there was oil in the forks and some dark brown stuff started to dribble out so I did both back up. Today I moved the bike out and back into my garage and the forks seem to be working again. Anyone else experienced this?
 
Re: 3TA Centre stand, speedo and general advice required please - recommissioning pro

Open the drain plugs and the top caps and flush the forks with solvent or paraffin.

Allow to dry thoroughly, then re-fill per specs.

Loosen all main mounting hardware.

Work the forks by holding the front brake and compressing, releasing; a few times.

Tighten axle, work the forks.

Check alignment, tighten lower fork yoke, work the forks.

Check alignment, tighten top caps.

All should be well.
 
Re: 3TA Centre stand, speedo and general advice required please - recommissioning pro

Thank you, im guessing it could be a while before i really ride my 3ta as when im sorting the forks i will be fitting the speedo, cut out switch and overhauling the front brake. Hopefully that will be all!


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Re: 3TA Centre stand, speedo and general advice required please - recommissioning pro

Ok I started taking the nacelle off the 3TA today and noticed that the refill plugs on both forks appear to have been ground off so I am guessing this job has just got a whole lot bigger.

Been having some thoughts about the nacelle too, does anyone know the differences between the nacelle top 97-1144 as is supposed to be on my machine and the 97-1298 that was fitted to the T100A during the same period? Both tops fit the same lower nacelle legs and use the same fork parts for the period. The only difference I can see is that the top for the 100A used a different light switch so I am guessing the fixing hole must have been different?
 
Re: 3TA Centre stand, speedo and general advice required please - recommissioning pro

May have to do with other parts and the openings in the nacelle for meters...

(also maybe the mounting tab/screw points?)
 
Well I now have all the instruments and switches and levers to put the nacelle top back to original.

I have just started stripping the front end down to sort out the fork issue and to try and identify why the steering damper doesn't line up as it should in the nacelle. The nacelle top is a mess and now its removed its easier to see the chunks that have been cut out to try and get it to fit.

I haven't been able to get far with the fork strip down so far as I don't have the huge spanner needed for the top nuts so can only examine the forks in the frame at the moment but have noticed something at odds with the book but perhaps someone else out there with a 1961 3TA could have a look at their fork sliders. Mine have the following numbers H1119 and H1120 stamped into them at the bottom but I cannot find them in any parts book that I have looked at - so far I have looked at about 20 thinking that perhaps they were off of something similar or pre unit. Google hasn't revealed anything helpful either. Parts books show they should be H1117 and H1118 but I have come across instances like this before where part numbers have been changed during production but then the following parts book still has H1117 and H1118 so that doesn't appear to be the case.

I realise the bottom members will not alter the angle of the top stem but I want to make sure that what I rebuild is correct (as in right length for the spring etc) and safe. Once I have the forks out I am going to take a good look at the top stem to see if I can find any numbers on it as I have read that these vary and earlier versions altered the angle of the damper which sounds like my issue.[DOUBLEPOST=1396615054,1396614611][/DOUBLEPOST]Typical, just posted the above message then found this listing on ebay. So I supposedly have pre-unit sliders not sure where the side car comes into it... H1119.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRIUMPH-PRE-UNIT-NEW-OLD-STOCK-SIDECAR-FRONT-FORK-SLIDER-H1119-/400658276583?nma=true&si=%2BKXn4qStMTWaoYV8Pt%2FzHFF4ygk%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557[DOUBLEPOST=1396880390][/DOUBLEPOST]Well the nacelle mystery has been resolved. I have the wrong nacelle top and bottom for my frame.

I recently purchased a good, unmolested top and offered that up and it fitted as it should and lined up lovely around the damper. I then compared the nacelles side by side (see photo). The one that was fitted to my machine had long side flashes, the correct replacement has the shorter flashes according to my parts book. So now to find a nacelle bottom... Is there anything visually different between models as I would like to only buy one more set?

nacelle compare.jpg
 
We had no success with using a gator grip and a wooden Black and Decker Workmate to hold them, the caps just will not budge.
 
I had very stubborn cups once; I chucked them in a vice and tried turning the fork legs with a 1/2" socket extension slipped in the axle hole, no success. Had to chop them off and made a small surface gouge in one of the legs. What can I say, just use care. Replacement cups are not super-expensive...
 
Hi all, ended up buying two spanners to undo the stubborn dust cap and the lower stanchion nuts as couldn't undo them with anything else. I am glad I decided to investigate the forks properly rather than just drain and refill as not only did I discover that one of the telescopic guide tubes was binding (clearly the cause of the suspension lock up) but neither of the lower telescopic tubes were connected to the restrictor rods so just an accident waiting to happen.

Several hundred pounds later and now an owner of a pair of new telescopic guide tubes, dust caps with new seals and bearings, replacement bolts and various missing items, I am almost ready to reassemble but cannot find anyone selling the cap nut pins part number H1066 / 97-1066 and so far been unable to remove the old ones from the old nuts to be able to measure the diameter so I can buy a piece of bar so if anyone can oblige with the info I need, would be most helpful.
 
My next problem having rebuilt one of the fork legs is getting the stanchions all the way through the bottom yoke which is fitted to the frame. I have been using a couple of flat screwdrivers to try and open up the slots but not with much success. I just don't seem to be able to get the stanchion far enough through the yoke - I guess I am probably a couple of inches away from the top yoke.

To remove them I had to drive them out. I am now contemplating taking the bottom yoke off the frame and fitting this directly to the forks after putting the legs in the freezer and the yoke in a pan of boiling water unless anyone has any better suggestions?
 
One at a time without the wheel. I even tried just the stanchion on it's own without the leg and couldn't get it through the yoke properly.
 
Ok try giving them a good going over with sand paper inside the yokes , and as you say a couple of screw drivers or make some small wedges .
Can you post a pic of the yokes so we can get a better idea of what's going on .
 
Starting to loose interest now as this job is just one big botch up after another. Having fought and struggled to get the stanchions through the bottom yoke I now find they don't line up with the top yoke. I am getting the feeling that I have perhaps the wrong bottom yoke as the angle seems wrong for the stem having removed the front end from the bike I can now see the stem does not sit central to the top yoke so the angles are possibly wrong.

Please help me get my enthusiasm back for this project.
 
I have a feeling that you may be right about the wrong yoke parts, but I hope not.
The forks should slide into place with relatively little drama.
That's the problem with these old bikes, you have no idea what may have been done to them in the past.
I've had the forks out of both my Triumph and BSA and they came out and went back in without any trouble at all.
You've come a long way to give up now, but maybe a break from it will give you a boost in interest to continue later.
 
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