eya gang! SJ's 1950 Thunderbird

[Sunshine Jim]

hi folks! been a while, been thru a lot but gathering parts for my build. doing a sprung hub rebuild soon down to the spring box to repair the springs. building the spring compressor jig now and will do a photo article if successful, parts are gettin scarcer for the ol rigids.

bought my last chronometric for 50 last time around...

things have changed.

heh! just had a 72 Bonnie Barn job layed on me from a barn wrecker crew i know, things are looking up!

back later, good on ya all!

 

[Rocky]

Good to hear from you. Cool projects you have going

 

[CarlS]

Jim, welcome back. It is good to hear from you and know you are OK.Please keep us updated on the projects.

 

[DaveM]

Hey Jim nice to see you back and will be looking forward to the restoration thread

 

[devo]

Eh Jim
long time no see
owyer bin

 

[keystiger]

Welcome back. Pics of your projects would be great

 

[harper6t]

Great to see another Triumph being restored, just had my 1950 (ish) Triumph Thunderbird out on Sunday after tarting it up a bit and getting it registered, it had been sitting in the shed for 15 years. I had forgotten how nice it was to ride, still a few things to set up properly, but its good to have it rolling again.
You are a brave person wanting to rebuild the spring box in a sprung hub, the warnings are dire on the effects if the springs get loose. I have a triumph service manual from the period that I think has drawings of the rig to allow disassembly. I might post that if I can find the book. I just did up a MK1 sprung hub for a Tiger 100 I'm restoring, not so brave as to disassemble the spring box, it looked to be in reasonable order.

 

[Sunshine Jim]

got two plans the best jig is the one in clymers 1937 1951 manual.

very little info or availibility for the springs, tho i found a NOS complete 3 spring set.

found a spring mfg that is willing to wind arched replacement square stock sets.

the reason to open it up on my part was to get a west coast jig in gear because so many have the rebound spring broken as is mine. the trick is getting the spring centering tab size and location right. more on that later...

 

[CarlS]

Jim, I would like to see photos of that process.

 

[grandpaul]

You've heard the saying "THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICTURES".

Well...

 

[Sunshine Jim]

heh! months off! need to build the jig first, unbury all the parts buried in the garage and actually split the spring case

 

[CarlS]

I am interested in following this project.

 

[Sunshine Jim]

you'll dig it carl! those sprung hubs are imfamous! took a while to get all of the missing parts, waiting on mail now.

Ace classics gang are good sources on the pre-unit rigid frame jewelry.

still looking for the right chronometric speedo.

gonna graft a disc brake front end on this one btw, the stock ones were prone to serious fades and water saturation in the rain, never liked them when i had them,

 

[CarlS]

I have ridden bikes with sprung hubs; but I have never attempted to work on a sprung hub. I certainly agree with you about the front brake!

 

[harper6t]

Attaching some sheets from a Triumph maintenance instructions book sent out to the dealer from the factory showing the jig and instructions - very interesting to note on the cover, the telegram address = "TRUSTY, COVENTRY" and the Telephone = MERIDEN 331. Whatever happened to telegrams?
Hoping these attach, seemed to work but..... never sure with this

 

[CarlS]

Yes they work. Thank you; that is really good information. If you will start a new thread and post these, I will make it a sticky so as to help others.

 

[grandpaul]

I rebuilt this sprung hub, but stopped short of splitting open the spring case. It came out great, and is WAY better than a rigid rear end. Those ring bearings are EXPENSIVE! i ended up buying another wheel with good bearings, and sold all the remains to recoup the cost.

If you like having front brakes, you probably wouldn't like this bike very much...

 

[harper6t]

Yes they work. Thank you; that is really good information. If you will start a new thread and post these, I will make it a sticky so as to help others.

I'll see what I can do - going on holiday tomorrow so it may be a week before I can do much.
The triumph maintenance instructions book also has sections on fork alignment, front wheel fitting, correct tensioning of the big end bolts, servicing a 3T crank, fault finding and testing procedure for Lucas R.M.12 lighting and ignition equipment.
Not sure if all this should go in a single thread or multiple threads

 

[CarlS]

It can be one thread and include that explanation of the contents.

 

[grandpaul]

By the way, I have a spare brand new set of brake shoes for a sprung hub, plus some of the rebuild bits, I have no need for them and will sell them far below list price.