ive restored many triumphs and have done one of these 71 tooc models - I did mine about ten years ago and at that time I wasn't doing the motors myself -so I took the motor to our local ace and crook here in Rochester ny, this was a mistake- but I profited by my mistake it forced me to learn how to do these motors, I bought a tape by Hughie hancox step by step , he worked for the triumph factory from 1954 till it closed, , his tapes are for 650cc's but give you a general idea of the triumph motor, there are also service manuals available for the 500's, - if you have matching #s the bike is more valuable. and I would not go too far off from correct when you do this bike or you will be wasting money, first off I would buy a camera that can be down loaded to your pc , so you will have a good reference pictures , this project could take a year or better.
you already have a lot of info via the site but i'll throw my opinion in too don't waste your time trying to start this thing ,it turns over that's all you need to know, at the heart of this engine is a thing they call a sludge trap if that trap is full of sludge its a time bomb ready to blow- triumphs didn't have oil filters and they used non detergent oil so sludge was collected on the walls of the crank case and the sludge trap this worked well if youd didn't get smart and put the newer detergent oils of today in them what happened then was the detergent oil would wash the inside of the crank case and plug the trap stoping the oil flow ti the big end bearings , that's why you see old triumphs with holes in the front of the crankcase where the rods went thru. triumphs have a screen in the oil tank where the oil goes out the bottom and to the oil pump, its then pumped into the timing cover which directs it to the crankit goes into the sludgetrap before it goes to the rod bottoms at that point the oil floats the crank and bleeds the excess from the rods onto the crank to be flug all over the inside of the crankcase forming a mist and lubeing everything inside the case , and forming a pudle at the bottom of the crankcase to be sumped back to the oil tank and some goes to the rockers too the sump has a screen on it also, theres realy no place to attach a oil filter such as is on your car and needs lots a pressure . I have bought several cranks when I see a good deal on them ,the journals miked fine when I open the trap its usually full or almost full, scary huh I allways tear a engine completely down unless I trust the previous owner when he says he did the trap , a while back a guy had a bike on ebay I was interested in he stated that he rebuilt it so I casually asked him what about the sludge trap his reply was whats that, I lost interest at that point. when the crank is free from the cases you will see a plug in the crank with a slot in it for removing it, allways heat the area surrounding that plug before attempting to remove it, the factory usually used a punch to pene the last thread over. its like a lock nut thing. use a small drill to clean the pene out and it will still come out hard later sludg trap plugs had a elen head insert, after the plugs out there is a crank bolt on the flywheel that holds the trap in loose it, I made a easyout like tool to tale th tube out, service manuals also detail this procedure,--I do my own wiring theres no sense in me buying a standard lucas type harness when I gotta m,odify it for my electronic ign and regulator - I throw the lucas crap away, restoring old triumphs is a hobby for me ,I have learned to do the motors transmissions I do everythin but the paint and powder coating im attaching a pic of the 71 I got and a few others I have done- im glad to answer any ?? jim
you already have a lot of info via the site but i'll throw my opinion in too don't waste your time trying to start this thing ,it turns over that's all you need to know, at the heart of this engine is a thing they call a sludge trap if that trap is full of sludge its a time bomb ready to blow- triumphs didn't have oil filters and they used non detergent oil so sludge was collected on the walls of the crank case and the sludge trap this worked well if youd didn't get smart and put the newer detergent oils of today in them what happened then was the detergent oil would wash the inside of the crank case and plug the trap stoping the oil flow ti the big end bearings , that's why you see old triumphs with holes in the front of the crankcase where the rods went thru. triumphs have a screen in the oil tank where the oil goes out the bottom and to the oil pump, its then pumped into the timing cover which directs it to the crankit goes into the sludgetrap before it goes to the rod bottoms at that point the oil floats the crank and bleeds the excess from the rods onto the crank to be flug all over the inside of the crankcase forming a mist and lubeing everything inside the case , and forming a pudle at the bottom of the crankcase to be sumped back to the oil tank and some goes to the rockers too the sump has a screen on it also, theres realy no place to attach a oil filter such as is on your car and needs lots a pressure . I have bought several cranks when I see a good deal on them ,the journals miked fine when I open the trap its usually full or almost full, scary huh I allways tear a engine completely down unless I trust the previous owner when he says he did the trap , a while back a guy had a bike on ebay I was interested in he stated that he rebuilt it so I casually asked him what about the sludge trap his reply was whats that, I lost interest at that point. when the crank is free from the cases you will see a plug in the crank with a slot in it for removing it, allways heat the area surrounding that plug before attempting to remove it, the factory usually used a punch to pene the last thread over. its like a lock nut thing. use a small drill to clean the pene out and it will still come out hard later sludg trap plugs had a elen head insert, after the plugs out there is a crank bolt on the flywheel that holds the trap in loose it, I made a easyout like tool to tale th tube out, service manuals also detail this procedure,--I do my own wiring theres no sense in me buying a standard lucas type harness when I gotta m,odify it for my electronic ign and regulator - I throw the lucas crap away, restoring old triumphs is a hobby for me ,I have learned to do the motors transmissions I do everythin but the paint and powder coating im attaching a pic of the 71 I got and a few others I have done- im glad to answer any ?? jim
