Brian Cooper Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 16 hours ago, Engine Doctor said: A lot of the cyl head gaskets on our bikes from memory were solid copper back then and easily annealed for reuse In another era a long time ago, I had an old (1950s) British bike - an Ariel single cylinder "thumper". 100 mile from home, the thing blew its head gasket. Well, we never left home without taking a few tools with us..... I got the bike going again by bodging a head gasket made from copper wire. It was still working perfectly six months later when I finally got round to fixing it properly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 1 hour ago, Brian Cooper said: In another era a long time ago, I had an old (1950s) British bike - an Ariel single cylinder "thumper". 100 mile from home, the thing blew its head gasket. Well, we never left home without taking a few tools with us..... I got the bike going again by bodging a head gasket made from copper wire. It was still working perfectly six months later when I finally got round to fixing it properly. Indeed we never left home without a bag of tools as bits often fell off or broke even on shortish journeys. Most Saturday or Sunday mornings were maintenance days to ready the bike for the week ahead. This usually ended with a wash down of the greasy bits with some Gunk . I still like the smell . Then The Japanese came along and made bikes boringly reliable , Started first time on an electric starter, no oil leaks and were quiet and smooth ! Awful 😉. No wonder the old brit bikes died out . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 (edited) I think this thread is going to be very interesting, to some at any rate..... True story, the summer of 76, heading home from Cornwall, 10am start on a honda cb125s, 7 k revs all the way..... Screaming down tintern abbey hill head light blows, no matter I have dip beam... Ludlow, Chucky chicken, welshpool road, I keep thinking the is a car or something behind me.... Very dry with tall crops in the fields....I look round behind me to see a large cloud if sparks ! I look down to see the front exhaust pipe from the cylinder head to the silencer glowing YELLOW hot !!! Got home to the pub by 10pm for a few pints.... Oh what we do when we are young and invincible eh. 😁 Ynt15k where are you ? I hope you are alive and well ? Should never have sold that bike, or the velo's, or the b31 or d7 etc. etc. etc...... Now I'm riding around on a honda nightmares ( tax and mot exempt ). I had enough of them things in the eighties, wet dreams....but it does get me and a small sloper up the hill even if it's on the cold side at the moment... Virgin snow is passable on a bike at 5mph ish, compacted snow is lethal. Jap bikes, great, until a moron owner "fixes" them....kept me in work for years... Reliable, not the wet dreams, CDI and grannies due overnight, and that was in the day. Expect ign problems with them these days, old wires/coils in a hot engine ( a dry chamber in theory ), drain hole tends to let in water being not at the lowest point, fuel tank similar....I could go on....... Edited January 19 by Rich Griff 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 (edited) Partly bike related, In the 1950's I had a 1935 Morris 8. With my girl friend of the time we went up to Edinburgh for the day, a journey of 120 miles each way. After a good day we set off for home about 7 pm. After a few yards the engine cut out the SU electric fuel pump had stopped working. As was usual a thump with the fist got it working again it did not get far when it stopped again. I tried cleaning the points with her nail file, no good they needed replacing. I slackened the mounting bolts for the pump to the bulkhead and going down Edinburgh's cobbled streets it worked fine once on the main roads I drove along the gutters and after a bumpy ride managed to get home. Next day after replacing the points I suggested we go to Devon for the rest of the time we had left of our summer holidays. This was a round trip of over 800 miles which was great and trouble free with the car. On return I had the offer of an SS Jaguar 1.5 litre for £30 so I swopped the Morris for a Velocette 250 for going to work saving the Jag for weekends. Two days later the when the chap started the Morris up one conrod broke and made a right mess of the engine. Talk about luck. Edited January 19 by Eric Robson Added text Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Griff Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Did that con rod have a swastika symbol cast in ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 1 minute ago, Rich Griff said: Did that con rod have a swastika symbol cast in ? Probably looked like part of a swastika when it was removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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