Having hidden the bike so my Wife didn't smash my stupid little face in I thought I should have a look at the engine and see what I have got. It came with a really decent spare one, I know it's good because Steve got it off my mate Dave Street and he only sells good stuff. Steve hadn't tested it so couldn't say for sure but if Dave says it's good I thought that was good enough for me. I have taken the side panel off, checked the compression and the gearbox, I could slot it straight in but it has the wrong engine code for a Competizione so I want to rebuild the engine that's in there.
It came apart fairly easily although some heat and a bit of swearing was needed, the insides were not pretty. I knew the piston was shot and that the rings were well siezed in it but I hadn't realised the con rod was so badly bent, I reckon it locked up at high speed, both main bearings were locked up solid. This engine came without the cylinder and head, it will need both those items as well as a new con rod, crank, bearings and seals - fortunately Dave thinks he has all these bits, he used to race ITOMs back in the day and stil has two pristine racing machines and a ton of spares. He said he may have a tank as well, which may make my job a whole shed load easier. I really want to use the original engine rather than the spare but I will keep it as an option.
I wanted to balance the carbs on the hot rod today but as the balancer didn't come I got on with stripping the Astor, a job that only took about an hour. Stripping the old paint off the frame took a fair bit longer, it then got a coat of Tannin acid based rust converter to make sure the new paint job lasts longer than a few months. Once dry it got a light rub down and then a coat of filler primer went on, it will get another followed by another rub down before the white top coat goes on. All the other frame parts will get the same treatment, I am keeping the original scheme of yellow and white, the red mud guards will get the same yellow as the other parts.
It's only a little bike and very simple in it's construction but it's still a fair chunk of work to do if it is to be done right. These bikes are worth a lot of money when restored correctly so it's well worth putting the time in. I hope Dave has all the parts I need if he hasn't it may be rather difficult finding them and prices can be astronomical. I am thinking the tank needs replacing, it is in very poor condition and my bodywork skills are a bit lacking. It could be bashed out, cleaned inside and repainted but the chances of it ending up with pin holes seems very high. I shall have a better look at it and will save it if I can.
Oh dear, it shouldn't look like that
The whole frame was in a similar state to these parts, stripping it right back to bare metal was the only choice. It's all getting treated with Vactan rust converter before being primed and top coated, it should be around for another 60 years.
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