The Primary Chaincase

I managed to score a Triumph Thunderbird outer primary cover for a reasonable price a couple of weeks ago. Its foot rest hole had been welded up, but badly and with no blending of the shape attempted, and a patch had been done at some point when the clutch had made a bid for freedom.

I blended the the foot rest area to match the top side with a disc sander attached to my drill. Several times I broke through the old welded patch and had to reweld the holes that I made. Once that are was looking about right, I welded up the two lower screw holes that were cracked, and then set about polishing.

First the wet sanding - 240 grit in one direction, followed by 320, 400, 600 and finally 1500, all in opposing directions making sure to totally remove the previous sanding marks. This was followed by buffing on the polishing wheel and finally out with the Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish . Overall I am pretty chuffed with the results. There is a slight ripple where the patch was done, but I don't think it will be noticeable when it is on the bike. Now I just need to find the matching inner cover - back to Ebay....

Unfortunately no before pictures, but here is the finished cover...

The Gearbox - Revisited

Well the gearbox is now complete. All new bearings, bushings and stainless steel hardware. With the engine and gearbox ready to fit into the frame I feel like the project is finally moving along. You can read more about the gearbox in an earlier post - The Gearbox - Polishing The Outer Cover

The next job that I will have to farm out is the frame which needs to be checked to make sure it runs true, and then the assembly can start in earnest.