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No.27 April 2017

www.RacingNorton.co.uk - 2017 Spring Update

Hope you are all well and starting to dust down your bikes ready for some better weather. For those of you that never stopped riding them through winter in the UK - well done, but hope you managed to get the salt off. It is what most of the local Councils like to spray around their borough's at the first sign of frost - because it is cheaper than other chemicals - but makes a mess of your motorcycle!
I nomally spray the Honda (or whatever commute bike I am using at the time) in Duck Oil to protect it, but noticed the 'salt fur' getting on a few parts last week. I must be getting old and lazy because I have not been using the bike as much as usual this year over the bad weather - other than a few commute's into Leicester to get Xmas shopping, food and whatever . . . parking is much easier on a bike, even if I do have to wear my thermals!

You may have seen from recent changes to the landing page of www.RacingNorton.co.uk that since Steve had orignally left at Xmas (who had done all the mail order side for the prevous 2 years - but now needed to concentrate on his own business), that my younger daughter Stephanie had been able to step in part time to take over. I was not sure how well this would work and was expecting we may need to close the site down periodically, to keep abreast of orders with both our limited time.
I am pleased to say that we have only had to do that twice since the beginning of January - once in the gap before she started and once when she was away for a few days.

Office Broadband Woes
Steph seems to have got to grips with it and now is at a point where she does not like me there clluttering up the office, which is fine by me! And for the moment anyway wants to carry on doing it, alongside the other interests she is involved with.

However, the last couple of months has not been easy in our RacingVincent office - as there have been some bigger moves in the office area we share with four other business's, the net impact being there have had periods where the broadmand has not been working well and we have had to resort to a 'O2 Pay As You Go' stick until they get sorted.
To combat this about 4 weeks ago we arranged to have our own Broadband put in, which we thought would resolve everything and allow us to catchup. However, the provider's own software then proceeded to slow our office computer down to a crawl - as slow as the O2 stick!
The upshot of this, is we have now upgraded to a much faster laptop, gone with the best quality Anti-virus software (which we had previously used) and are back fully running again as normal. Therefore we have been able to catch up on some of the backlog. Apologies if you were one of the customers impacted . . . but please remember, we are a part time business, so even if all going well - we are only in a few times a week and occasionally can be a lag between Steph, Steve and myself.

And final point to say on office movements - that you may have noticed from some recent emails, that actually Steve is now back with us on a part time basis. This is partly occasional helping out in the office with Steph, but also doing some subcontracting work through his own business on some of the manufacturing side, as he still shares part of our office building - which is very handy.
 
Dougalas Article

Steph - new RacingVincent Office Manager

(as she prefers me to address her)
Photographed here with the latest state of the art office equipment she insisted I buy for the office . . . .
New Parts and Progress
We have managed to keep moving ahead with new parts and introduced quite a few since my last update at Xmas, so these are covered below. As a couple of highlights though - I have just had a batch of upright Norton gearbox thrust washers made (in high quality Cosbro bronze). Worn thrust washers are one of the main reasons for slop in the gearbox and most noticeably manifests itself by you not having much clutch leverage, hence clutch drag - sound familiar!. I dont know anyone that has offered these for some time so see below for the link if you need one.
I am also pleased to have now added to the range the inner and outer crankshaft main bearing spacer's that fit between the two driveside mainshaft bearings on SOHC engines. We have been meaning to do these for some time so am pleased to have finally got them done and they look lovely.

There have also been recent deliveries of many of the parts we had ran out of in the last few months of 2016 - including our sports/racing mudguards which came in last week. Steph is going through back orders if you had previously ordered one but not heard back yet - but drop us an email on sales@racingvincent.co.uk if you want to be sure. If a new order. . . please place online as normal, thanks Again, those parts back in stock are covered in more detail below.
     

New In-House CNC Parts
And the other good news is that I am now starting to make more new parts on our own RacingVincent CNC machine - the most recent one being exhaust valve lifter phospher bronze bearings - an item I have been asked about lots of time in the last year.

These will supllement the 'kit' of parts we already offer for exhaust valve lifter mechanism, and if I say so myself look rather nice.
A lot of investment has gone into the CNC setup in the last 12 months (and most of my time actually!), but I would tentatively say it has gone well - the machine although bought second hand, was a fully working machine, in use until the day I took it (but I had it serviced first) and then to add to that there have been all the other numerous setup costs, which no doubt will continue each time I move to a new job.

As an example I have just bought a new 'live' milling tool for the multi-tool head, to supplement the two that came with the machine. This German manufactured WTO milling live tool is a little 'jewel' (and is comparitive in quality to a BMW, rather than a Skoda!) - but even though it was on special offer with my tool supplier, it still cost me only a few pounds shy of £1000!

 

 
WTO Live Tool
WTO Live Tool: New milling tool for CNC lathe is very trick but not cheap - a lot of investment in this machine recently
Another New (and different!) Product Line Coming Shortly - Stop/Go Gauges
As part of the work we have been doing recently on the magnesium crankcases, a few weeks ago I needed to invest in a digital internal micrometer for measuring oil pump cavities - which I bought new from my main tool supplier and again on special offer, but still it came to just under £400 on its own - ouch!

However, at the same time I was also trying to get hold of a corresponding Stop/Go gauge for Norton oil pump diameter (standard diameter of pump is 1.750", therefore bore should be just fractionally less to allow for interference fit).

For those not familiar with a Stop/Go gauge, they normally come looking a bit like a 'dumbell' with two pieces of cylindirical steel of the required size on either end, normally with some form of bar imbetween - which normally has all information about that particular gauge stamped on it. As you have probably guessed, one end has the cylinder at the exact dimension (i.e. 1.750" in this case), which is the GO size, and the other end is normally a fraction of a thou (inch) over - the STOP. They are used to tell you a machined bore is exactly at the 'size' diameter, and any other wont go. In the case of my new crankcases I would not expect even the Go to go in, but still wanted to have one, so could check with other crankcases I have.

Like all precision measuring equipment, they are extremely expensive to buy new, but I did want one of my own as I had been borrowing one from a friend. As a new one was showing at around the £200 mark, I had a look on Ebay . . . and eventually found one as part of a much larger 'Job Lot' of gauges. As well as bore gauges, there was a second Lot of thread Stop/Go gauges, another of second hand digital micrometers and some other measuring equipment. In the end I had the lot! although it meant a long trip 'up North' to fetch them. I am told they had come from an aeronautical company that had closed down and this was the contents of their measuring shop.
Oil Pump Gauges
SOHC Oil Pump Bore Gauges: Above is a new digital internal micrometer for measuring SOHC crankcase oil pump bores - I found my collection of original crankcases had varying bore sizes!
Below the micrometer - a 1.750" Stop/Go gauge for checking our new crankcases bored to correct tolerance - the gauge should not go in!
'Treacly' looking cups on left are the 'hot dip' grease protectors that are often kept to protect Stop/Go gauges.
The donut like ring under the micrometer is the calibration ring - to ensure it is zero'd at the correct size

Stop/Go Gauges and Digital Micrometers
We have not sorted through them all yet, but I would estimate there is somewhere in the region of 500 - 700 gauges of all types and sizes - Imperial, Metric and some other weird sizes as well. Although I want to sort out a number of them for myself - as there looks to be many duplicates, I am intending to clean, photograph and list all of them in the coming months. They may only be of interest to specialist engineering shops - but thought I would let you all know as well.


Not available for sale yet, but if you want to enquire about the types and sizes available, or digital micrometers, drop an email titled 'Stop/Go Query' to normal sales email : sales@racingvincent.co.uk

Stop/Go Gauges
Stop/Go Bore and Thread Gauges: Just a few of the many hundreds of Stop/Go gauges I recently purchased. They will all be cleaned and bagged and many will be listed for sale shortly

- New Article - Douglas and Bonhams: I have finally got round to finishing an article I started a few months ago. Sorry it has been so long since last one, but hope you like this one . . . although not really Norton or Vincent - although they do get a mention. It is about a visit I made to Bonhams last year.

It can be found on the Blog page of the normal www.RacingVincent.co.uk\Blog, but if you want to go straight there, then click on the photo on the right: ---->

 

 
Dougalas Article

Douglas Article
: Click on photo to see latest article

- CNC on Youtube: Watching parts being machined on a CNC lathe is quite an interesting thing - I did a lot of it before I bought my own machine!
So once I started to get to grips with my own machine I thought it might be novel to add a Youtube link in the catalog listing of the parts I am now making myself, to show customers how they get made.

Click on the photo on right and it will take you to our catalog listing for Cambox Rubber Pad adjusters, and then go to the bottom of the listing and you will find a Youtube link to see how they are made . . . let me know if you like the idea for future parts..

 

Cambox Pad Adjusters

A11/817 Cambox Pad Aduster
: Back in Stock. Click on photo to see listing and link to YouTube to see them being made (by the way we are now able to supply in two lengths - as originals could vary)

See below for the normal updates on new parts and restocks, as well as a short update on other stuff going on.
With a lot going on with the business I have not really thought much about doing any meetings this year. It would be nice to get the Norton M30 pre-war engine finished and in a bike, but as this is taking longer than expected, I am not making any promises to myself - would be nice to do at least one meeting though- perhaps in second half of year


Best Wishes

Paul Norman,
May 2017
www.RacingVincent.co.uk and www.RacingNorton.co.uk (Parts Catalog)


What’s New? – New Products and Updates - April 2017

Here is a summary of what is new since last Newsletter. Click on any photo to take you directly to that item on the Online Catalog:


 
Breather Pipe
A0628 Crankcase Bevel Chamber Breather Pipe: Distinctive breather pipe that fits onto breather union on the top of crankcase bevel chamber, we have two types of this curved breather

Cambox Oil Feed Pipe
A0629 Cambox Oil Feed Assembly: Full assembly to feed oil to Norton SOHC cambox, with black rubber oil pipe so length can be varied and prevents fracture (which can be a problem with one piece type)
 

SOHC Norton Oil and Breather Pipes and Assemblies

Again, after popular demand from customers, we have introduced a range of breather and oil pipes to fit SOHC Norton engines (and some will fit other Norton single cylinder models.
these are mostly the most common pattern of breather pipes as well as a version of the distinctive cambox oil feed assembly.

Each pipe pattern is copied to an original I have or to an original design - although I will be the first to admit, it is very difficult to work which pipes are truly original - and there have been lots of variations over the years . . . I don't think this is critical though - it is the general profile that is important.

Pipes are made from good quality UK sourced copper pipe and brass fittings, then nickel plated. In the case of the cambox feed pipe assembly we are using high quality 'black rubber' oil line and they are lockwired in the original way.
We are also selling the oil breather pipe seperately as well as short lengths of the stainless steel lockwire.
Go to the Petrol and Oil Tank section to see all the new items, but there are a couple more we will be introducing in the next few weeks, to supplement those already listed: Oil and Breather Pipes

Price: £ various by type

Crankcase Breather Pipe
A0630 Front Crankcase Breather - Long: I copied this long pipe assembly from an original Gardengate Pre-Featherbed Manx engine that a friend of mine has. I am not sure how common it is - but looks very distinctive (and can be cut to a shorter length if desired)
 
 
Oil Pipe Lengths
0634 Oil Resistent 'Black Rubber' Oil Pipe lengths:
We can now offer lengths of the original style 'black rubber' oil pipe. Similar to our fuel pipes (but in a bigger bore), this pipe has all writing removed and gives that original and authentic look to your restoration - much nicer than modern clear pipe
 
All Oil Pipes
Oil Breathers:
selection of first batch of pipes before final packing
 
Breather pipe
0628 Breather In situ on M40 (350 Manx) engine:
Anotber photo of 0628 in situ: £10.00 Each
 
Crankcase Breather Pipe
0627 : Crankcase Breather Pipe
Crankcase one way valve breather pipe. We will shortly offer the other variation with pipe feeding backwards : £9.00 Each
 

Useful Norton Upright Norton Gearbox Parts: A couple of very useful new additions to the gearbox parts. In addition to these below, I am also close to making the upright gearbox quadrant and selector arm bearing that presses into the gearbox shell - I am getting asked a lot about these at the moment, shortly to be CNC'ed on my own machine

Gearbox Thrust Washer
0641 A2/328: Norton Upright and Pre-AMC Gearbox Thrust Washer
I am pleased to finally be able to provide this much asked for item - the Norton mainshaft gearbox thrust washer that so often wears and causes difificult gear changing and vagueness selecting neutral. These have been manufactured in high quality Colisbro bronze as per best originals

£19.50 Each
 
Norton Thick Washer Set
 0639 Thick Washer Set For Norton Gearbox Selectors
These thick washers are specially made, being thicker and wider than commercially available, to fit on the Norton quarant bolt and two selector arms- like the originals. See detail information in listing - but selector arms with side play are one of the causes of sloppy gear selection
£3.50 Set
 
 

Exhaust Valve Lifter Bearing
0640 A11/695: Phospher Bronze Exhaust Valve Lifter Bearing
Most recent item to be completed on our CNC, following many requests from customers - the lipped bearing that presses into cambox backplate and holds the exhaust valve lifter assembly (which we also make and shown here). Item listing also includes instructions for if your cambox backplate has boss - but not machined for bearing. (Note: price is for bearing only):
£11.00 Each
 

 
New old stock 16H Piston
0648 : Original 'New Old Stock' WD 16H (Higher Comp) Hepolite Pistons - 500cc + 0.020 and +0.030 Oversize
I have just acquired a small quantity of (unopened!) 'New Old Stock' original WD 16H pistons. Each one has been checked and has minimum corrosion, and is fit for use. The WD 16H piston had a slight crown, meaning that used in an OHV/OHC engine it gave a slighlty higher compression than OHV ES2 pistons (I used to race an ES2 with one of these in the 1980's). If you are not intending to race your OHC cammy Norton, these are a possible alternative, or for your OHV or 16H . Very limited stocks!
£110.00 Each

 
 

 

Pre Featherbed Engine Sprockets
0650 SOHC Engine Sprockets - Pre-Featherbed Type
Now able to offer engine sprockets in a range of tooth sizes from 17T through to 23T (Daytona gearing). These are good quality UK manufactured sprockets
£90.00 each

 
Featherbed Engine Sprocket
0651 SOHC Engine Sprockets - Featherbed Type
Similar to Item 0650, these sprockets come in a variety of teeth size
(18T - 22T), but with later 'offset' to fit Featherbed International models

£90.00 each
 
Brake Pedal Pivot Bolt
0653 A2/502 & 0654 11/502 & 0655 A11M/502
Norton Brake Pedal Pivot Bolts - ES2 type/Inter Type/Manx Type

We have been out of stock on these brake pivot bolts for over 2 years as previous manufacturer too busy, so this was an obvious choice for our in-house CNC machine. If I say so myself these are nicer quality than the last batch as well!, and in stainless steel
3 Types are available for Non-Inter roadgoing models, for Norton Inters and a third type for the M30/Gardengate Manx model (which had a shorter shaft)

£24.00 with washer and Nyloc SS Nut
 
Youtube link to Brake Pedal Pivot Bolt
Watch Brake Pedal Pivot Bolt Being Made on Youtube:
Again, with some of the items we are now making in-house I have produced a Youtube video, as I thought the engineering of these on a CNC lathe may of interest to some of you - click on photo - this will take you directly to the Youtube video, but the listings themselves will also have a link
 
Primary Oiler Pipe
0655 A11M/855: M30/Manx Primary Chain Oiler Bracket and Pipes Another part that is not commonly seen, but was an original fitment to Rigid and Gardengate M30/Manx Nortons was the bracket that allowed oil from the oil tank Primary Chain Oiler (we sell these - Item No 0571 and back in stock this month) to the primary chain - comes complete with black rubber pipes and lockwire
£15.00 for Assembly
 
Matched Inner and Outer Timing Covers
0624 : Matched Inner/Outer Timing Covers - Various Types
These are not new items, but because we are currently out of stock of Outer plain timing covers (and ribbed magnesium outer covers) - I wanted to remind customers we do have a few sets of 'matched' inner and outer timing cover sets - which inlcude the plain outer timing cover as shown here. When we made these up, these matched pairs were linished and polished together, so they match exactly . . . unlike many originals, which were made over a 30 year period, so could differ. Sorry if you are waiting for a new batch of outers . . . still some way off yet, but just wanted to let you know we can offer a few matched sets
£ various - click on photo to see options available

 
Manx Outer Bearing Spacer
0656 A10/33 : M30/Pre F'bed Manx Outer Main Bearing Spacer (Pair)
CNC Machined M30 magnesium cranckase outer bearing spacer - the spacers that fit between the two driveside main bearings on pre-featherbed magnesium M30/Manx crankcases. Originally a single spacer - I had these made as a pair that together give the correct gap
£29.00 pair
 
Manx Inner Bearing Spacer
0657 A11M/835 : M30/Pre F'bed Manx Inner Main Bearing Spacer (Pair)
CNC Machined M30 magnesium cranckase inner bearing spacer - to go with item 0656. When used as a matching pair of items, these spacers ensure a 15 thou negative clearance, to avoid the inner roller pushing against the lip on standard RHP lipped inner roller bearings
£18.00 pair

 
1" Magneto Lever
0658 1" (one inch) Handlebar Magneto Lever
We already sell 7/8" handlebar mag levers, but after requests from customers recently (Hi Andy!) we have now extended our range to include 1" handlebar levers of the same Amal Type 100 reproduction range
£14.00 Each
 
1" Air Lever
0659 1" (one inch) Handlebar Air Lever
To go with Item 0658, is the 1" handlebar size corresponding Air Lever. Unfortunately, just like the 7/8" size items, the air lever is of the slightly later design, so does not exactly match the mag lever . . . a real shame considering they are such good value for money.
I suppose yet another reason why I should resurrect the proper Manx style maig/air levers I started manufacturing about 8 years ago, and still have not got around to finishing . . . hey ho
£14.00 Each
 
 
Rev Clock/Speedo Pointer
0638 Smiths Rev Clock Body - Competition Type:
Correct competition type body for M30 and Manx Norton's, this type not having provision for a bulb, making them different to those fitted to roadgoing bikes £26.00 Each
  More Smiths Chronometric Speedo/Rev Clock Parts
We already sell a number of parts for Smiths rev clocks and speedo's, so as part of restocking on these recently from my manufacturer, we were able to add some new items to the range.

Various prices, but all can be found in the Handlebars and Controls Section:
Handlebars and Control Section
Rev Clock/Speedo Pointer
0643 Smiths Rev Clock/Speedo Pointer:
Early type as fitted to 1930's-1950's instruments: £15.00 Each
 
Smiths Speedo Face Gasket
0644 Smiths Rev Clock/Speedo Face Gasket:
Gasket that fits behind face of Smiths rev clocks/speedos - as originally manufactured: £2.50 Each
     
Rev Clock/Speedo Back Gasket
0645 Smiths Rev Clock/Speedo Back Gasket:
Gasket that fits behind the mechanism of Smiths rev clocks/speedos - as originally manufactured: £2.50 Each
 
Pack of 4 screws for Smiths speedo
0646 Smiths Rev Clock/Speedo Black Screws:
Set of 4 screws for Smiths speedo/rev counters with proper black heads - improves the look if yours are rusty, also sold as singles. ... in case you have lost one through SOHC vibration! £5.00 Set
     

Back In Stock

 


Items Recently Back In Stock:

- Steel Racing/Sports Rear Mudguards
- Crankcase Oil Feed Bolts and Adjusters
- Manx/M30 Oil Tank - Front Oilers
- Norton Gearbox Main Bearings
- A11/817 Cambox Adjuster Bolts - Link is to std length, but long also avail

- Gearbox Main Bearings from Nice
- Norton D-Shape Footrest Rubber Sets
- Norton Pillion Footrest Rubbers (Embossed Norton)
- SOHC Finned Exhaust Nuts (and ES2 and Dommi)
- Norton Rigid rear brake drum/sprockets
- Rigid Rear Stands
- Norton Pre-War toolboxs
- Lots of new spokes and wheel rims
- Loads of other engine parts remanufactured


Items Out of Stock but Progressing:
- Norton brass breather and oil pipe unions - next to go on CNC machine
- Inner distance pieces for driveside mainshaft (on CNC now)
- Some petrol/oil tank rubbers
- Lots of other bits . . .and bobs!

Items To Manufacture Next:
- Omega Pistons: Just waiting to get enough money together for the large investment of a new batch. Sorry, now ran out
- Magnesium ribbed outer timing covers - ditto these, waiting for funding
- Lots of new parts to be made on our own CNC machine - hence where most of the big funding has gone in the last few months

 
Oiler for Manx
M30 and Racing Wrapround oil tank - Primary Chain and Rear Chain Oilers - Now back in stock (and we are now able to offer the primary chain pipe assembly - see above)
 
         
  Other Norton Updates      
 


RacingVincent M30 Crankcase Progress:

Frankly, if there is anything that has suffered most due to the recent busy period, and setting up of CNC machine - then I would have to say it has been the build of the pre-war M30 engine which we are building to test our magnesium (pre-featherbed M30) crankcases. It is not that there is anything amiss - in fact far from it, I have all major parts to hand and ready to build, it is just that I am not getting time alongside the IT 'day job' and then Norton business and CNC work - something has had to give, and I am sorry to say that has been progress on this engine build

Oil Pump and Main Bearing Fit
That said - it does not mean I have not been doing anything, far from it, it just means it has not been as fast as Rob (my crankcase machinist) and I would like. Back at Xmas I took on the first big job of assembly - fitting a new oil pump. Unfortunately it did not go well and I ended up in that position we all dread - the oiil pump was 80% fitted, then locked solid! - Shittt!
rogress, and will try and take some photos of assembly along the way


Bearngs Being Fitted
M30 Main Bearings being fitted - this is the timing side twin ball bearing - particular to racing engines (Inter's have a single row timing bearing). At this point, the bearings cover trial fitted, but screws not soldered
Since taking this photo the Drive side twin bearings have been fitted successfully and it gave me the opportunity to confirm correct widths of new items 0656 and 0657 (see above).
Other than time - I am now running out of excuses to finish the rest of the engine assembly!

 

 
Oil Pump gets stuck
Oil Pump Gets Stuck!
Above:
Ouch, that shouldent have happened! New alloy bodied oil pump (made by now retired cam maker - hence why PND stamed on it) is 80% in place, but then locked up! See update on the left for the reason why, but luckily I had threaded the body before hand, so I could use my special pullers (see photo below) - having heated crankcases again, I was able to remove oil pump without damage, and then try again. Happily it went in fine 2nd time around. My special pullers have extra long length nuts (they have about 20mm of thread length), specially made for diffiicult oil pumps


Pair of Manx Norton Cranshaft Assemblies
 
  Vincent's:  

 
 
Vincent Comet at Mallory
Vincent Comet - First ride out: goes to Mallory Park
I finally got outf this weekend (14/5/17) - my first proper ride since diagnosing 'Shit In Fuel' teeting issues that were afftecting Vinnie Comet on its first run in November 2016. since then I had stripped carb (finding it full of brown crud), de-rusted it as best I could and then used an ethanol proof sealent.
 
Vincent Comet at Mallory
I am pleased to say that, other than some pilot jet slow speed sneezing, that it ran faultessly this time, even the Miller electrics were charging! It seemed fitting to take a run out to Mallory - where I had spent so many pleasent times, including with my father as a kid in the 1960's - where I still remember seeing a Grey Flash Vinnie in the car park - with lights fitted!
 
  Douglas's:      
 

Very Rusty Douglas Brake Pedal

Latest E-Bay Purchase - 100 Year Old Brake Pedal!
At the top of this Newsletter you will see I have finally posted an article about the Douglas 'parts kit' I bought at Bohams last year.
Well, since the CNC lathe came in last July I have done almost nothing on my own bikes - including the Douglas, which is my current favourite 'build bike'
But last month, my thoughts once again strayed towards resuming where I left off and one if the items I was looking for was an original Douglas 2 3/4hp brake pedal - a very hard item to find!
Therefore, I was surprised at recently seeing this rusty looking item being offered by someone also selling an early complete engine. Save to say - I employed my normal E-bay rules to any item on E-Bay I really want and decided beforehand I would place a last second bid more than anyone else would be silly enough to place! I was surprised to find that (not unlike Manx items being sold on Ebay) . . I was not the only one out there with the same idea, but having already spend a long time looking for suitable Edwardian brake pedals . . . mine was stupidist of all!
And two weeks later this very rusty item arrived in my porch!


 
M30 (pre-war Manx) Crankshaft
Same Douglas Brake Pedal After Cleaning
But as hoped from the careful scan of the original 'vague' ebay photos - the brake pedal was actually a lot more solid than it looked, and wonderfully original! As well as being very solid and not too badly worn, it even had the original Edwardian Douglas brass grease nipple (particular to that age) and the adjustable stepped ring and square bolt that allow the brake pedal to positioned on the footrest bar to suit the rider.
A wonderful glimpse of a bygone era - I will try and transplant as much as the original mechanism intact onto my own Douglas. As always - I will plan to recreate teh original square head bolts in stainless steel - and am already thinking it may be worth making up a batch on the CNC machine so I can offer them out to similar Douglas owners . . . I sense another website category waiting in the wings!

 
 

And Finally, an unwelcome guest in my garden:

     
 
Very Rusty Douglas Brake Pedal
Current Public Enemy No1 . . . Heron eyeing Up Our Fish Pond

We do keep a 'Guard Cat' for patrolling the garden . .. unfortunately he is bloody useless at anything except sleeping - picture on right is the normal issue I have every morning at home when trying to work on laptop


Ringo the Cat .. Very Rusty Douglas Brake Pedal
 

A Further Distraction To RacingVincent 'Business As Usual' . . .

For those that don't know, my day job in IT means I am not around 4 long days a week, so one of the small luxuries I really enjoy is being able to work from the home office on the remaining day's - and I tend to be up pretty early in the morning working, which is also an opportunity to watch the birds feeding from seed feeders we have in our garden - a small but pleasurable indulgance

However, my wife (who is not a bird spotter!) told me when I came home from work one evening recently, that she had seen a very big long nosed bird sat on the garden fence earlier in the day, looking very inquisitive . . .
As a long time fisherman - and having spent the last few years nurturing an interesting collection of fish in our garden pond - I had immediately recognised the description, and was already making a bolt for the garden pond to see if my suspicions about her description were right - sure enough they were - the bird in question had been a Heron on the prowl and about 70% of our nicest fish were gone!

After some choice words to my wife, like 'did you not figure what he may have been looking at???!! . . . why dident you go and chase him off?', I have had to spend some time stepping up security. . . having now had to build a frame with plastic netting to go over pond - which is now fitted.

The problem with Heron's is, once they have found a garden pond with suitable snack's in it - they tend to remember and make a note in their internal Sat Nav. This bird was clearly no excepton. For the next two weeks when doing the paperwork in my office I kept a vigil eye out for the birds return - until eventually the bird pictured on the left appeared again - landing on our fence within 10 feet of our garden pond.
I quickly snapped this mugshot off - before running out into the garden with my arms flapping as widly as I could in just a T-shirt and underwear!

As hoped - that was not an experience anyone would enjoy seeing, and thankfully I have seen no further returns of said fish thiever, so normal Friday morning RacingVincent business is resumed!

Thats about it for now, best wishes until the next Newsletter
Paul Norman
May 2017

 
 

Please Note: Because I am not VAT Registered, I do not show the VAT seperately. However, rest assured that I still have to pay VAT on all costs and pay tax on all sales! (currently UK VAT is at 20%), the Retail Price you see quoted above takes this into account. Therefore, please bear this in mind - and that many suppliers of parts quote Tax Exclusive, meaning their quoted prices still have 20% to add, while our price is the price you pay.

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