New 'Baby' comes home

[BRT-GTR]

              
           After a 700 mile round trip the new GTR is now safely in my barn/workshop.    Good original condition, largely complete, chrome parts mostly good, a genuine 7000 on the clock but a few issues to sort out. Had 3 other owners since coming to UK from US in 2013. Got it for a good price (tongue in cheek bid on Ebay !! ) with a bonus of £500 ($800) worth of Nos parts in a box.

Crank is stuck ?? Primary drive free, barrels free. Guess crank bearing, cheek seal or disc stuck. There might 'bee' a clue in the headlamp shell, blue indicator light missing, found  two bee/wasp nests, spherical paper pulp type and a mud built type with about 5  cells. Unfortunately, hit them with the vacuum before thinking to photograph. Now if there's one of the mud type in a cylinder, it could jam the engine. Should have come with livestock import licence.  Watch this space.

Some minor parts looted - chainguard again, grab handle, rubber parts. Sure the pipes and sidestand  have been swapped, don't reflect rest of bike, bodged up kickstart fitted, and rear mudguard clamp is broken, god knows how that happened . Seat is brilliant with original cover, couple of splits.
Pet cock stub in tank has come adrift at some time, been filled with metal epoxy, that'll take some removing.

The good news, my other half has already started to accept it into our family group and started 'bonding'. She's named it 'Bridget the Bridgestone' - brilliant!!! .
The other ones 'Gertrude the GTR'
EDIT, Meant to ask , anyone recognise it from previous life in US.
Am struggling to attach photo, although I have done it before. Looked at 'Help', lets see if this works, see photos in my gallery if it doesn't  

 Brian the Brit. Happy Bunny.

[moonpup]

Nice GTR you snagged Brian.

I saw an auction listing for it earlier this week on an obscure link and was going to post it in the classifieds when I then found the original UK eBay link and saw that the auction was over and someone had already bought it. Turns out it was....YOU! 

You definitely got your moneys worth with all the NOS parts that came with it. 

[ziggy stardust]

So what state of restoration have you in mind?

Z

[slawsonb]

Looks that it will be in good hands. Always glad to see another one brought into the fold. Congrats!
...bert

[BRT-GTR]

 Had a cursory (Oh damn ) look at the engine this morning, whipped the heads and primary drive side off. No wasps nest in the cylinder, as above, so not that.  Nice oil residue on top of pistons, bores look useable, some light scratches. Both pistons about 1" down from top and no sign of water damage. Previous owner did lift barrels and assures me they are free.
Primary drive side looks good, oil in case, no obvious damage or wear. Gear box input turns easily, output shaft turns when back wheel spun. Shifter drum can be pushed in/out a few thou, so not stuck but can't select a gear, something adrift in box, hope it won't be much. Did drain some slightly rusty emulsion dregs out of gearbox. Hope its just condensation build up over years.
 However, the crank is locked solid, no movement whatsoever, could undo crank nut with no restraint. Hhmmmm . Could see light rust on outer right flywheel through valve port. Again, hope its just condensation. Disc valves have never been off. Didn't look at left side. So considering the good condition of most of the bike, I think the crank issue is climate related rather than mechanical abuse, can a disc valve lock the engine? Both big ends will be at 90 deg so shouldn't be sitting in any water in case. Strange.
Will have to make a bit more space in workshop to allow further strip down, may be a week or two

Meant to add :- Z,   now have enough bits for two rebuilds, a really good one   for local shows and rallies, maybe not 'Conkers' but who knows, and a second everyday use machine that I don't mind getting wet , like some of our lucky friends in the US who have a barn full. I already have the barn, a little one with a hay loft, but it is a barn by UK standards.
Brian the Brit

[steve]

Nice one Brian, that bike looks pretty good! I remember paying almost what you paid for my first GTR in similar condition over 10 years ago...and there wasn't a single NOS item with it!

I'll bring the chain guard I have to Stafford.

Steve

[BRT-GTR]

Steve,
           Cheers, see you there on the Saturday, will bring other parts I mentioned, not sure if they are H1.  Brian

[BRT-GTR]

Hi All,
          Unfortunately, I have found that the crank is rusted solid on the right side. Not what I was hoping, I now have 2 water damaged cranks out of 3 bikes   .
   Strange really, the bike is generally in very good condition, genuine 7k miles, good chrome, little wear. Clutch like new, in fact some of the plates still show factory facing marks.
However, now found the pipes have rusted through at the bottom, the seat base is rotten, 5/6th gearchange fork had slight rust and was wedged on shift drum, drum stopper plunger is also rusted solid. That explains why the box wouldn't shift but easily sorted, possibly due to condensation with the bike resting on the side stand for a long period.

      The barrels would lift about an inch by hand but then tightened up, so pulled the engine out to look at the bottom of the bores before proceeding. They seemed ok so have now managed to remove both barrels by judicial levering with wood strips. Both pistons in good condition, minimum wear although very slight corrosion patches. Bores are good but will need rechroming, small area of chrome lift right at the top of one barrel and a small bubble just above where piston stopped in other.

       As I undid the disc valve covers water started to drip out of both. Water not rust coloured but reasonably clear, minor rusting of disc valve covers but they came out easily. Split the crankcase to find water in both sides of crank chamber. The left side had been saved by the oil residue but noticeable lack of oil in the right side with the big end and outer bearing rusted solid and a lot of crud in there. You can see below that the water has been right up to the level of the intake port. How the hell has it got there.It might be rebuildable. Also found two cracks in the upper crankcase by the front right cylinder stud, see photo for cause. There is a void in the crankcase behind the left crank, believe it or not this was still full of petroil which had leaked in, maybe what,  40 years ago !!.

The bike has obviously never stood outside in the weather for long periods but does have a very thick layer of light coloured dust behind the oil tank and other areas where not cleaned off. The right carb chamber was immaculately clean but the left side was full of oily hay bits and even wood chips (Barn residue)!!  I have got to suspect that the bike has either been immersed in water or some cretin has hosed it off to clean it with the right carb cover off (Disc valve was open on this side). This could explain the condition of the pipes, seat and engine. C'est la vie.  Anyone got a useable crank that they would be prepared to part with   It will be restored and run again. it's too good not to.

Brian the Brit

[BRT-GTR]

Photos showing the cracks in the case. Couldn't understand this till I noticed how far down the stud has been screwed. It's 3-4mm deeper than it should be.

[BRT-GTR]

  Top of barrel showing small area of lifted chrome. Not sure about the other mark, don't know whether its damage or a result of the porosity treatment the barrels were given. Note also the asbestos fibre type gasket material, sure that's non standard.

 Finally, a special shot of my workshop for dcr, Dan . Can you see the wall board with all my spanners neatly lined up ------------------- No, neither can I , I'm sure its in there somewhere.   .    It is 30 ft long so it's not really as cluttered as it looks from here but couldn't resist this one.
 Brian

[slawsonb]

Brian, it looks like a proper workshop full of GTRs. Mine has a differrent shape, but also many GTR bits about. Sorry to see your motor's status. Why the hell would someonei crank a stud beyond bottoming.
Good luck with the recovery.
...bert

[dcr]

Now that's a little slice of heaven right there. Finally a shop I could feel right at home in.

[moonpup]

Being an OCD compulsive "neat freak", I hope to soon recover from my state of shock upon seeing this picture. 

[ziggy stardust]

I couldn't make out what it was?

Z

[slawsonb]

On second look, wanted to add that I've always thought GTR's make great cookie tin stands! Really sets the tin off. 
...bert

[Sye]

That looks pretty grim Brian. Lots of work to do there. Puts my small problems into perspective. Good luck.

[BRT-GTR]

  Sye--Thought you were referring to the workshop but then realised you were commenting on the engine !!! . Your problems and queries are just as important to us.

   Moonpup and Z, I'm upset, I've just spent 3 weeks clearing out stuff that didn't 'come in handy' in the last 5 years and making some space to work. This is as tidy as it gets. . I do envy you guys who can manage without a workshop full of useful 'stuff', although having a newer property would help. It's true, the more space you've got the more junk you collect.

  Bert, I'd not noticed how good the tin looks on top of a GTR !!  The flash has just highlighted it perfectly . Might clear out the bike and keep the tin now . There is a bit of rust on top of the studs, the head nuts will retain water. I guess the nut jammed on the stud and they just kept tightening, not realising what was happening at the bottom end. It should weld up easily enough.

  I'm still baffled by the amount of water in the cases and the more I look at it ,the more I am convinced it went in through the right intake port. !!  Z, I might need to take you up on the offer of the con rod kit. Will let you know in due course.

Don't you just love this site, thanks for all the humour, Brian.
         

[Colin]

Hi Brian,
I don't envy the work you have there , as you say the welding job should be easy enough and hopefully after you dress the weld and have the cases aqua blasted it will not be visible.
Colin.

[ziggy stardust]

Brian, don't want to push you but you need to check if you really need it or not as there's a guy in the States that's interested in the con rod kit. Got to say. "It looks bad".

Z

[BRT-GTR]

 Z,
       Please email me with a price for the rod kits.   Brian.