Well, I finally got a Sunbeam.
Collected it yesterday from an elderly gentleman, he had had it for 40 odd years, it has never run whilst in his possession...
I decided to do a step by step regarding getting the bike running. It was very cold this morning, but at 7:30 the bike was calling......
On opening the garage I was greeted with a strong un-nerving smell of petrol. I added about 1/2 a gallon of fuel last night and it had been leaking. The culprit was easily found, its the steel pipe from the plastic hose to the float bowl. I want to keep it as original as possible so i heated up the ends (they were soldered on), and removed them. All I need to do now is source a bit of pipe then re-solder the ends on. So, i decided to remove the air filter and the carb. The screws holding the air filter on looked quite rusted, I had smothered them in penetrating fluid last night but still they would not budge, so a careful twist with a pair of pipe pliers saw them out.
The carb is original an Amal 276? On inspection its fairly clean, so using a bowl of fresh fuel I just cleaned it up. I will need to fit a new throttle cable but internally the carb is good. I had taken off the twist grip as the rubber had completely perished, but a good clean up revealed the clamps and the tube are serviceable. I am adamant that I want to keep the bike as original as possible, OK i can buy a new twist grip clamp and tube for 14 quid, but its a chinese copy and will no doubt be crap...
I had a better look round the bike this morning, and a little 'spit and polish' here and there revealed a really quite clean original horn (it works as well, i tested it last night with the battery on), and the pump brackets are on the underside of the tank as well!!
So, I've sort of stopped there at the moment. The next step will be to get a new fuel pipe to get it fuel tight, check the oil, make sure I have a spark then I might just attempt to start it...
Some pictures from this morning.
1. The fuel leak. A clean up revealed the culprit, a holed fuel pipe.
And yes, it was cold!!
So, I thought the easiest way to do this was to remove the ends and renew the metal pipe. A wire brush off revealed the soldered joints,
So, out with the blow torch and with a bit of gentle heat the ends came off..
Then with the carb off, I gave it a real good clean, inside and out, and checked the internals (float valve, float etc.). That looks a bit better...
2. The twist grip.
A good clean up suggests this can be used again, the throttle cable is very stiff bit I might try oiling it first, it would be nice to keep the original cable.
Original fuel taps, not leaking and functioning OK.
Front pump peg,
And the rear...
The bars will clean up I'm sure.
3. The Altette horn.
I think theres a really nice horn under here, the original bracket is there as well.
A few more pictures. Note the plugs for the battery connectors, are they the original? can someone tell me how they connect to the battery???
Also the battery box still retains the strap that stops it from falling open!!
The oil switch...
I will post more as I go on. Apologies for the poor quality of some of them, the iPhone camera is to blame, not me!!![/quote]
Collected it yesterday from an elderly gentleman, he had had it for 40 odd years, it has never run whilst in his possession...
I decided to do a step by step regarding getting the bike running. It was very cold this morning, but at 7:30 the bike was calling......
On opening the garage I was greeted with a strong un-nerving smell of petrol. I added about 1/2 a gallon of fuel last night and it had been leaking. The culprit was easily found, its the steel pipe from the plastic hose to the float bowl. I want to keep it as original as possible so i heated up the ends (they were soldered on), and removed them. All I need to do now is source a bit of pipe then re-solder the ends on. So, i decided to remove the air filter and the carb. The screws holding the air filter on looked quite rusted, I had smothered them in penetrating fluid last night but still they would not budge, so a careful twist with a pair of pipe pliers saw them out.
The carb is original an Amal 276? On inspection its fairly clean, so using a bowl of fresh fuel I just cleaned it up. I will need to fit a new throttle cable but internally the carb is good. I had taken off the twist grip as the rubber had completely perished, but a good clean up revealed the clamps and the tube are serviceable. I am adamant that I want to keep the bike as original as possible, OK i can buy a new twist grip clamp and tube for 14 quid, but its a chinese copy and will no doubt be crap...
I had a better look round the bike this morning, and a little 'spit and polish' here and there revealed a really quite clean original horn (it works as well, i tested it last night with the battery on), and the pump brackets are on the underside of the tank as well!!
So, I've sort of stopped there at the moment. The next step will be to get a new fuel pipe to get it fuel tight, check the oil, make sure I have a spark then I might just attempt to start it...
Some pictures from this morning.
1. The fuel leak. A clean up revealed the culprit, a holed fuel pipe.
And yes, it was cold!!
So, I thought the easiest way to do this was to remove the ends and renew the metal pipe. A wire brush off revealed the soldered joints,
So, out with the blow torch and with a bit of gentle heat the ends came off..
Then with the carb off, I gave it a real good clean, inside and out, and checked the internals (float valve, float etc.). That looks a bit better...
2. The twist grip.
A good clean up suggests this can be used again, the throttle cable is very stiff bit I might try oiling it first, it would be nice to keep the original cable.
Original fuel taps, not leaking and functioning OK.
Front pump peg,
And the rear...
The bars will clean up I'm sure.
3. The Altette horn.
I think theres a really nice horn under here, the original bracket is there as well.
A few more pictures. Note the plugs for the battery connectors, are they the original? can someone tell me how they connect to the battery???
Also the battery box still retains the strap that stops it from falling open!!
The oil switch...
I will post more as I go on. Apologies for the poor quality of some of them, the iPhone camera is to blame, not me!!![/quote]
hmy: 
They developed and made the spark plugs for the concord engines. No, don't ask me i haven't a clue.
