rampant rivet

Calling all WD Norton Motorcycle owners Yes I know 2014 is a way off but I thougt it would be nice to see if we can get a few more Nortons over to France to represent the more than 100,000 Wd Nortons produced in WWII so watch this space I hope to contact Ian Wright to obtain more info which I'll post on here soon. Heres a taster from 2009 lining up for the world record attempt battery longue on the beach at Arromanche

Have to say that I too have suffered for some time now with this site freezing which has been a real pain when you're halfway posting restoration pics and you loose the lot and have to start over. My PC is fine had it MOT'd tother day hope it gets sorted sooon. Cheers RR.

Many thanks to all those involved in organising this show always a lot of hard work even more so when the weather turns a tad wet, 104 champs in the arena sat eve was great have heard that the RAC and AA have now stepped down from red alert now all the champs made it home :cool2: hats off to the Dutch, Belgium and German guys who drove their vehicles to the show at 15 to the gal :nut: Sorry I missed ya Boom Boom will see you at Bromyard or Marcle

Well the gearbox is out and what a game that was took ages to remove clutch linkage etc anyhows as I pulled back the bellhousing so to say a certain amount of oil poured out !!! after some investigation it looks as though a drain plug at the bottom of the gearbox had been left in allowing oil to collect in the bottom of the clutch housing over 30 years. This contaminated the friction plate turning the gearbox into an automatic !! gearbox out Grrrr oil offending drain plug nice shiny clutch all covered in lovely OIL !!!!

Have just got back from Champ Camp 2012 OMG !!! well to be fair the show and champ camp were great only problem was the weather was not !!! and I mean it was the coldest wettest end of June wkend I have ever known but hey I drove up in a T shirt and I drove the old girl home in a t shirt so not soo bad eh !! I was glad to have braved the weather and contributed to the show along with all the other brave souls, Sat eve being the best with 100 !! yes 100 !! Champs in the arena something that may never be repeated again big thanks to all those in the ACOC who's hard work made it all possible. How did the champ behave on its 80 mile round trip ? well its running a tad hot and sufffered from vapour lock but the most serious issue is that the clutch has begun to slip which means engine out and new clutch !! not that suprising as the old champ hadn't been used for the best part of 30 yrs but at least she made it to evesham and back which was the most important thing, and the old thing is growing on me once the odd faults are ironed out its quite nice to drive lot more comfy than the jeep thing.

Come down to champ camp at Evesham next wkend and you'll find approx 120 of em

Heres the latest, took the champ for quick spin this eve and all seems ok looks more likely that it was vapour lock trouble anyway it seems ok now, Caroline came along and had her first driving experience she thought it ok just needs to get the hang of the gearbox. Now call me pessimist but thought it prudent to try the tilt on as I think it may be a tad damp next wkend at champ camp :wow:

Ok swapped over points and condensor checked plugs and cleaned a bit of crud from the carb float bowl and took it for a run all seems ok, I think that the engine suffered from vapour lock as I left it running for a while as Dave gave it the once over and it got hot, anyway brought the champ back home and just as I pulled up in front of the garage the handbrake actuating rod failed :mad: which meant having to chock the truck, remove offending item take it apart weld it up and put it all back together again :nut: still it could be worse as it happened at home, hopefully another run tomo will see it sorted. Pete may go up Thurs depending on how well the Champ thingy is going plus am keeping an eye on the weather :shocked:

Thanks for that Pete will bear it in mind especially as the wiring loom is a bit ropey, did check ignition switch when I refurbished the panel a while ago. What day are you thinking of going up to Evesham by the way ?

First proper road run today of 22 miles and a slight problem occured halway home when the old champ started to miss spit pop n fart not sure at the mo whats up will replace points / condensor and have a look at the plugs tomo any ideas as to what may cause these symptoms ? other than that she ran ok exhaust is a bit on the loud side again something that can be sorted after champ camp. RR. took the jeep down to the workshop to pick the champ up for its first run. Dropped by to see Dave Coates who owned the champ for 30 odd years prior to me I think it passed inspection

Great Work there, it'll be worth it in the end at least you have the original panels from which to make pattterns I was lucky that apart from the cills on my champ there was only about a dozen small patches that needed attention it still took a long time cutting out the rot and welding in new patches you have my sympathy

So Close sorted horn and last ods n sods today and took it for a short run with only a sticky throttle and no brake pedal made for an interesting trip hmmm brakes still need fettling, good news is that clutch is ok all gears ok no funny noises and best of all rear axle ok again no funny noises

Second day now of working on the Champs electrical system have working stop / tail lights and indicators all working via new loom, Luckily My Father is a very good vehicle electrician and has helped enormously in getting things sorted. I would like to thank him very much for his hard work :bow: ( I know he follows this thread Hi pops ) :bow: it has been a day of one step forward two back but hopefully another good day will see things coming together its what this whole project has been about struggle on day after day and suddeny it all comes together Bl#~dy Wires !!!!

Thanks for your kind comments and encouragement it has been a labour of love this past 8 months or so and I have learnt to have more patience than I thought possible !!! as this has been my first post war vehicle restoration it has been an interesting experience and one which I have enjoyed, DBG gloss grows on you :cheesy:. I now have the last big push to get her there then its just the fettling once I know its reliable, its the reason that I rebuilt the complete brake and fuel systems for peace of mind.

Mmmmmmmmm next projects are early sankey trailer restoration maybe converting it temporarily into a motorcycle trailer so that I can take my Norton 16h behind the Jeep to France in 2014 :-D I have to admit that the Champ has been a lot of work to get her sorted for Champ camp and I think I'll enjoy the rest of the summer before doing anything else :nut: am concentrating on the wiring problems then need to get some miles on the champ to sort any unforseen probs.

Mmmm bit of a set back on the wiring front as it seems that most of the 60 yr old loom has given up the ghost :shocked: having to run new wiring to vital parts eg indicators stop / tail and headlights etc spent all day tues fault finding and making plan of attack will have to do serious rewire during down time next winter and its only 2 weeks to champ camp EEEEEEEEEEEEEEk !!!!! :nut:

Things have moved on a tad since my return from European hols and very good they were think I have seen enough of the Maginot line to last me a while Fuel system is up and runnning which has meant I am able to drive the Champ out of the shed under its own power for the first time in 17 odd years bonnet and most other bits n bobs are now painted and the brakes now work just !! think they will need fine tuning. New speedo cable fitted along with front seats biginning to look like a champ again at last only four weeks to go to Champ camp and still have lights and indicators to sort :shocked:

Heres another update on progress :-D looks better now that the windscreen is fitted, wife is happy that its gone from the dining room at last I told her that she would miss it :cool2: she was sure that she would not !! have a break now as I am off to do a spot of battlefield touring in Europe for a week, war is hell so they say :-D

Sorry didn't think :embarrassed: send pete a pm and ask nicely :-D though you will need to check your compressors CMF to see if its man enough. Have been busy on the Champ thing again finished the rubbing down thing and managed to get some paint on it.

Thanks for the offer of the sandblaster pete but my compressor is probably too small to work it plus I don't have too many parts that need blasting now am flat out trying to get the body tub ready for spraying. Cheers RR.

Better day on Sat as I have now fitted the fuel tank after cleaning and spraying the rear cross member tank shield also on rear wheels are now on and I have started cleaning down the interior body paintwork in prep for painting have to sort wiring loom for stop / tail lights and fit indicators. Took Jeep thing to Monmouth vintage show today and met Allan & Allan with their two champs who let me take lots of reference pics many thanks Guys :thumbsup: also picked up a cheap set of UNF taps and dies which will be handy for cleaning out captive nut threads etc.

Yes fitted four way union to replace three way at rear of vehicle have fitted pressure switch there and will run live feed to it from wiring loom, there is a very usefull article about how to do this on the Champ owners website I am also fitting indicators both of which needs to be done.

Finally finished rear brakes / master cylinder and painting rear axle am now greasing all the neccesary nipples :shocked: fitted fuel sender to tank and am waiting for some rubber strips before fitting.

Mmmm will take some pics tomo eve been too busy painting rear axle and fitting new brake pipes and handbrake rods etc daytime work has been mad too :nut:

Hia matey I know nothing about this piggy, funny how some vehicles scull around locally but you never get to know of them can't say that I've even seen it a show locally shame really as it looks half decent and I would have a punt at it myself if I had some spare wonga. Saying that I have enough to do with the Champ thing and trailer thing and all the other toys :nut: Did you get hold of DC with you wolf info ? if not I;ll PM or txt you his No.