A Manx Tale - Peters Machines

A Manx Tale
I was having the petrol tank of my Velocette Venom painted by a local car repair garage when an elderly
man came in and noticed it. He commented that he recognised it and that he had an old bike which was
still in the back of a truck on a farm where he used to live. Knowing my interest in classic bikes the garage
phoned me and gave me his number which I rang expecting the bike to be a Bantam or something similar.
The owner told me it was a 1958 Manx 350 which he raced for several years before retiring in 1968. On the
day it retired the bike was drained of oil, lifted into the truck and has been there ever since. What
impressed me was how completely switched on this man is and how his lucid memory is not only of his bike
but how it compared to the other racing bikes of its time and how you could talk on almost any subject and
he would have knowledge and could state an opinion.
At first he was reluctant to show me the bike and it was only after a year of calling him every couple of
months and building up what has become a very good friendship that he agreed to show me the bike with a
view to selling it to me. He had lost interest in British bikes years ago but not in bikes altogether and I was
surprised to hear he had a couple of bikes, both of which he used regularly and he followed the motorcycle
racing on TV avidly.
We rode the twenty or so miles to see the bike with me on my Norton Atlas and him on his 750 Honda. I
was impressed with how well (and fast) he was still riding. One of the p hotos him looking at the bike clearly
embarrassed at how it had deteriorated since he last saw it suggested he took advice as to its value and we
eventually agreed a price.
I Once home I got out the Norton list of engine numbers and checked th e year to find that it was 1955 not
58. A phone call to the Science museum that at that time held the Norton records verified that it still has the
original engine frame, gearbox, and fork yoke. There was no note of who bought it but it said the agent wa s
Ewing Crombie so I checked the race records for the Manx Grand Prix's of 55,56,57 to see if Crombie was
a rider. I drew a blank. I phoned the then president of the Norton owners club John Hudson who said Ewing
might have been the dealer but he did not remember the name and to this day I can not find any history of
its early years.
I needed to learn more about Manx Nortons as my knowledge of the technical side of this model was nil so I
went to the local VMCC meeting on the Tuesday and was introduced to two Manx owners who gave me the
names of Summerfield, Andy Molnar, and McIntosh as being the recognised experts. The next day I traced
all three and asked for catalogues. When I told Gerry Summerfield of my find and my lack of knowledge he
was kind enough to offer advice if I should ever get stuck and he sent me with the catalogue a copy of the
service notes as printed in Motor Cycling in April 1957. This document became my bible when I began to
take the bike apart.
Having sat in a truck for so many years meant that much of the bike remained original and I intended to
restore it that way as much as was practical and not put the belt driven clutch or other goodies as often
seen on restored Manx Nortons. As far as I can tell the tank is original, the Bo rrani rims are in good
condition the mag which came with it was a BTH which has a plate on it stating 'for dirt track racing' The
carb slide looks worn and the engine turned over easily. In my conversation with the now deceased former
employee and guru of everything Norton John Hudson he told me a great story about why they put on Italian
rims in those years. It was because a Dunlop tyre exploded in the 1952 Austrian GP and Norton wanted to
change to the Pirelli tyres. Dunlop objected to this saying that they would not supply their rims to be used
with Italian tyres so Norton changed the rims as well.
I had promised myself that I would not start the restoration of the Manx until I had finish the 1965 Venom
Clubman which was still a month or two from being completion and in the weeks it took to finish the Velo I
talked my wife into letting me bring the Manx into the dining room as that is warmer than my draughty cold
wooden garage in winter, and I could look at it and think about the project ahead as I ate my dinner. So
when the time came to start dismantling the bike it was nice to be on a carpeted floor in a comfortable,
warm room.
Stripping the Manx started in mid November, and from an engineering point of view it has been a real
pleasure revealing no disastrous problems as it had been prepared for the1969 season and had not been
run on Castrol R for several seasons prior to retirement.
The wheels had dried hard grease in the bearings but the bearings were fine. The shoes had what looks like
new linings, the front had two different pieces with about a half inch gap across the shoe. I was told that this
was a mixture of soft and hard compounds. The forks needed new stanchions as one in particular was
marked. New bushes and seals were bought as a matter of course.
The rims are the original Borrani at 19 inch, the front is a very narrow WM1 and the rear is WM2 I removed
the scary looking triangular tyres. I had the hubs painted with a silk finish black .
The wheels were re-assembled by Derek York of Sible Heddingham in Sussex, (who had raced Manx outfits
in his day). Derek used stainless butted spokes the same pattern as the ones he removed.
The brake plates were being painted gloss black (two pack enamel) by John Day motors also of Sible
Heddingham who had told me about the bike, they also painted the frame, the yokes, the swinging arm, and
all the other parts. I took hours removing the old paint from these parts before giving them to Days, and it
was nice to see that the petrol and oil tanks had no repairs in them, but the worn and scratched silver paint
which was under the blue took about six doses of stripper to get off. These were prepared by Day’s to the
silver coat stage then given back to me to put the transfers on and the lining before returning them to Day’s
to build up lacquer top coats.
The parts to be either re-chromed (28 parts), polished (31 parts), or nickel coated (22 parts), where very
carefully cleaned, listed and photographed by me before sending to be processed. Most of the long engine
bolts have a hole through the shaft and hexagon and are hollow down to the thread.
These had only the heads nickel plated as I consider them to be a feature I wanted to keep.
The purists who are reading this must already be saying what on earth is he doing all this for? it would never
have had this treatment in 1955. Well, I said was going to make it as close to the original specification as I
could which would have included the long mudguards back and front. It also meant I would have to make
and weld back on the long rear mudguard loop which had been cut off when they became unfashionable in
the sixty's. If it was true to the period I could not put any of the extra shiny parts nor do the very high spec
paint work which is being done and I though that I would not enjoy this project half as much if I can not
reflect in it my own ideas, so sorry to those of you I may be annoying and just to annoy you a bit more I also
ordered 217 fastenings in stainless steel.
I did not know the Manx engine at all and to my knowledge there never has been a manual for it so I started
by getting the parts lists which were all comprehensive. It was quite easy to take apart and fantastic to
discover the high standard of engineering throughout. The cylinder head is a work of art as well as having
sodium filled valves to aid cooling, the inlet guide is sculptured to fit so it does not protrude into the port and
the exhaust port has a raised section to flow the gases smoothly out of the port after they pass the valve
stem. It is stamped with what I presume is a date of 0854 which was when my mother was heavily pregnant
with me.
The barrel is just as interesting as it has a chrome plated bore which has small indentations machined into it
which are about 0.5mm diameter and 0.5mm deep they are in a spiral about 10mm apart.
The previous owner never stripped the engine himself he always had it done for him so he did not know his
bike had this but he did remember that a lot of two stokes had a similar treatment called 'Mahle' to aid oil
dispersion which does not flow too well over chrome. I have since heard that this was used on endurance
racers of the period.
On removing the barrel I found that although there was no up and down movement on the big end there was
a lot of side to side play which worried me so I took the crankshaft to Derek York for a second opinion. He
agreed that as I could make the rod touch the side of the flywheel perhaps I should send it off to be
checked. Three people recommended Bob Newby as being an expert in these matters so I phone him then
sent the complete assembly to him to inspect. He said that it had a Ransom and Miles big end and the
crankshaft was one of the best they put in the bikes of the period. Bob asked if it was a works bike as the
big end rollers were oversize by 2 thou and these three things together suggest it may be have been. I
doubt this was as the paperwork said it went to Ewing Crombie in August 1955. Bob also said that the crank
had been stamped FM91 and RE who he thinks would have been engineers / tuners? I noticed that the con
rod (which must be the sexiest con rod I have seen) has the date 22nd May 1957 scratched on it. Bob
replaced the big end with an Alfa as he thought it was on the edge. He said that the year after mine they
tried to reduce the end float with a shim but to do that they made the bearing narrower and also weaker.
The main bearings are double ball and are in good condition. The bible said the oil pump should last the life
of the bike and it works well so I will leave it in the crank case. The crank cases and timing cover and cam
box went with the rest of the things being painted and are now coated with a heat resistant paint as used on
Jaguar cars of the period. I think they must have been originally anodised greenish Grey. The head and
barrel went to a local printing company who put them in an ultrasonic cleaning bath for six (worrying) hours.
They came out nice and clean.
The intention was to get the bike to a state were it could be used, but I doubt if I would ever race or even
parade it. I was asked by a friend who was a travelling marshal during the TT on the Isle of Man if he could
ride it in the classic parade but I never did.
While I was restoring the Manx I had been somewhat distracted by my latest toy which was my first new bike
for nearly nine years I bought a Yamaha R1 which had just come out and had taken the sports bike world by
storm. It sure was is a fine example of how much the thoroughbred machine had evolved over the years,
however, having said that I smiled when I noticed that the R1 also has some drilled engine bolts.
Although the progress on the Manx had been slow by the end of summer, the engine and gear box were in,
the forks were on, the rear wheel was on and I wait for the oil tank and front air scoop to come back from
being painted.
The previous owner pointed out to me a modification he did on the gearbox which I thought was quite clever,
he made an oil seal retainer and turned the outer housing on the drive side of the shell so the retainer will be
a tight push in. The oil seal rim pushes against the drive sprocket stopping the oil which seeps past or
through the bearing, from getting any further. The gearbox did not need any parts but the oil in it was 30
years old so I asked via the internet about which oil to put into both the engine and gearbox, I had several
lengthy and very interesting suggestions. The conclusion I came to was to put 20/50 in the gearbox as I was
told hypoid eventually attacks bronze bushes, and put Mobil 1 synthetic in the engine as Castrol R will goo it
up if the bike is not used very often.
I enquired about a new piston as mine is not bad but I had been told that it might by subject to age related
fatigue. So back to those clever people who lurk on the internet who in a very exacting way quoted studies
which proved this is not so. Meanwhile I had begun to look for another piston, so I contacted a specialist
supplier who said he would look into it and asked for sizes and photos of mine. After about three months he
called me late one night to say he might have found one and was I still interested. About six week later he
phoned again to say he had one which was designed in 56, modified in 57 and cast in 58. It has a Hepolite
code 13467 and is 9:1 compression. It is a special and was made for the factory. I got it for £55.
When I came to put in the crank shaft I discovered that the new big end was wider than the old one and had
to take 7 thou off the spacer to get the crankcases to close properly and the crank spin freely with no end
play. and thicker guide.
When I turned my attention to the head I noticed that the exhaust valve was corroded on the shaft and as
these are sodium filled I had a problem finding one, so after talking to several gurus I opted for a thin stem
So the sodium filled valve is now on the garage shelf along with the spare piston. Putting the cam box on
provided another learning curve.
This is where I discovered what a hunting tooth is, and once explained I could understand why the top and
bottom bevels only align every thirteenth revolution (to even out wear on the gears).
A stroke of luck came while I was talking on the phone one night and I picked up the BTH magneto which I
had cleaned up to look and work well. As I was talking I put it on the platform then let out a loud expletive
when I noticed that it did not fit
The spindle is about 10mm too high. The person I was talking to asked me to explain, then said, ‘I think I
have got one of those’, and sure enough, he had!. What luck, The previous owner had changed to coil
ignition and a battery for easier starting.
The front fork spindle had roller bearings which were dried very hard so I took the measurements (which I
was surprised to see were metric) and put tapered rollers instead. Inside the forks are progressive springs
which cleaned up and measured OK.
The rear shocks were totally knackered, one damped on the way down only and the other on the way up
only. I now have new ones which have been made by NJB and they look the part
The tyres (and several other parts) I have chosen after consulting Barry Stickland, they are Avon road
runner F” 90/90/19 in racing compound for the front and Avon GP 350/19 also in racing compound for the
rear.
I sent the old exhaust and silencer to Armours who said they had trouble trying to work out which dents
should be in it and which should not. They did a very good job of making new ones at a very fair price, as
did Leighton recovering the seat.
As you would expect, I took every opportunity to look at similar bikes for ideas and learn more about them,
so while I was at the TT I went to the grand stand to watch the classic lap and found two 350’s one from
1954 and one from 1956. I spoke to both owners and asked if the bikes had the original engine. They both
said yes but when I later made note they were not the same numbers on the frame as on the engine. This
raises the question, did Norton sometimes but not always issue the racing bikes with corresponding engine
and frame numbers or did I misunderstand these people as my bike has engine and frame numbers which
are the same.
As the bike came closer and closer to completion I got slower at doing what was to be done. Although I
looked forward to starting the bike and seeing it run, for me most of the enjoyment I get is from the work that
goes into the project. When the bike is finished then it is only a matter of keeping it running well for my
occasional sneak around the block and looking good. Because this bike is so special I have taken far more
care than ever before to make sure it is mechanically correct and it looks good. I intended to have it ready
for Christmas but the last few oil pipes and breathers took until Easter to sort out. Then two more weekends
waiting for a nice sunny afternoon to bring it out of the dining room, put some petrol in and bump start it
down the lane. The night before I started it I put in some oil in the tank and a few cc's in the plug hole and
hand cranked the engine until it was seen in the return pipe. I did not want to put petrol in the tank yet as
the bike was to go back in the dining room and it would make the room smell, so I put a long pipe onto the
carb, wrapped it up over the filler cap and had a plastic bottle as a tank. Before I could try to start the bike I
had to wait until 'She Who Would Complain' our neighbor went out. I put the bike into first gear, pulled it
back against compression pulled in the clutch and pushed it down the lane. The engine turned over about
five times then went BOP then nothing for about another five then BOP BOP then nothing for a few more
then BAROOM BAA.
It sounded fantastic, a lump came to my throat as the engine revved for the first time. I kept it running for
less than a minute before stopping it to check the feeds to the valves had worked and it was returning to the
tank, nothing was wrong. As my family were out I had no one to run to with the good news so I phoned the
previous owner who lives 17 miles away and said excitedly "Did you here it?". The next day he came
around and we brought it out again but this time my family were around so I announced before hand that I
was going to start the Manx. His prompted my two very young children to run indoors and my wife to come
out to talk to the 76 year old previous owner while I fired it up. This time it started as soon as I let out the
clutch. I disappeared down the lane to a place I could turn then came back up slipping the clutch all the
way. I kept it running for a minute then stopped it and commented about having to slip the clutch. "I'm not
surprised" was the reply "It's geared to do 80 in first. Later when he had gone, my wife commented that
when the bike started he had to steady himself and it was the nearest she has ever seen him to being
emotional. I did once hear him say to my wife that he came very close to meeting his maker on this bike
several times. The bike runs once or twice a year and in between times it looks beautiful leaning against the
wall in our dining room.
It may well be worth quite a bit of money these days but if these things can be compared then whatever it
may be worth can only be a small fraction of the value of the friendship which has evolved with the previous
owner. He has given up riding now but still takes great pleasure at scoffing my rattling old bikes during my
weekly visit as I in turn blame his generation for designing them.