The BSA A7-A10 Forum
Bikes, Pictures, Stories & more => Introductions, Stories, Meetings & Pictures => Topic started by: 865 on 04.02. 2021 04:45
-
Hi Everyone
a brief introduction mainly spent my bike life around harleys and pre unit triumphs. Felt the urge to build something from scratch again (lets not mention obvious mental health issues here) decided to go with an a10 plunger. Started with an impulse buy of a set of cases off ebay so looking forward to chasing everything down and building it. First question will swingarm cases fit a plunger frame?
I am in Western Australia if anyone knows a good source of parts here
Thanks in advance
-
Hi 865
Bad news; swing arm cases into plunger frame is a no go.
Try Pablo at Iron Horse Restorations; his prices for parts is usually cheaper than what you will pay from overseas.
Richard
-
Thanks Orabanda, will give him a try
-
Building from scratch....? *eek* *eek* Abandon hope all ye who enter here. And I should know *pull hair out*. But good luck and if you find yourself stuck, these blokes will see you right. Cheers
-
By the way, bloke over here in QLD has got a plunger frame for sale. About $500 I think. Britcycles is the place and I know he ships all over the place. Cheers Tony
-
*welcome*
I'm lucky enough to own a 1955 Plungie. I love it!
You can see that there is not room to fit a swing-arm engine and gearbox in that frame. The plunger gearbox is bolted to the crankcase, hence semi-unit.
The second picture is from the Internet.
-
I built a rigid Tr*umph from a bare frame in the very early days of Ebay and the costs even then were painful.
The thought of doing it now when even the smallest component has the "classic" price multiplier applied is daunting.
Your cheapest and most likely quickest option is to buy something more complete as a starting point.
-
865,
I take it you were born in August.
Welcome to the forum. Rex beat me to this advice, that is. buying something nearly complete. I will add, "...as cheap as possible and in the worst shape you can find, then dissemble down to every nut and bolt. Then, randomly distribute the parts around the shed/garage, being sure to put some small bits in places you'll never remember." This will give you a real building-from-scratch experience for a lot less money.
Richard L.
-
By the way, bloke over here in QLD has got a plunger frame for sale. About $500 I think. Britcycles is the place and I know he ships all over the place. Cheers Tony
im talking to Luke now he is getting the freight cost for me scrored a set of plunger cases elsewhere so getting there
-
I built a rigid Tr*umph from a bare frame in the very early days of Ebay and the costs even then were painful.
The thought of doing it now when even the smallest component has the "classic" price multiplier applied is daunting.
Your cheapest and most likely quickest option is to buy something more complete as a starting point.
First bike i built when i was 13 from parts was a 51 tbird had the bug for the last 40 years because of it
-
865,
I take it you were born in August.
Welcome to the forum. Rex beat me to this advice, that is. buying something nearly complete. I will add, "...as cheap as possible and in the worst shape you can find, then dissemble down to every nut and bolt. Then, randomly distribute the parts around the shed/garage, being sure to put some small bits in places you'll never remember." This will give you a real building-from-scratch experience for a lot less money.
Richard L.
Thanks Richard, i am a glutton for punishment,have a harley build in the shed at the moment as well have to get rid of it to finance this i think
-
Welcome to the forum. *wave*
-
Hi and welcome *wave*
-
Thanks for intro, welcome!
-
865,
I take it you were born in August.
We may never know!
-
Welcome Mr 865
While I personally wouldn’t choose to do an A10 build one piece at a time a Mr Cash did it with his Cadillac project and even wrote a song about his experience.
Good luck with the build and have fun with it
S
-
*welcome* I'm building a A7 SA from scratch, been at it for a number of years, got most parts now, it is amazing where the parts come from a lot of them have been given to me for very little or nothing, just have to do a lot of work on them, so ask around and keep your eyes open.
Where in WA are you?
-
Welcome 865. Another West Aussie on the forum. Great to see. I have found this forum and its contributors invaluable in doing what you have done.
i bought a near complete (being very naive) A10 in the 70's. finally got into it and after 5 years work it has been a joy to ride since 2010.
Like you, from bits i have build a second A10 plunger, also a pleasure to have on the road. my 3rd (we all have addiction issues) from bits, is being road tested now ready to rego. my 4th is being dismantled ready to rebuild so that i know what i am going to rely on later.
a 5th, swinig arm (54) is hanging in the shed and in bits under the bench.
so lets know if you need any local info. Orabanda, as always, is right on it, Pablo at iron Horse is a great local souce.
As Peter has asked whereabouts in this wonderful part of the world are you?
-
865,
I take it you were born in August.
Welcome to the forum. Rex beat me to this advice, that is. buying something nearly complete. I will add, "...as cheap as possible and in the worst shape you can find, then dissemble down to every nut and bolt. Then, randomly distribute the parts around the shed/garage, being sure to put some small bits in places you'll never remember." This will give you a real building-from-scratch experience for a lot less money.
Richard L.
April . 66
I already have another project in the shed so well versed with putting things in places i will remember then forgetting where they are, and wondering if i had them in the first place.
-
*welcome* I'm building a A7 SA from scratch, been at it for a number of years, got most parts now, it is amazing where the parts come from a lot of them have been given to me for very little or nothing, just have to do a lot of work on them, so ask around and keep your eyes open.
Where in WA are you?
Thanks Peter & Gavin
Im in shoalwater in perth
Im pretty excited about a ground up bitsa build half the fun is chasing the stuff down im pretty amazed at the amount of repro parts available, but like most things i guess some will be good and others dubious at best
-
This is the other project
-
865,
I take it you were born in August.
April . 66
So, your handle could be 466
-
Welcome 865. Your just around the corner from me. Lots of good info here. Good luck with the build.
-
The latest in the what looks like a saga. I bought a plunger frame from Luke at britcycle in Qld Australia. So far so good. Luke organised freight from Qld to WA freight company picks frame up sends it to Sydney then to Perth where some idiot decides they don't ship bike parts sends the frame to Melbourne rather than sending 50ks from Perth depot to my house. Now my frames tracking number no longer works and the freight company doesn't seem to know where the frame is. Apparently it's being returned to the vendor.
Anyway that's the latest update
-
The latest in the what looks like a saga. I bought a plunger frame from Luke at britcycle in Qld Australia. So far so good. Luke organised freight from Qld to WA freight company picks frame up sends it to Sydney then to Perth where some idiot decides they don't ship bike parts sends the frame to Melbourne rather than sending 50ks from Perth depot to my house. Now my frames tracking number no longer works and the freight company doesn't seem to know where the frame is. Apparently it's being returned to the vendor.
Anyway that's the latest update
Holy crap! I really hope you get your frame!
-
Still no sign of it
-
My frame finally arrived have to give Luke at Britcycle in QLd a huge shoutout 2 freight companies mucked us about and he finally found one to deliver it.
On with the show now .
-
The outer primary came up with a bit of el be ow grease
-
Bit of an update still plodding away. Have started a business so been time consuming. Now I'm making money well a little anyway I can get back to the A10.
-
Whoops. Early thin fin barrel, later type wide fin head. So a change of barrel or head depending what you can get. At this stage sourcing a complete engine is often cheaper, most S/A internals fit plunger motors. A7 and A10 bits look similar, do your researches to make sure you know what to get. Worn parts that fit are better than new pattern parts that don't, and for a bitza, helping keep those old parts out of the scrap is part of the charm of beating the system.
Swarfy.
-
Welcome 865,
Anything you want to know about rigids - don't ask me!! *grins* Swinging arm only.! However here is the place for experts.
Col
-
Thanks Swarfy, I'll change the head over. Would the wide fin head fit a swingarm motor? Cheers
Pete
-
Any chance anyone could post pics of wide and narrow fin heads so I know what to look for
Thanks
Pete
-
This is where it gets complicated.....
Early plunger bikes have barrels and heads with narrow or thin fins. The number of fins stays the same, its the profile that changed. On the introduction of the S/A Range BSA increased the fin area to improve cooling. Wide fin heads and barrels were fitted to later (post '53 or thereabouts) Plunger bikes on both A7 and A10 Models. Gaskets and head bolt spacings are the same for early and late motors.
A10 Plunger head thin fin casting number is 67-251, found on the underside of the inlet manifold.
A10 Wide Fin Plunger and S/A Iron Head Casting is 67-1066, usually on the underside of one of the lower fins. Both thin fin and wide fin heads have a combustion chamber diameter of 70mm. If it measures 66mm, it's A7. Barrel fins match the head profile.
Other important points. Rocket and Shooting Star have their own expensive Alloy Heads. A7 barrels have a narrower bore, 7 fins and no cut outs to the lower spigots. Head gaskets differ to reflect smaller bore on A7 models.
Swarfy.
-
Cheers Swarfy thanks for the explanation. Will the wide fin head work with the narrow fin barrels though?
If not I will still recon it anyway as someone may need one. Thanks
Pete
-
Yes it will. Exhaust pipe fitting is the same, it just looks odd. That parts catalogue will be a well thumbed and very worthwhile purchase., you can see which bits are common across the range. Don't bother refurbishing parts you won't use. Your hard earned cash and sweated labour becomes someone else's bargain. A quick wash off is all they need if being sold on.
Swarfy.
-
Thanks again Swarfy. I'll use it til the right one comes along and I don't mind fixing things up and passing them along never know I might get a good swap lol. Thanks again.
Pete
-
Wide fins on my 1955 Plungie. I believe they are original.
-
White vinegar bath for the rust on the head. Learn something new everyday.