Author Topic: New guy and A7 landspeed record build  (Read 8183 times)

Offline dan daughenbaugh

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Nov 2010
  • Posts: 84
  • Karma: 3
    • Greasy Gringo
New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« on: 04.12. 2010 12:48 »
Hi Guys, my name is Dan daughenabugh. I live in philadelphia and I'm building an A7 to take to bonnieville and lorin afb to try to take the 500 a-vg and aps-vg world records. I am going to use this thread to show the build of the bike so check back often. I will update with photos later this weekend
Dan
50' BSA A7 Land speed racer
64' BSA A50C Scramble-ized
67' Triumph Bonnieville (stock)

Offline chaz

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Mar 2009
  • Posts: 121
  • Karma: 4
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #1 on: 04.12. 2010 15:13 »
 *eek* *work* go for it , oh btw   welcome
allways willing to learn
United Kingdom

Offline muskrat

  • Global Moderator
  • Wise & Enlightened
  • **
  • Join Date: Jul 2009
  • Posts: 10758
  • Karma: 130
  • Lithgow NSW Oz
    • Shoalhaven Classic Motorcycle Club Inc
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #2 on: 04.12. 2010 18:40 »
G'day Dan, welcome to the forum.
                                                    You sound like my kinda guy. Can't wait to see the pics and build info.
I road raced my '57 A7SS (it's now the A10 cafe) in the '90s. The best I got out of her was 130MPH down Eastern Creek straight.
Good luck, keep us posted.
Cheers
'51 A7 plunger, '57 A7SS racer now a A10CR, '78 XT500, '83 CB1100F, 88 HD FXST, 2000 CBR929RR ex Honda Australia Superbike .
Australia
Muskys Plunger A7

Offline trickytree

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Jun 2010
  • Posts: 146
  • Karma: 1
  • Lincolnshire, England
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #3 on: 05.12. 2010 11:12 »
Hi Dan...thats a great project you have got yourself there, do keep us posted.

There are a few guys from BritChopper forum going over to Bonneville in 2012...hiring a container and sharing costs. One guy with an Indian, one is building a twin engined Panther and another has got hold of a unused Weslake 4 valve V-twin engine. When are you hoping to get there?
1965 A65 Bobber
A10 Bitza project

Offline bsa-bill

  • Wise & Enlightened
  • *
  • Join Date: Mar 2006
  • Posts: 5720
  • Karma: 66
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #4 on: 05.12. 2010 11:26 »
Welcome Dan, good luck with the attempt, will watch with interest
All the best - Bill
1961 Flash - stock, reliable, steady, fantastic for shopping
1959 Rocket Gold Flash - blinged and tarted up  would have seizure if taken to  Tesco

Offline dan daughenbaugh

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Nov 2010
  • Posts: 84
  • Karma: 3
    • Greasy Gringo
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #5 on: 05.12. 2010 15:23 »
Here she is as it sits. The frame is a 58 it had been hacked apart by someone long ago. I traded a guy on another board a triumph cotton spool hub for it. The frame looked like it had been sitting in water for years, the lower tubes had holes that you could fit your thumb in. I cut out the bad sections and welded in new with slugs for strength. Front end is a 60's ( purists close your eyes ) honda unit for weight it has an aluminum top tree and 33mm tubes for a wide selection of clipons
50' BSA A7 Land speed racer
64' BSA A50C Scramble-ized
67' Triumph Bonnieville (stock)

Offline dan daughenbaugh

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Nov 2010
  • Posts: 84
  • Karma: 3
    • Greasy Gringo
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #6 on: 05.12. 2010 16:09 »
Now the motors. Class rules state the cases and head must be 1956 and prior. The Local triumph shop burned down a few years back and there finaly selling off the contents most of the stuff is badly damaged but I was able to pick up 2 motors one is a 50 and the other is a 51. This past week I opened them up to see what I was working with. The 50 motor looked like it had been a race motor when it was running. On the outside it has all the Webco speed goodies and the sought after 67-1102/6 head with the dual carb manifolds. Inside it has a later large journal crank and .090 over slipper pistons! with quite a large dome to them. I could only guess on the CR. The inside looks like it was never ran with this combo, its a shame my class only allows for a .050 overbore. Head looks to have had a complete rebuild too.
The 51 is in relative stock trim with a std bore that has been sleeved.
Right now Im torn weather to use the preunit or the semiunit. As you can see i have the semi trans, but the frame is for the later preunit type. Cant decide what would be easier. Make some adapters for the earlier semi unit or source a new trans.
50' BSA A7 Land speed racer
64' BSA A50C Scramble-ized
67' Triumph Bonnieville (stock)

Offline dan daughenbaugh

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Nov 2010
  • Posts: 84
  • Karma: 3
    • Greasy Gringo
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #7 on: 05.12. 2010 16:17 »
I also had to make an axle to use the 21' spool wheel. I bought a chunk of 40L41 cro-mo and whittled one out to go into the honda front end and take the 5/8 bearings. The axel are: homemade on left, stock honda, and the 40L41 STOCK in 1". And an additional pic of the jugs for you
50' BSA A7 Land speed racer
64' BSA A50C Scramble-ized
67' Triumph Bonnieville (stock)

Offline dan daughenbaugh

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Nov 2010
  • Posts: 84
  • Karma: 3
    • Greasy Gringo
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #8 on: 05.12. 2010 16:22 »
Hi Dan...thats a great project you have got yourself there, do keep us posted.

There are a few guys from BritChopper forum going over to Bonneville in 2012...hiring a container and sharing costs. One guy with an Indian, one is building a twin engined Panther and another has got hold of a unused Weslake 4 valve V-twin engine. When are you hoping to get there?
Trickytree I have seen that twin engine panther build over on the jockey journal I think.http://jockeyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70586&highlight=panther
I might try to just go to Lorin afb this year and both in 2012
50' BSA A7 Land speed racer
64' BSA A50C Scramble-ized
67' Triumph Bonnieville (stock)

Offline muskrat

  • Global Moderator
  • Wise & Enlightened
  • **
  • Join Date: Jul 2009
  • Posts: 10758
  • Karma: 130
  • Lithgow NSW Oz
    • Shoalhaven Classic Motorcycle Club Inc
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #9 on: 05.12. 2010 18:59 »
G'day Dan,
                  are you building an A7 or A10 ? The top end with the twin carb head is A10, also the large journal crank.
Cheers
'51 A7 plunger, '57 A7SS racer now a A10CR, '78 XT500, '83 CB1100F, 88 HD FXST, 2000 CBR929RR ex Honda Australia Superbike .
Australia
Muskys Plunger A7

Offline dan daughenbaugh

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Nov 2010
  • Posts: 84
  • Karma: 3
    • Greasy Gringo
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #10 on: 05.12. 2010 19:42 »
G'day Dan,
                  are you building an A7 or A10 ? The top end with the twin carb head is A10, also the large journal crank.
Cheers
Muskrat, you got me second guessing my self now. I measured the bore and and it seems to be on with  my guess of a .090 a7 bore same as the pistons are stamped. I cant remember what that measurement was.(it was weeks ago). Did'nt the later a7/10 have larger cooling finns on the barrel? did the a7 have cutouts for the rods in the bottom of the barrel? You can see in one of the photos that there is a large lip where the bore is much larger compared to the head. Head is for sure a 67-1102. As for the LJ crank. I havent torn the bottom end down yet, but in looking at both cranks while still in the motors the one flywheel is much larger than the one in the star twin. I thought the A7 got large journals at about the same time as the a10? I suppose I will be measuring the stroke this week
50' BSA A7 Land speed racer
64' BSA A50C Scramble-ized
67' Triumph Bonnieville (stock)

Offline muskrat

  • Global Moderator
  • Wise & Enlightened
  • **
  • Join Date: Jul 2009
  • Posts: 10758
  • Karma: 130
  • Lithgow NSW Oz
    • Shoalhaven Classic Motorcycle Club Inc
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #11 on: 06.12. 2010 06:59 »
G'day Dan.
                  looks like an A7 head on A10 barrels. A7 is 66mm bore std and A10 is 70 mm std. A7 barrels don't have the cut outs. The later models had larger fins from I think '54. A large journal crank has 3 bolts around the outside of the flywheel and only for the A10 '58 on.
Cheers
'51 A7 plunger, '57 A7SS racer now a A10CR, '78 XT500, '83 CB1100F, 88 HD FXST, 2000 CBR929RR ex Honda Australia Superbike .
Australia
Muskys Plunger A7

Offline beezalex

  • North Carolina, USA
  • Valued Contributor
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jan 2008
  • Posts: 374
  • Karma: 4
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #12 on: 06.12. 2010 22:10 »
Interesting.  I'm building an A7 rigid roadracer (long-term project).  If you have a choice, use later pre-unit cases and large-journal crank.  What are limitations on internal engine modifications?  Can bore/stroke be altered?  My advice would be to spend your money on building a strong bottom end and then on cam/flowing the head.  If you wanna go fast, you'll have to spend some money.
Alex

Too many BSA's


Offline dan daughenbaugh

  • A's Good Friend
  • ***
  • Join Date: Nov 2010
  • Posts: 84
  • Karma: 3
    • Greasy Gringo
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #13 on: 11.12. 2010 03:58 »
Christmas came a few weeks early by way of a COMPLETE! set of left and right Amal 1 1/8 GP carbs with a massive Dellorto remote float and air lever for the bars. I am beyond happy right now. These should motivate me down the salt right fast.Thanks Kristal
50' BSA A7 Land speed racer
64' BSA A50C Scramble-ized
67' Triumph Bonnieville (stock)

Offline Rocket Racer

  • Wise & Enlightened
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2009
  • Posts: 1670
  • Karma: 17
  • A kiwi with a racing A10 rig and too many projects
    • NZ Classic Sidecar Racing
Re: New guy and A7 landspeed record build
« Reply #14 on: 11.12. 2010 09:06 »
I cant say I know anything about A7's, but given they put late A10 cranks into A65's, I suspect that an A50 or A65 would go nicely into an A7 and provide a LJ crank, something I believe they never had on the A7.
I recall the A7 and A50/A65 stroke is what 1/2mm different?
I recently had a look at a "genuine" daytona A7ss motor and it had a very thick flange, something I wasnt aware of. I believe they did quite a lot of special parts for those...race rods etc.
Nice to hear people wanting to get their beesa twins flying!

Interesting.  I'm building an A7 rigid roadracer (long-term project).  If you have a choice, use later pre-unit cases and large-journal crank.  What are limitations on internal engine modifications?  Can bore/stroke be altered?  My advice would be to spend your money on building a strong bottom end and then on cam/flowing the head.  If you wanna go fast, you'll have to spend some money.
A good rider periodically checks all nuts and bolts with a spanner to see that they are tight - Instruction Manual for BSA B series, p46, para 2.
New Zealand