Newbie seeks advice. Please be gentle...

Here's a useful spanner jaw size table:-

I'm sure there are many others on the web.

Not familiar with the BSA engine you have and I'm open to correction, but I believe if it is a basically pre-war design it will likely have BSW/BSF threads. While post war, the American UNC/UNF range, which uses AF (ie a 'sensible' fraction of an inch Across the Flats) spanners, was gradually adopted by British industry. I find the few surface drive 'metrinch' ring spanners I have quite useful, they feel horrible and baggy but they often shift things of indeterminate size and with grotty rounded off corners.

As far as painting your engine goes, it's up to you! Many people try to retain original finishes where possible, others go for an as-new (or better) look. Hammer finish paint is certainly not unknown, particularly on comparatively modern engines supplied as part of a complete item of plant - trouble is it (and the smoothrite variety) always ends up looking like treacle when I try to apply it!

You certainly won't need four star or avgas for the octane rating, and valve seat recession is unlikely to be a problem unless you are intending putting some serious full load hours on the thing - if you that are worried use one of the approved additives the classic car brigade use, unless of course you have particularly easy access to avgas.

What else was there? Oh yes the Wal Phillips injector - all the sophistication and fuel metering subtlety of a tap, 'nuf said!

Thanks!

I believe the engine was built in 1956 - and quite possibly was a prewar design. The diagrams I've got for it look positevely Victorian...

Guess I'll do a few bootfairs and market stalls --

(( I tried the Wal Phillips fi on my old Ducati 350 --- less power, worse fuel consumption than the grotty old Dell'Orto that was standard

- but they do seem to make scooters go faster... Probably a bad thing

- I should destroy it....)

And my old H1 500 did 15 mpg - but I got 25 mpg out of my H2

750......)

A friend of mine fitted one to a ratty old Vespa 125 and struck lucky almost straight away with the set-up. It went like a bat out of hell for a while. A small and extremely noisy Italian bat perhaps, but quite a mini-monster.

But once it went out of tune he never really got it working properly again. In the end someone saved his sanity by stealing the scooter from outside a pub. But the tale doesn't quite end there...

Thirty years later it was found hidden in a huge bramble patch at Worthy Down, Winchester, when a site was being cleared for new houses. The police asked if he wanted it back. He went to look out of morbid curiousity and found a magnificently rusted relic, with the side panels as thin as lace, and a white furry lump where the injector should be. He let them scrap it.

Gyppo

Hi, welcome to the group.

AF spaners are measured Across the Flats so 1/2" AF is 0.5" between the jaws. Whitworth is a whole different story, they are sized by the bolt they fit. That would be OK but we changed the design standard during WW11. Now a 1/2" bolt needs a 7/16"BSW spanner.

There's a BSA manual available on the Internal Fire web site.

need to register to download it and I think it's for a 320cc engine but it may help.

The subject of repainting is always going to cause heated discussion which stops just short of open war. Many support the idea of doing as little as possible and won't let a paint brush near their engines. Others, me included, say that when a part of an engine is worn out, repair/replace it and that includes the paint. It's your engine and your call. I have a couple of BSA's. From what I can see the nearest colour is the old Maroon B.

Hamerite is rarely seen on engines of this age. I'm not sure when it came out but my memory says it was sometime in the 60's. Any one know?

As for us being gentle, there's very few raised voices on this group. That is until someone mentions paint........

John

John,

To busy getting the Rover ready for its first show in my ownership this weekend to worry about paint.....................................