I had the same problem with the spanner, so I sacrificed a ring spanner (on this side of the pond wrench) by grinding the ring portion down so it would fit. The wrench looks like hell but works beautifully. Good job, that was stressful watching that.
The later 750s had through bolts too. It's fun isn't it getting the right spanner thinning it down and then turning it an 1/8 of a turn then turning the spanner round, Then you realise you have to juggle the heavy iron barrels to get the nuts off! Thanks Mr. Hopwood are you up there laughing?😁
It's not surprising that Whitworth spanners didn't fit well, the cylinder base nuts as on an 850 Commando they are 7/16 and 9/16 AF, late Norton's were a nightmare in terms of the threads used, being a random mixture of different threads, for example on the cylinder head they used different threads for the two 5/16 allen bolt fixings, BSF for the head steady and Whitworh for the inlet manifolds.
Thank god for Kawasaki. No wonder they went bust . The engines came out of Stevensons rocket. All Nortons ideas was let’s make a profit for the share holders, stuff the buyer.
I had the same problem with the spanner, so I sacrificed a ring spanner (on this side of the pond wrench) by grinding the ring portion down so it would fit. The wrench looks like hell but works beautifully. Good job, that was stressful watching that.
It was equally stressful doing it! 😂 Just very annoyed with myself for not protecting the con-rods. 😢
The later 750s had through bolts too.
It's fun isn't it getting the right spanner thinning it down and then turning it an 1/8 of a turn then turning the spanner round,
Then you realise you have to juggle the heavy iron barrels to get the nuts off!
Thanks Mr. Hopwood are you up there laughing?😁
Thanks, I wasn't aware that the later 750s had those allen bolts too. And yes, so, so much fun!! 😂😢
Must a have been a great relief when that rear nut eventually loosened.
It was! I'm still trying to think what alternatives there were if it hadn't loosened when it did - no easy solutions I can think of. 🤔
It's not surprising that Whitworth spanners didn't fit well, the cylinder base nuts as on an 850 Commando they are 7/16 and 9/16 AF, late Norton's were a nightmare in terms of the threads used, being a random mixture of different threads, for example on the cylinder head they used different threads for the two 5/16 allen bolt fixings, BSF for the head steady and Whitworh for the inlet manifolds.
Thanks for the info John. 👍
Thank god for Kawasaki. No wonder they went bust . The engines came out of Stevensons rocket. All Nortons ideas was let’s make a profit for the share holders, stuff the buyer.