I hadn't come across this design before but the centre stand on the Crusader shares a mounting with the rear engine mounting plates. The mounting plates also have a hexagonal bolt through them for the footrest bar and the matching hexagonal holes, as well as the shaft for the centre stand had both worn horribly. More new parts required from the ever helpful Hitchcock's.
The centre stand itself is an aluminium alloy, and cleaned up nicely with a wire wheel in the drill. The feet of these wear away relatively quickly, with being such a soft metal. Later on I found that the stand was adequate, but doesn't hold the rear wheel off the ground, so I may end up adding some small mild steel feet to correct this.
I agonised over how to get the centrestand spring fitted as it looked completely capable of pinging off and taking my eye out while I stretched it into position. In the event, it was actually pretty easy (and injury free!) I looped a length of strong garden wire through the eye and twisted it shut then clamped it in mole grips and pulled it into position. After that I cut the loop and extracted the wire - easy!
Next followed an intense period of cursing and blood letting while I tried to muscle the engine into the frame without destroying all the good work I had done. Nothing seemed to quite line up where it should, but eventually it all went together. Definitely a job that two pairs of hands would have helped with, and it was great to see her starting to look a bit functional again, albeit with a couple of small frame paint repairs to do!
No comments:
Post a Comment