Featured Resurrecting 1966 Tiger T100ss

I’m afraid the mileage probably isn’t genuine, at least for my bike although its “possible” it could be, so I had it left on as I think it looks a bit better than just a blank page. I’ve long since come to the conclusion that most of the bits I’ve got are traders left over jumble that were probably bought in to do a make over. I had two sets of forks, neither of which were from the original bike. The Triumph fork parts were from a bike at least two years later and the only useable parts were the top shrouds and the yoke. The other set were Norton Roadholders. I guess I’m just lucky that I’ve got a matching set of numbers.

 

I’m not sure I’d know which way to go with that. Maybe the forks were originally with the ‘59 frame?

BTW if you haven’t already seen it there’s another refurb guide associated with the same guy that raised the data guide. https://triumph-tiger-90.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Restoration-Guide-Book-Form-compressed.pdf

Dave.

 

Just sticking this picture of someone else’s ‘66 T100ss to remind myself what it’s supposed to look like if it ever gets finished.

 

No progress on the bike for quite some while I’m afraid. Apart from alternating periods of not feeling as if I’m progressing anywhere, a couple of bouts of man flu and no heating in the garage, its taking more and more of effort to feel at all positive about the whole b****y thing. To cap it all I’ve realised that I’m going to have to do the fork legs over again.

On the plus side though I haven’t been completely wasting my time. I’ve spent a little time going over other things that are missing or will have to be replaced and have indulged myself in a bit of retail therapy trying to get hold of a few of those bits which require a bit of careful selection to get the right parts. Invaluable in that has been getting a copy of the ‘Triumph 350/500 Unit Construction Twins Bible’. Therein lies a wealth of information for any restoration.

The most obvious and probably most expensive single thing that’s going to be needed is a new carburettor. The one I have is corroded and completely the wrong type for the model. It has however, a choke mechanism controlled by a lever on the handlebars via a cable. Surprisingly, I do have those bits still attached to the bars even though they look a bit worse for wear. The correct carb is an Amal Monobloc with a manual choke incorporated in the carb body. The ‘correct’ choke mechanism looks like the bent end of a wire coat hanger sticking out of the top of the body. It’s operation features fiddling about between the legs while still on the move after warm-up to shut it off, which leaves a bit to be desired. So the cable operated option is a rather better option to be retained if possible.

I spent a fruitful half hour on the phone to the manufactures, who are still with us and were extremely helpful, to find that they can supply a new unit with the choke mechanism adapted to be operated by cable. Two days later the new carb arrived complete with modifications. I was also able to track down a pancake air filter with adapters to complete the ensemble.

Another bit needing replacement is the Patent Plate on the engine timing cover. The old one is just an ally triangle. All semblance of lettering has long since been polished off. New plates with various scripts are available, some with legends that were never seen on any Triumph. With the help of Monty’s Classic Motorcycles I’ve been able to get hold of one with, I think, the correct numbering.

I’ve also obtained a pair of knee pads for the petrol tank from the same source. This was not quite so easy as there are several shaped pads but not necessarily the same shape as the advertising photos turns up once ordered. Old photos show that the T100ss uses pads where the upper curve follows the indented shape on the tank. This needs to be right otherwise the paint line, tank line and pad line look a bit of a mess if they aren’t concentric. So far I’ve got a couple of pairs, the latest is the right shape but seems to be too big for the tank. That might need a bit more work.

The horn. Nothing like that in the pile at all. 1966 was the arrival year of 12 volt systems superseding the old 6 volt one. My parts list specifies a Horn Lucas type 8H. There’s all sorts of horns on sale varying in price from about £10 up to £120. A ‘near enough’ 8H replica was able to be obtained about mid way in that price range.

One of the tools that seems like it may be quite useful is an engine stand. All the best refurbishers on YouTube seem to have one using it to steady the engine while rebuilding. I found a second hand one on EBay at a reasonable price and bought it in for when the engine is ready to be reassembled.

Back to Amal and their white handlebar grips which were used on almost all 1966 models in the Triumph range. Sourced through a contact listed in the above mentioned ‘ Bible’. They look like a pretty good replica from the photos available. They were apparently universally unpopular in their time due to staining from oily/grubby hands. These ones won’t be getting that amount of use so may keep their colour for a little longer.

All those bits now sit on a shelf with the refurbed clocks awaiting further attention as they become due. Quite when that will be remains to be seen.

 

24 Sept 24

I cleaned out the T100’s fuel tank a few months ago. The inside was fairly clean except for a few smallish patches of rust along the walls. I spent a week with vinegar and bits and pieces shaking the tank up and got to the point where the rust had sort of faded to what looked like just a dark stain. On reflection though I may have used the wrong vinegar I had diluted it down, possibly too much. Anyway, having started on the Bonnie tank, which was a whole different kettle of fish, and having got fairly good results so far, I thought to have another go at it.

This time I’ve used White Vinegar, undiluted and with a dash of salt. So far that’s been cooking for a day. We’ll see how it goes this time.

View attachment 170074

 

24 Sept 24

I cleaned out the T100’s fuel tank a few months ago. The inside was fairly clean except for a few smallish patches of rust along the walls. I spent a week with vinegar and bits and pieces shaking the tank up and got to the point where the rust had sort of faded to what looked like just a dark stain. On reflection though I may have used the wrong vinegar I had diluted it down, possibly too much. Anyway, having started on the Bonnie tank, which was a whole different kettle of fish, and having got fairly good results so far, I thought to have another go at it.

This time I’ve used White Vinegar, undiluted and with a dash of salt. So far that’s been cooking for a day. We’ll see how it goes.

 

Thanks Baza. I do use the copy on the TOMCC website. I’ve spent many a happy hour in those pages. There’s a lot of info there. I did once try to buy the CD thro them but it wasn’t successful unfortunatly.

 

Thanks for the heads-up Baza. My problems were mostly to do with navigation thro’ the site. Very clunky Seems a lot better these days though.

 

After a week soaking and shaking the inside of the Tigers tank is, I think, about as good as it’s going to get. After soaking the uncovered portion of the tanks interior gets covered by a sort of scum that can be displaced by shaking. Finally I’ve washed it out and used the power washer jet as far as possible. Unfortunately I can’t get a direct shot at one side of the tank due to the offset filler opening and the internal hump.
Anyway it’s clean metal for the most part and I sprayed the interior with a marine grade, anti corrosion fogging spray to hopefully keep the corrosion at bay.

 

Back in the day the first repair on the T100 was to provide a centre stand. There wasn’t a stand in ‘the Pile’ of bits and the cast iron pivot lug on the frame was broken off. I bought into a new stand and had a repair done to the lug which involved making up a small outrigger bracket which was to be fitted between the main and subframes, held in position by their fitting bolts.

The only problem with this is that the bracket itself is about a 1/4 inch further out and requires a pivot bolt with about a 1/2 inch longer thread to engage all the threads of the retaining nut. I had assembled up the stand to the frames with a new set of pivot bolts, one of which was only engaged on about half its threads on the new bracket. Conveniently I put that little problem to the back of the list for attention ‘at a later date’.

Just by way of light relief from paint and front fork problems I thought it’s about time to address that problem, so went looking for alternative bolts with the correct thread that might do the job. To cut a long story short it turns out the bolt needed a 20TPI UNF thread, not the 20TPI Cycle thread I was looking for. Anyway I finally found a very obliging company who would make up a one-off bolt to my specification and did it inside a week at a very reasonable price.
I’ve now got the stand fitted securely and it’s functioning as it should.

 

I’ve repainted these front fork upper shrouds for the second time. I found that I’d managed to chip them while they’ve been waiting to be fitted to the legs. Rubbed down and painted again despite the adverse cold/wet weather. The lower legs which were also painted before seem to have survived storing without any mishaps so they’re going in as is.