New Nissan engine

[Towpack]

Now here's something to lust after.....Z1A Not because it was the bike that put the final nail in the coffin of the British bike industry but because of the benchmark it set. The true Grandfather of the Superbikes we know and love today, usurping even the Honda 750F1 which beat it to market by 3 years. The Z1 engine is legendary in tuning circles, partly because of the ease of extracting huge power from it but mainly due to it's immensely strong bottom end thanks to a (massively over engineered some might say) roller bearing crank and rods. This would be the classic in my garage funds permitting. Their prices have rocketed in recent years. Each to their own of course.

 

[clivehorridge]

It was a velocette..

What was?

this was the Velocette MAC Sport as it looked in 1936...

350cc OHV introduced in 1934.... Hi tech for those days...

Another Brummie-based company...

 

[StarCruiser]

My pal's road rally car based on a mk2 (I think) escort in body only, has a Millington engine in it based on the Pinto block. 2200 cc I believe with Millington 4 valve head. Developes I believe a smidge over 320bhp at the wheels naturally aspirated. The most powerful N/A car to go on the local dyno. Full sequential flappy paddle gearbox. Changes gear in something like 0.4 seconds. It's a beast!​

 

[chapel gate]

What was?

this was the Velocette MAC Sport as it looked in 1936...

View attachment 46001
350cc OHV introduced in 1934.... Hi tech for those days...

Another Brummie-based company...

View attachment 46002

The bike i saw in the pub car park. I believe its called a oily rag restoration. Original paint work which was matt black now, all the chrome was rusty but nearly a matt black because of the constant brushing of engine oil. Looked really good actually..

 

[Towpack]

The bike i saw in the pub car park. I believe its called a oily rag restoration. Original paint work which was matt black now, all the chrome was rusty but nearly a matt black because of the constant brushing of engine oil. Looked really good actually../quote]

Sounds like the owner is someone who actually enjoys using the thing rather than keeping it polished up in a glass case and bringing it out on sunny 25+deg summer days!

 

[chapel gate]

I dont go there that often.. ill grab a pic if i see it again, he is local.

 

[clivehorridge]

I dont go there that often.. ill grab a pic if i see it again, he is local.

Ha ha, that would be great, love to see old bikes in use...

 

[frank rabbets]

I had a 350 cc OHC KSS Velo. I used to go to a scrap yard where there was a pile of pre war bikes bigger than a house and I could have as many as I wanted for £3 each. There was a big crane which used to untangle them if i wanted one fom the bottom. OH THE DAMAGE. Ended up with 14 over the years.

 

[BobMurphy]

Small world. my friend who is a retired engineer bought a basket case square 4 a few months ago. it's 1936 ish 500 cc OHC. He's just made new shafts for the crank assy and is making some cast iron valve guides.

Now that is a very rare machine. The very first Square Fours were 500cc OHC with overhung cranks, crowded roller bearings, a forward-facing carburettor and all fitted into a 250cc bike frame. It was light and powerful in its day - but not reliable and not really man enough for serious work. They started off as wet sump motors with oil throwers on the conrods but later moved to integral dry sump.

Later came the 'pushrod' 600cc Iron-head models, then the 1,000cc and later still the 1,000cc all-alloy MkII with the four exhaust pipes and 'SU' carburettors instead of the horrible little Solex. Later models were coil ignition with a car-type distributor. 42BHP from the later ones, which was quite a lot in the 1950s.

Frank, is your friend a member of the "Ariel Owners' Club"?? loads of knowledgeable people there and a good source of rare spares (I'm a member).
Bob.

 

[frank rabbets]

Hi Bob

Yes he joined up a few months ago. He was an engineer at Bham University. He'll need his experience !! The crank assy had obviously shaken loose and worn and someone had electric welded it together ruining a lot of those components. There is a crude oil pump for the top end. I don't think there is an oil tank. Yes it has oil throwers on the con rods. He wondered what they were at first.