We started restoration of a 1964 TR6R … (Part 2 of a multi-part blog)

Parts Manual and Engine Shipment …

In part 1, we described our experience in tearing down and segregating the parts when we began the restoration of our 1964 TR6R.

After our parts were segregated, we made two copies of the correct Triumph Replacement Parts Manual (Catalogue No. 2 for unit construction 650 c.c. twins from engine number DU 5825). We will use the parts manuals to determine every correct part that the ’64 TR6R had on it when it was assembled at Meriden. Here is an example of what the Triumph manual that we worked with looks like …

We sent one copy of the parts manual copy with the TR6R engine to Leroy Edward Turner in Texas who agreed to restore the engine on this bike. Getting the engine shipped to Texas is not as difficult as one might think.

We learned the easy way to shipping an engine a couple of years ago …

We purchased two 32 gallon Rubbermaid totes from Walmart. We left the totes doubled for strength and put the engine inside. It fits perfectly. Then we braced the engine with large Styrofoam chunks left over from other shipments and fitted miscellaneous parts (carburetor to be rebuilt, for example) in the voids. We then completely filled the remainder with shipping “peanuts”. We topped off the totes with a single Rubbermaid lid and then drilled about 16 holes around the top of the lid through the rim of the tote. Into these holes we will loop nylon cable ties to completely secure the shipment. After we snipped off the ends of the ties, the shipment was ready to go.

We drove the tote containing the engine to the local FedEx Kinko’s for shipping. We knew that FedEx ground will take shipments up to 150 pounds. Our 650 engine in tote weighed in at 144 pounds fully packed, so it was within their limitations. FedEx told us that if we wanted additional insurance (over $100) on the shipment, the container had to be inspected so the cable ties would have to be cut for the inspection. Since we already had the ties installed properly and didn’t want to open the tote again so we shipped it without additional insurance. The total cost to ship from AZ to TX was only $95 … quite a bargain.

We made the engine shipment with FedEx on a Monday. On Wednesday night (two days later), we received a call from Leroy that he had received the engine early that morning and had already started dismantling it. More on the engine later …

Determining the status of the major parts and placing our first parts order …

We will use the second parts manual to track the status of the other parts off of our ’64 TR6R.

First, we “X”ed out all parts in the manual that weren’t applicable to our machine (like parts for the 6T and T120 for example) to help us keep from getting confused. Then, we highlighted all of the parts in green (meaning a good part) with “PO” that would require powder coating. For those good parts requiring paint, we highlighted them in green with “PA”. The parts that needed chroming were green (good) highlighted with “CH”. Larger parts which didn’t require cleaning, but needed cad plating were highlighted in green with “CA” annotated. Those parts were put directly into a Box marked “cad plating”.

We placed our first order for the major parts that were found to be unusable. These included a new seat, new fork ears, new chain guard, new rear shocks, and new front wheel cover plate.

Since we are going to ride this bike frequently, we wanted to make certain the wheels/tires work exceptionally well. Normally, we try to put rechromed original Dunlop rims on our restorations. On this machine, however, we wanted new rims that would be much safer for riding. We considered Central (CWC) rims as an option, but heard about a new rim called Devon that are made even better than the original Dunlop rims. We learned that the chrome is exceptional and the weld is virtually undetectable on the Devons. They are even marked with a stamping that looks identical to the old Dunlops, except with “Devon” stamped where the “Dunlop” used to be. This all comes at a price, of course. The Devons are about 150% the cost of Central rims, but we feel for safe riding of this bike, they were well worth the price. Here is the Devons on British Cycle Supply’s website, if you are interested ….

http://www.britcycle.com/Products/554/DevonRims.htm.

We’ve decided to put stainless steel spokes on our bike and we ordered those from our supplier.

The rest of the parts were going to require some additional work … more on that later.

End of Part 2 …. Next time: Sending the parts to the powder coater, Parts to be painted, Parts needing chrome,