AJS & Matchless Owners Club

Hi all. I am from Central Coast NSW Australia.

A number of years ago I owned a 1953 Matchless G3LS. I never really got to do much work to it. I ended up selling it to pay a tax bill. Of the 30 bikes I have owned, this is the only bike I have ever regretted selling.



Today I was able to get hold of another Matchless. A 1947 G80L 500cc. Its needs lots of TLC. It will take time to give it that TLC. My regret has now gone.

Photos below show the progress the previous owner has gone through from barn find to what it is this very day.





No that is not the header pipe. It was done for "show" at a show.



Today it arrived and I started work on it straight away



So easy to work on. So far. Need to de-coke the head. Check that the valves are seating with no leaks.

Welcome Ross. It's quite a mongrel you have there! Interesting to see the racing number (710) printed on the oil tank
If you aren't already aware the website link below (known as 'Christians Archive') has down-loadable original Owners and Workshop manuals, Parts Lists, promotional and advertising literature plus techy, magazine and historical articles and information.

http://archives.jampot.dk/


Good luck.

SPRIDDLER wrote:Welcome Ross. It's quite a mongrel you have there! Interesting to see the racing number (710) printed on the oil tank
If you aren't already aware the website link below (known as 'Christians Archive') has down-loadable original Owners and Workshop manuals, Parts Lists, promotional and advertising literature plus techy, magazine and historical articles and information.

http://archives.jampot.dk/


Good luck.

It sure is a mongrel. The 710 is the word "OIL" painted upside down by the previous owner. Cheers for the link to

WnRn wrote:The 710 is the word "OIL" painted upside down by the previous owner.

Yes, I've seen it done a few times on bikes and it's also an image used for some fairly amusing cartoons. But it's not an AMC standard finish

SPRIDDLER wrote:

WnRn wrote:The 710 is the word "OIL" painted upside down by the previous owner.

Yes, I've seen it done a few times on bikes and it's also an image used for some fairly amusing cartoons. But it's not an AMC standard finish

710.jpg

My whole bike is not an AMC standard finish ..

Making sure oil ways are clear. In the photo below we see part of the push rod assemble. Oil passes through these. Well it will when I clean it up and re-assemble.

Looks like a lot of fun to be had for years to come
good luck enjoy yourself.
Tony

Dived into some work on the big Matchy today.
Combined tow seats to make one. I had a replica seat already. The seat that came with the Matchy was bigger. So chopped them up. Black paint. Seat is done. Just need 2 new big springs for the seat to bounce me around on now.







Seeing how bunged up around the bottom of the push rods is I took the barrel off. One big ugly piston. I love 500 singles. This one has some scoring. Inlet valve seems to have been kissing the top of the piston. There is no scoring on the bore that I can feel. Should I replace the piston and hone or re-bore to match the replacement piston? Don't know yet.

Hi

Give the piston and bore a good clean, remove any raised metal around the score, check the ring gaps but don't be too critical of the result, if all OK put it back together.

Regards Mick

Mick D wrote:Hi

Give the piston and bore a good clean, remove any raised metal around the score, check the ring gaps but don't be too critical of the result, if all OK put it back together.

Regards Mick

Cheers for that Mick. Considering how under stressed these engines are I may as well see if i can use what I got. Will get new gasket kit for it though.