Black Dog Classic Motorcycles

MY BROUGH SAGA

Part One

I though you might like to hear about my restoration, of an original 1936 Brough 80, with a Matchless engine. I purchased the 80, in May, 2000, from a chap who had acquired it from a family in the Bromsgrove area, for the pricey sum of £22, plus £2, for delivery to his home address. Some original correspondence came with the Brough, and a note, saying it would arrive by lorry, complete with loose parts. I would have loved to have seen that lorry come round the corner, with the 80 on the back. I wonder what the loose parts were?

The Brough had then been dismantled and stored in his loft. Over the years, a few of the parts were used to keep the owners, own 80, on the road, (He used this for everyday transport). During this time, it became more and more dismembered. So, after 30 odd years, the owner decided that he would never get round to restoring it, and put it up for sale. A date was arranged, to view the machine, armed with a copy of the record card, I was on the motorway for 6 am, I picked a friend up, who has a better eye than me for looking at Brough parts, a quick cuppa, a look at some period photos of a 1936 Brough 80 and we were on our way, negotiating the dreaded M25, a frightening experience for a Northern lad.

The 80 had been loosely assembled, some work being done, the wheels rebuilt, (with wm2 rims instead of wm3’s)! The frame had a coat of brush paint. It had its original mudguards, the front having had the spray flap cut off, (you could see the tin snip marks). The rear one, had been used for drilling practice it having about twenty, non standard holes in it. It also had incorrect toolboxes, with an additional toolbox fitted over the rear hinge part of the rear mudguard, this also carried the number plate, with the remains of a non-standard light. This rear section was very heavy, it becoming apparent why, when I stripped the toolbox off the guard later, there were four large batteries inside it! I suppose they must have worked the rear light. The saddle was a short nose Terry, but, it was not wide enough, the headlamp and both tanks were correct, as were the horn and Jaeger speedometer, but the speedometer had its glass and needle damaged. Engine and gearbox, being loosely assembled, were unknown quantities, the owner let me look inside the timing case and lift the heads, the cams and followers looked ok, but all the spacers were missing from the pivot shafts. A deal was done and we loaded the Brough into the back of my car. After returning my friend to his home, I returned home, five hundred and sixty miles in one day was I tired? My wife was not pleased, as she helped me unload everything from the car at 11-30 pm, but she is used to me buying “expensive junk” as she puts it. I was still going through the bits at 1-30 am. I had work in the morning, but not till I had lifted the cylinders, it was nice to see a pair of split skirt Matchless pistons, in good shape too, but the valves and guides looked shot.

In the coming days, space was cleared, so that I could lay things out, notes were taken and a, ‘ things to do’ list was made up. I spent a long time, looking at detailed period photos and pinned these up on the garage wall as reference. The idea was a complete dry build, but without cables and wiring.

The first thing, I fit to a bare frame is the rear stand. I look at photos of newly restored motorcycles with disbelief, as I see the motorcycle, sat, with its rear stand folded right under the bike, at totally the wrong angle. If a restorer has skimped over this part of the restoration, I dread to think what the rest will be like. The Brough stand needed plenty of heat, a few good tweaks, a bit of weld on the stand stops, to build them up a bit, some over sized pivot bolts and voila, the bare frame sat on its stand nice and square. Now to the hubs and rims, my first job here was to rebuild the wheels, with the correct wm3 rims. Looking through my stock of old rims, I found a pair with the correct spoke angles, they were de-chromed and laced to the skimmed hubs, the brake shoes having professionally relined with oversized linings, the brake cams needed to be sleeved, to stop the wobble of the cam in the plate. I then mounted the shoes onto the back plate, skimmed the shoes in the lathe to the drum size (the only way to get a good brake). The Druid forks were assembled on the frame, the wheels then being fitted to the frame. I true the wheels in the frame, getting them central to the top frame tube and the middle of the forks, using a long straight edge as a guide. With the first hurdle over and a few items crossed off my “things to do” list the next thing, was to fit the engine plates and engine, first making the necessary tie bolts, checking as I went along, for frame flex as the bolts were tightened. I dared not count the hours so far!

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