Bristol Auto Italia Day 2015

It was this years Italian Car and Bike day again yesterday. 
  The general opinion seems to be that there were fewer cars and bikes on display which may have b een due to a poor weather forecast for the weekend. The morning did indeed start off a little grey and on the cooler side,but by late morning blue skies started to appear which this event tends to usually be blessed with each year.
  A few pics below that give anybody who hasn't been an idea of what it's about.
  Look back at my posts for April 2014 / 2013 for pics from previous years events

I just don't get this at all !

Steve's Magni - Forever a Classic 

Nick's Guzzi Cafe and his mate Mark's customised T3

Pete's Mille with V7 Sport styling - he's now building the real thing which all started when he acquired
a genuine frame,part engine etc.
Behind is Sean's 1000S

Tony's commuter Guzzi, affectionately called S***box
and Kay's V7 Cafe

1937 Lancia Aprilia owned by the same person since 1964

Guzzi - Ducati and Classic Car Collection

I've been back in contact with a friend who I lost touch with for many years. I have posted pics of his collection,mostly,Guzzi,but a few Ducati's too before. He acquired most of these approx 15 years ago. In these intervening years and since retiring he has once again started to collect cars and has put together quite a impressive collection. I think he has over 20 cars including this dedicated MG garage. Sadly the bikes have suffered a little neglect and so need chrome parts replacing etc. This he intends to do now that he has moved them into their own space..........above the cars !
 Hopefully in the coming months I will pay him a visit and get to see it all in the flesh.

I'll have one of those,one of those and  I might as well
take one those too please.....Oh and while I'm at it I'll have my old
Raceco/Chris Clarke Race Bike back too please !
The latter is at the very end of the line up 

  

Guzzi Project

Collected the recovered seat for my number 2 Guzzi project yesterday and today got to see how its going to look / if the modifications are going to work and as far as I can see it should be fine and flows quite nicely into the modified tank.

 

Guzzi project number 2

Finally got a start on another Guzzi project and it's NOT a Cafe Racer. I couldn't resist pulling it outside the workshop as the sun was shining, the sheep occasionally that little bit closer chomping away in the field,birds twittering a cup of tea and music drifting out from inside........oh yes and the quite frequent fast train shooting by. The most contented day I've had for quite a while..............Bliss !!
   Initially the worst I came across was a seized shock absorber bush until before leaving for home I decided to take a spark plug out and a peak down the hole didn't look too good either.
   I also must invest in one of those compact hydraulic bike lifts as they use for lighter weight ATV's and dirt bikes. What do I want that for as no good for a heavy weight Guzzi ? Well,I've realised that I 'm finally getting too old for lifting a complete engine up above waist height ! 

The good news - behind that ring gear a excellent condition lemans flywheel,
cyl heads, carbs on a Spada engine with Convert t/cover.

Not quite so good.

I knew it didn't look good and the next day I removed the heads.
Oh Dear !!

Not surprised that the other side was pretty much seized
but upon releasing both, this sides barrel has quite bad corrosion

Dellorto carb - snapped off starter jet

After coming to a halt with my main Guzzi project and the disappointment of not being able to take my seat, that I've modified slightly - from another project - for covering I thought I'd take a look at why the Mille was not a happy starter. 
  I bought the Mille approx a year ago and haven't done a thing to it. Anyway,took both the float bowls off and immediately spotted a missing starter jet in the r/h carb. Well,it turned out that it wasn't missing completely,but had broken off. Struggling to find a small enough extractor I just thought I'd try if I could somehow lodge a small screwdriver into the remains. I couldn't believe my luck when it starting moving and within seconds it was out. I found the correct replacement in my Dellorto spares stock and with fresh petrol,

Broken off starter jet in the bottom hole

It had snapped jaggedly around the holes which
was handy for the screwdriver to locate

a charged battery the bike fired up,initially on one cylinder and then minutes later the second kicked in.
   Still running rough low down and it wouldn't tick over,so I adjusted the mixture screws and got a result. I ran it up and down outside the workshop and then put the vacuum gauges on it. With a bit of adjustment of the tick over screws and mixture screws it's now so much better and will do for now and probably no point in trying to get it any better as the standard airbox connecting tubes don't look like they will be sealing properly anyway.
   Not sure when I'll be getting onto it as a project so I've drained the carbs and given inside the float bowl area a spray with carb cleaner.

Frog Eyed Sprite vs Morris Minor

Two of my good friends, Martin from Bristol and Pete from across the bridge in Chepstow, have both got themselves a fair amount of work ahead as neither can resist a project.
 As can be seen from the pics both will be quite a challenge a 1956 Morris Minor and a approx year of 1960 for the Sprite.

The Sprite has definitely got a more cheery outlook on life !

Wolf Alice

Madelyn and I went to see one of the bands on my this years 'like to see list' at the Trinity Centre (a old church) Bristol last Thursday night. 
  Two bands supported a rock band called Bloody Knees and a lot lighter alt rock band Magic Gang. As accomplished as they were neither were our sort of thing,but both went down well and I guess Wolf Alice style fits neatly somewhere between the two making them ideal as supports.

   Anyway,Wolf Alice were excellent and the only downside being a relatively short set of approx 40 minute,.as at least another couple of songs would have been welcome.