Door Strap wanted

[Deleted User]

A father and son team had long aspired to own Scotts and bought a collection of bits to make two bikes. I have just finished one engine but we are missing one door strap. Neither the Spares scheme nor I have any stock, so before we start designing out a replica we can fabricate, I ask if anyone has one they can spare to finish this engine. Kindest Regards Roger 01664 840215 roger@mossengineering.co.uk

[Deleted User]

A rare item Roger
I had to go to B&Q (Oh the shame!) for some black MS and do a bit of elecric arc -not pretty but it will do till someone makes a batch

[Deleted User]

My son Richard suggested that if things got difficult, I could always try for a job as “A Greeter” at B&Q as they liked to employ the elderly.
As Gadaffi said “What have I ever done to you”?
and yes I know its spelled incorrectly, but who cares!
I might have to make some straps
Roger

[Deleted User]

Have a laugh at this Roger I cobled one up from a piece of T ironabit of sawing and fileing it was still in service when isold the bike in the 1970s. Regards D F.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Hi Roger,
I thought that you would be knee deep in offers of door straps by now, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, unless you have been contacted direct….
I’ve got some in a tin somewhere, but they are a bit pitted and grotty, and will need some Dynafile action to freshen them up. There is also a quantity of used and abused pistons that would, I think clean up/skim and be reusable. Probably about 25 or 30 at the last count, and a mix of longstroke and shortstroke. Thought that you might be interested as pistons seem to be an issue at the moment, and these could well keep you going for a while.
Brian

[Deleted User]

Thanks Brian. I will be in touch. Any chance of popping one in a jiffy bag and posting it? Otherwise Marina or I could drive over to pick one up. As regards pistons, then as block bore age towards top oversize, then it is not so often we find a block so small that a worn oversize piston can be ground down to fit. It does happen, of course, but not so often. If we are lucky we really need a piston with reasonable ring grooves. We then have to grind the outside and usually rebush the GP bore. To do anything properly takes time which is no real problem if it is just your hobby and the time does not matter. If not it is uncomfortable to see the time ticking away knowing the customer must pay the going rate for the job.
Thanks for the lifeline, Roger

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Hi Roger.
I’ll post a strap to you tomorrow.
As regards pistons, can’t shortstroke pistons be turned down to fit any amount of wear in a longstroke bore ? And difference in compression height compensated for with eccentric little end bushes ?
Regards,
Brian
P.S. I think that another issue is owners’ prejudice against 498cc engines. I suspect that there are more than a few 498 barrels sitting unused in sheds and garages, with plenty of wall thickness, that can be bored out to take turned down 596 pistons, giving a hybrid bore size around 550 cc. You would get a higher compression from the 498 head size, and thinner, lighter pistons as well ! Let us not forget that John Catchpole’s 100mph on very low octane ‘Pool’ petrol, was achieved on 498cc. When Arthur Breeze and Derrick Shire sprinted it the engine was around 648cc (from memory), and neither of them got to Catchpole’s speeds, and both tried exotic fuels. When I owned it I noted that the bottom sections of the cylinders were as thin as eggshells, and probably just as fragile. I never had the urge to sprint it after seeing that, and sold it to Pat Cravos after a couple of years.

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