I’ve finally gathered every last bit needed to rebuild the top end again—miracles do happen, apparently—but the barrel’s still sitting there looking like it lost a fight with time itself. I was hoping to give it a good going-over with the brass wire wheel, but of course the fins are packed tighter than a Scotsman’s wallet, so that’s not happening any time soon.
BSA ’61 B40 To-Do List (& Assembly Diagrams) | BSA B40 350 Star
One of the lads from the CVMG passed along a contact at Monarch Rebuilding in London, so I’ll be giving them a ring on Monday to see if they can work their magic. Here’s hoping they don’t laugh me off the phone. Vapor blasting seems to be the way to go!
Been tied up with other nonsense lately anyway. And just to keep life interesting, I had to drag out the snowblower this past week for its first shakedown of the season—we got a proper dump of snow. Didn’t last long, mind you… we’re back to grass again. But it was a nice wee reality check… or a slap in the face, depending on how optimistic you are.
You can sandblast the cast barrel just plug all oil ways and bolt holes and make a cover to close off the top and bottom of the barrel … I did my A10 head and barrel used removable silicone caulking to plug holes and made a cover from some scrap pieces I had laying around.
Just make sure everything is blown off and wiped clean after, I used VHT high temp black paint it comes in gloss, flat, or wrinkle finish CTC carries it in rattle cans.
If you use glass beads it isnt as abrasive as sand which I am not sure is even available anymore.
I’ve been thinking to buy one of those small hand-held blasters so I could use some glass medium or other safe cleaning medium. I do like your idea of the removable silicon caulking. I was thinking to use some thin plywood and a long threaded rod to clamp to close the barrell. I just decided I’m going to check the cost on vapor blasting, but may fall back to more time and DIY. I’ve been hoping to get this done so that I can put the engine back together before it’s too cold.. still have a bit of time.
I have the VHT high temp black paint in a rattle can so ready there.
I did the frame with glass bead. Went to a CVMG members garage where he had a large compressor and blasted the frame. Took a bag of glass bead out on his grass in the warm weather (previous post)
https://blog.brainwalkers.ca/index.php/2025/10/12/blasting-the-frame-add-primer/
Thanks for the feedback and comments.. appreciate all the help I can get as I go through my first restoration.