This is the gearbox cover stud that fits into the shell of all upright gearbox's. An original was used as a pattern, these are identical, other than being manufactured in stainless steel. 7 are fitted per gearbox. Note: This item is slightly longer than the vertical bevel stud, it is 5/16" BSC both ends and can also be used as the Inlet Stud on cylinder heads - but check the thread on your head first, sometimes these are BSW.

This Item listing is for the very distinctive conical shaped, knurled, gearbox clutch cable adjustment bolt and locknut - both CNC manufactured as faithful replica of the original Norton Item. 

This knurled cable adjuster and locknut was fitted to both the upright type Norton gearbox, as well as the early to mid 1950's  laydown gearbox that followed, on all models.

Apart from looking quite unusual - with its wide knurled head, and conical shape - it was extremely useful for adjusting your clutch lever while sat on the bike, you could just reach down with your right hand, loosen off the lower locknut, which had the same width knurl, then either wind out or wind in the long thread of the cable adjuster until the clutch lever had the correct level of free play, then tighten the locknut up again to the cover of the gearbox.  In addition, the locknut on its lower part also had a hex milled onto it - providing a nut for an open ended spanner, as well as the knurl - if you wanted to ensure it did not come loose again once adjusted.

Because the original Norton adjuster bolt was made of brass, and because over a period of time this adjuster tended to get abused by owners - i.e. once it got stiff due to lack of grease, it was not uncommon for owners to try and turn it with a pair of pliers!, it is now very unusual to find a Norton that still has the knurl in good condition - normally they are all chewed, and sometimes the knurl is entirely smooth.  This alleviates the whole purpose of the design - as with a lovely crisp knurl, the adjuster is a delight to use.

Our items are CNC manufactured in brass to the exact dimensions of the original Norton design.  The shaft of the adjuster bolt is the same length and internal cable diameter of the original - it even has the counterbore at the bottom of the cable bore.  The taper on the lower part of the knurled adjuster is the same dimensions as original - and as you can see from one of accompanyning photographs - even the knurled locknuts have the same internal taper to the top of the locknut - designed so that the locknut would screw right up to the taper on the adjuster bolt, to give as much cable adjustment as possible.  Finally the locknuts have the correct Whitworth spanner size milled onto them, including the original chamfer underneath to stop them fouling and scratching the gearbox cover.

We also send these away to our UK based plater once machined, to ensure they are plated with the correct nickel plated finish.  Although bright in the photograph, these will dull-off with time once on the bike.

Not cheap because of the amount of effort to produce them - but they are correct and period for your Norton restoration, and as well as being useful - being placed in a prominent position, they also look very pretty!

As a final point - as you can see in the final photograph, we assemble the locknut onto the threaded adjuster with (Castrol) high melting point grease before placing in a sealable bag so the operation is smooth.  It is worth remembering when fitting these - that the gearbox cover (either upright or laydown gearbox) should have its thread fully cleaned of any dirt before fitting, to ensure smooth continued operation.

For those that are uncomfortable in making up their own clutch cables to include this adjuster - please email us at sales@racingvincent.co.uk, as we are considering having a batch of clutch cables made, with these adjusters fitted, from a top UK cable manufacturer.

This Item listing is for the very distinctive conical shaped, knurled, gearbox clutch cable adjustment bolt and locknut - both parts are CNC manufactured as faithful replica of the original Norton Item. 

However, if you have held one of these threaded adjusters you will know they are quite heavy for what they are.  I am not entirely sure if they were also standard fitment on the M30/M40 and Manx models (although the large knurled adjuster would definitely had been very useful) - but I am sure that if they were fitted, you would have wanted to do something about the excess weight of the adjuster - so I decided to make an additional batch of these - where we have bored 6 additional lightening holdes radially around the conical part of the adjuster - when held in the hand alongside an original un-lightened version, the weight saving is significent.

So although I cannot say these lightened versions were an original Norton fitment, they are the type of mod the likes of many tuners might have done in period - and they certainly look very pretty on your racing or Sports model!

We also sell the 'normal' road version of this clutch cable adjuster (Item 0902) - and the information below is takien from that listing:

This knurled cable adjuster and locknut was fitted to both the upright type Norton gearbox, as well as the early to mid 1950's  laydown gearbox that followed, on all models.

Apart from looking quite unusual - with its wide knurled head, and conical shape - it was extremely useful for adjusting your clutch lever while sat on the bike, you could just reach down with your right hand, loosen off the lower locknut, which had the same width knurl, then either wind out or wind in the long thread of the cable adjuster until the clutch lever had the correct level of free play, then tighten the locknut up again to the cover of the gearbox.  In addition, the locknut on its lower part also had a hex milled onto it - providing a nut for an open ended spanner, as well as the knurl - if you wanted to ensure it did not come loose again once adjusted.

Because the original Norton adjuster bolt was made of brass, and because over a period of time this adjuster tended to get abused by owners - i.e. once it got still due to lack of grease, it was not uncommon for owners to try and turn it with a pair of pliers!, it is now very unusual to find a Norton that still has the knurl in good condition - normally they are all chewed, and sometimes the knurl is entirely smooth.  This alleviates the whole purpose of the design - as with a lovely crisp knurl, the adjuster is a delight to use.

Our items are CNC manufactured in brass to the exact dimensions of the original Norton design.  The shaft of the adjuster bolt is the same length and internal cable diameter of the original - it even has the counterbore at the bottom of the cable bore.  The taper on the lower part of the knurled adjuster is the same dimensions as original - and as you can see from one of accompanyning photographs - the knurled locknuts have teh same internal taper to the top of the locknut - designed so that the locknut would screw right up to the taper on the adjuster bolt, to give as much cable adjustment as possible.  Finally the locknuts also have the correct Whitworth spanner size milled onto them, including the original chamfer underneath to stop them fouling and scratching the gearbox cover.

We also send these away to our UK based plater once machined, to ensure they are plated with the correct nickel plated finish.  Although bright in the photograph, these will dull-off with time once on the bike.

Not cheap because of the amount of effort to produce them - but they are correct and period for your Norton restoration, and as well as being very useful - being placed in a prominent position, they also look very pretty!  And obviously - for this 'lightened' version, we have to perform an additional milling operation to bore the 6 radial holes, all central to the adjuster, so the holes look correctly positioned when viewed from the top.

As a final point - as you can see in the final photograph, we assemble the locknut onto the threaded adjuster with (Castrol) high melting point grease before placing in a sealable bag so the operation is smooth.  It is worth remembering when fitting these - that the gearbox cover (either upright or laydown gearbox) should have its thread fully cleaned of any dirt before fitting, to ensure smooth continued operation.

For those that are uncomfortable in making up their own clutch cables to include this adjuster - please email us at sales@racingvincent.co.uk, as we are considering having a batch of clutch cables made, with these adjusters fitted, from a top UK cable manufacturer.

These 'Reduced Width' stainless steel spring washers are of the correct profile as used on all Upright and Laydown Norton gearbox covers and also the SOHC Vertical Bevel Housing Studs.  These are in stainless steel and of good UK quality, price is for a pack of 10

This type of washer was used on the front cover of all Norton Upright type gearbox's - whereby on the 'Dollshead' type, it also stopped the special nuts from fouling and scratching the cover.  They were also used similarly on the three similar nuts under the kickstart boss of later Laydown gearbox's.

The same profile washer was also used on SOHC Vertical bevel housings.  Originally Norton's fitted plain washers in that location - but they are not commercially available and prohibitively expensive to make - while this type of stainless spring washer look exactly the same when tightened down, as they have the same profile - but have the added benefit of helping to retain the vertical bevel housing nuts - which are sometimes difficult to fully tighten, as spanner access is difficult.  Therefore we fully recommend using these as a beneficial altenative to plain washers for bevel housing studs.

Priced as a bag of 10 - which is enough for a full set of vertical bevel housing washers or a full gearbox set.

 

 

Complete cheesehead screw/nut set for the 1947-49 roadgoing type Norton Upright gearbox - as fitted to SV/OHV/SOHC roadgoing models.  Consists of 4 main cheesheads, 2 smaller 'inspection cover' type cheeseheads and botton stud spring washer and 5/16" BSC nut - all CNC'd by ourselves in stainless steel to the original Norton patterns. 

Backgroung Information:  This was the 2nd type of roadgoing Norton (upright type) gearbox Norton fitted after WWII, the first type in 1946-47 looked visibly very similar, but used a round inspecton cover for the clutch worm.

This type, introduced in 1947, was changed to provide a larger inspection cover for easier access to the clutch worm - the inspection cover having a distinctive egg shaped cover - and using smaller cheesehead screws than other Norton gearbox's - exclusive to this model of gearbox, which was only offered for 2 - 3 years, before the introducton of the 'Laydown' gearbox.

This item includes all the front fittings for the external upright cover for this gearbox, and all are the same pattern as the original items - consisting of 4 0.250" Cheesehead screws (which have the correct dimensions and 'flat type' cheesehead style as originals) 1 x 5/16" hex nut and spring washer (fitted at the bottom of the gearbox - rather than the longer pre-war type blind nuts, which would foul the exhaust pipe on post-war models) and the 2 x smaller Norton Inspection cover cheesehead screws (which again, are copied from original items.

Price is for 8 items in total

Please note - unfortunately, in my collection of original parts, I do not have an original egg shaped inspection cover any more - but the screws are of the original pattern.  I have also included another photograph of this type of gearbox, so you can see what the cover looks like, and confirm if it is this type of gearbox you have.

We also produce the blind nuts in stainless steel for the pre-war type Norton gearbox cover (and postwar Manx), as well as complete Cheesehead Screw Sets for the 1950 onwards 'Laydown' gearbox cover

 

These are the two small screws used on the egg shape 'Norton' Clutch Worm adjuster inspection panel on 1947-50 type Norton Upright gearoboxs. They are CNC'd in stainless steel using an original Norton screw as a pattern

This type of inspection cover was only fitted for small period of two years and the screw used was smaller than other Norton cheesehead screws - so they are hard to find.  These are bar turned stainless steel with the correct thread and Norton gearbox head profile (which at this period was slightly  flatter than corresponding engine timing cover screws.  Price is per Pair of screws.

Note: we also sell a complete gearbox cover cheesehead screw set for this type of gearbox - Item 0995, which includes this pair of screws in that set, if you wish to upgrade your entire cover to stainless steel, and looks very pretty

(By the way - for the Item listing photograph shown here, although I have the correct main uprgight gearbox cover of the 47-50 type, I no longer have one of the egg shape inspection cover, so the screws are shown located where they would normally be - however, we have also included another reference photo of a similar type cover with inspection cover fitted - so you can confirm if yours is of this type.

Complete cheesehead and cover bolt set for Norton Laydown type gearoboxs, as fitted to all roadgoing Norton models and DOHC Manx Nortons from 1950-56. 

This set consists of 7 main gearbox cover cheesehead cover screws, 2 clutch worm inspection cover screws (which are slightly shorter), 3 of the distinctive Norton 'blind' type lower hex nuts (these were the same type as fitted pre-war Norton gearbox covers - they continued to be used on Laydown gearbox's under the kickstart boss) - with the correct Norton type spring washer and finally, the distinctive fine thread filler level plug (which has distinctive pattern with fine thread, almost no chamfer at end of thread, where it contacts rear of filler area, square head and screwdriver slot of b and washer and the correct Norton type square slotted Filler Level Plug. 

All are CNC manufactured by us from stainless steel bar stock and for each of them - orgiinal Norton bolts and screws were used as patterns.

For the cheesehead screws - we have used original Norton gearbox screws (from another complete and unmolested Norton Laydown gearbox, which has been in our family workshop spares collection unstripped since the 1960's!).  The cheesehead screws fitted to gearbox's at this time have a slightly flatter head shape than the Norton SOHC and OHV/SV engine cheeseheads screws used at the same time - and we have copied that style exactly.

Likewise, the Oil Filler plug (which is actually a finer and wider thread than BSC - although on first glance it looks like BSC) is copied from an original item - including the flat finish to the end of the thread.  These are also made from stainless steel bar stock, but we mill the square head and screwdriver slot - so they also look very pretty (originals are nearly always chewed!).

Finally the blind nuts are the correct 'Norton' pattern, which were the same BSC design as used on earlier pre-gearbox's.  It is important to fit the correct thin-width spring washer in the recess before fitting the nut - otherwise the head of the nut 'bottoms out' on the casting.  

As well as being functional, and correctly emulating original patterns, these gearbox cover sets are CNC manufactured in stainless steel and as you can see in the photographs - really look nice and improve the finish of your gearbox.

Background note: When manufacturing our engine cheesehead screw sets, we supply them with special red fibre washers behind them, which was original fitment on engines.  For Norton gearbox's the Spare Parts list did not mention fibre washers, and on gearboxs I have stripped I have never seen them fitted.  Not sure why this was, but because of that, we do not supply the gearbox cheesehead screws with fibre washers.  If you do want to fit them (and there is no reason why they cannot be fitted) - we sell them seperately - Item 0097

 

This is the distinctive oil level filler plug as fitted to all Laydown Norton Gearbox's (under and to the left of the kickstart boss) from 1951-56.  As per the original it has the correct extra fine thread, square head, with screwdriver slot.  Ours are CNC machined in Stainless Steel and also look vgery pretty.

As you can from the photogrpahs, I have shown pictures of the original Norton Gearbox laydown outer cover, that shows where this oil level plug resided - and as its name suggests, it is there to give owners an indication when the main gearbox casing had been filled with oil to the correct level.  You would first drain out old oil from the main gearbox sump plug, and once having replaced that you would unscrew this distinctive plug and then place new gearbox oil via the oval shaped clutch worm inspection cover.  Once the correct oil level had been reached, oil would flow along a special oilway at the back of the inner gearbox shell into an area behind the oil level plug.  Once any excess had drained, the plug was replaced and you knew the oil level was correct.

I have seen 3 versions of this plug - one with just a square head (which is actually very difficult and fiddly to remove, because few owners have a spanner to fit the square head and resort to a large adjustable that hits and scratch's the gearbox cover), and then the type with a screwdriver slot parallel to the outer square, and finally the most common type you see here - where the screwdriver slot is diaganally across the square - which is the best type (and I assume the type that Norton themselves quickly settled on).  This allows for a screwdriver to be used to loosen the plug, while also offering a longer screwdriver slot length than the type where the slot is parallel with the square. 

We replicate this type exactly as per original - but we CNC machine these from stainless steel and as well as the fine thread and flat rear face, we also perform two milling operations - we mill the square head, then mill the screwdriver slot at 45 degrees to the square in stainless steel.  So as well as being very practical (particularly as most originals are now badly chewed) they also look very pretty and do not rust. (this is not the cheapest of fasteners, but the time taken to perform two milling ops as well as the turning reflect this).

Background Information:

This particular screwplug is particularly unusual in that it has an extra fine thread (often mistaken for 3/8" BSC - but it is actually finer and a bigger diameter than BSC - so dont attempt to fit a BSC bolt by mistake!).  However, it also has a particularly flat end to the threaded section, with almost no thread chamfer - where it locates into the gearbox filler area (see accompanying photographs). 

The original 1955 Norton Spare Parts List also lists a washer for this plug (Part No 13833), but does not include a picture.  I vaguely remember stripping one of these gearbox's many years ago and finding a small piece of brown gasket paper fitted to the end of this flat threaded area - which would make sense . . . but it was so long ago I cannot be sure, so I will leave you to decide if you want to fit one.  

Final point - if you are considering buying this plug, but also considering changing any other screws on the outer gearbox cover - then please look instead at Item 0996 - as that kit contains all the cover cheesehead screws, bottom blind nuts and this filler plug within that kit.  Also, If you really want the type without the screwdriver slot (i.e. because you have a special square spanner, we did make a handful without the slot - drop us a note when ordering, if you want one of this type instead)

This listing is for an alloy racing gearlever, complete with wasted gearbox bolt and locknut (to take lockwire) and correct SOHC Manx style gearlever rubber, to fit all Norton upright gearbox type splines - and has been faithfully reproduced from a genuine original SOHC Manx gearlever. 

As well as the gearlever itself, it comes complete with a very pretty 'wasted' racing type gearlever bolt (CNC'd in stainless steel), which has a deep head (as most Norton gearlever bolts did at that time), but counterbored to remove weight, and also drilled both top and bottom to accept lockwire, after a small locknut is fitted - so as not to come off through vibration.  The gearlever itself is threaded, but also comes with a locknut to help prevent the bolt loosening (as gearlever bolts are prone to do in use).  If you wish, the bolt thread is long enough for you to remove the locknut and fit a nyloc nut in its place.

Finally, the lever is fitted with a gearlever rubber of the same style as originally fitted to Manx Nortons in the 1940's (and one is shown fitted to the original lever, which may be original).  As a final bit of bling, we have added lockwire to the rubber - which was a common period fitting on race bikes.  We also supply 12 inches (approx) of lockwire in a small bag, to apply  to the bolt after fitting (as I have done in the main listing photograph).

These are not cheap, but hopefully you will agree that as well as being pretty, they are a quality reproduction of original and rare 'short' Norton SOHC (Manx type) gearlevers - which are themselves now extremely hard to find.  

(Note: we pack the assembled gear lever and lockwire in sealable bags to protect them in storage - with a small squirt of Duck Oil is sprayed in, this can be wiped off with a soft cloth on fitting, and a quick re-polish given if you want them shiny)

Background and Manufacturing Information:

The original gearlever this pattern was copied from came off a genuine upright Manx racing gearbox endcover, that came from an old colllector friend many years ago, who had a huge quantity of genuine Manx Norton parts and bikes, of both pre-war and postwar types (including some Works stuff).  The gearbox cover and original gearlever are shown in the fith photograph and when they came into my posession, looked like they had not been touched since last used in the 1950's.  Interestingly the original gearlever is cast alloy (and production quality, not homemade) and looks to have all the hallmarks of an original Manx lever, including the correct Norton spline. 

I had heard it was more normal for production pre-Featherbed Manx models to have cast steel gearbox levers fitted, although I think some alloy were made and also fitted to Works models.  I know the previous owner of this gearbox/gearlever had been collecting since the early 1960's and had some rare Works stuff in his collection - so just a small possibility it is a 'Works' type lever (and included is a picture of one of the 39-49 type Works bikes, which does look to have a very similar gearlever attached).  i am not sure if this is true  . . . but ours replicate the original pattern in shape and form exactly . .. and it is a nice story to tell anyone, if you have one of these fitted to your bike!

Manufacture: First I had boxed patterns made for this lever (from our excellent UK patternmaker - real craftsmen), and then a batch of levers were cast in Heat Treated LM25TF alloy from these.  We then had a spline broach manufactured by a specialist broaching company with the correct Norton (pre-AMC) type spline, this company then taking the part machined gearlevers to add the spline in the correct position (gearlever splines should have a small blank area either side of the slit, without teeth).  Following the spline being added, we then completed the machining operations (for which a number of jigs were made - see photos), and then the final levers were linished and polished. Therefore apologies these are not cheap - but the setup costs were substantial, but the result in a nice lever that is an exact copy of the SOHC Norton type they were modelled on.

As a final point - Normal roadgoing Inter models with forward mounted footrests and 'upright' style gearbox's, used the more normal style long curved gearlever (which we may stock again in the future), however, roadgoing non-Featherbed models using the 'Laydown' style of gearbox, used a cast steel lever which was of similar length and shape to these 'racing' type levers.  However, if you look at an original laydown gearbox lever (see last photo) - you will note that as the lever comes away from the spline boss, the pattern sits slightly upwards from centre (denoting it being a roadgoing type).  However, as can be seen in the final photograph, our lever alongside that standard type shows that if you cannot find a road type lever elsewhere - these could be used as a suitable substitute for that Laydown type gearbox.

 

This is the distinctive large diameter, fine thread nut that fits centrally to retain the Norton Oilbath Chaincase outer cover.   They screw onto the threaded end of the tube welded to roadgoing Norton engine plates, and are designed slim, so when fitted, will not foul the end of the shaft, which has a serrated end for retaining the Norton footrest hangers.  

We CNC manufacture these in stainless steel, to the original design, so as well as looking pretty - they will not rust.  (Note we also sell the special lipped washer that fits behine this nut - see Item 0380). 

Price is Each

These nuts should always be fitted in conjunction with the large lipped steel washer (A2/495), which fits behind the nut and spreads the load on the oilbath outer cover, and helps centralise it.  We also sell this item (sold seperately - See Item 0380) in stainless steel to the original design - so when fitted together, they look very pretty and prevent rusing.

Note: as these nuts are fitted in a prominent position - i.e. in the centre of the black painted chaincase, we linish the Hex faces of this nut, then lightly polish the nut, to give a nicer finish.  In conjunction with an Item 0380 lipped washer this gives a much nicer finish.  However, for those people that prefer an unpolished finish (i.e. the stainless steel Hex is left unpolished as it comes to us from the steel supplier), as originals were often dull plated - we can supply those as well - just leave a note in the 'comments field' when placing your order - quoting 1154U, meaning unpolished.