A 3AJ Rebuild getting ready for Sandraiders 2026

[firestarter_phil]

So, after a short exchange with @peterA I made the trip up to Glasgow to collect his 1988 3AJ.

As Peter had been clear in his original post, it was mechanically sound but needed a bit of cosmetic work to bring it up to spec. Knowing that I was going to do a full prep for Sandraiders, this was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to do a rebuild / upgrade of a lot of parts and am not frightened to get my hands a little bit dirty.








So a quick trip up to Scotland and loaded up onto the back of my Grenadier so the project could begin.




I will keep the updates coming as progress is already underway and I am very very sure that I will be looking for help and support from previous posts and from those more knowledgeable then I am.

[firestarter_phil]

Strip down of the bike well under way











Let's Hope that it goes back together just as easily as it came apart!! That said, I couldn't get anyway near the spokes, so the cutting wheel was deployed for that. Only had one bolt head that was stripped which I needed to cut and drill out.

Time to get all of the various bushes and bearings out and then it can head off for powder coating.

Will be keeping the original colours for this trip and expect there to be a repaint after Morocco. I am aware that originally the calipers etc were a gunmetal and the swingarm was a brighter silver - for the purpose of this trip and the need to keep costs manageble I will be going with just three colours, which are Red for the frame, Black for the hubs, top yoke, levers etc and bright silver for swingarm, calipers, suspension mounts etc.

Haven't decided whether the rims can be polished or powdercoated, so will do a further inspection. I believe they are too far gone for polishing so powdercoating is the most likely outcome.

[charliext1vj]

Watching with interest! Wondering what modifications you will do - LED Headlights - losing some of the weight? etc If you havent seen it look at the Dave Lambert - Harry Garage Youtube TT600 for inspiration.

[cadno]

Great start to a project.
If you're intending to race it in the desert, there's only one place to put those 40 year old rims
Source some Excels or SM rims and go a gauge up on the rear spoke size.

[firestarter_phil]

Watching with interest! Wondering what modifications you will do - LED Headlights - losing some of the weight? etc If you havent seen it look at the Dave Lambert - Harry Garage Youtube TT600 for inspiration.

At the moment, the plan is to try to keep things as original as possible, mainly to keep the costs down, but for certain I will be upgrading suspension as a bare minimum.
LED Headlights are a likely upgrade as are some other enhancements for Nav etc. I may consider a different enduro style tower, but trying not to get too carried away at this stage

[firestarter_phil]

Great start to a project.
If you're intending to race it in the desert, there's only one place to put those 40 year old rims
Source some Excels or SM rims and go a gauge up on the rear spoke size.

I know that you are right on this one. I am going to keep the rims for the time being at least until we are ready to ship and see how they stand up. I am pretty sure the front is a replacement anyway. Excel is what I have my eyes on and once the hubs etc have been done we will make the call.

Someone with a better understanding of wheels than me will certainly guide me, I'm sure.

[firestarter_phil]

Right,

I think, I have got all bearings and bushes out of all parts and have got things boxed up and off to be powder coated.




It all seems a little sad that it can fit into one box!

Next jobs, whilst the powder coating is happening, are to repair the tank and top fairing to get them to a point of respectability and to have a look at the top end of the engine, timing chain etc

[firestarter_phil]

I decide, that whilst the engine was away from the frame, it made sense for me to at least open her up a little and take a look inside.

I am going to see if I can keep this limited to the top end only so have stripped off the top and removed the barrel.




and also used this as an opporutnity to pick myself a engine cradle which I felt I deserved for all the hard work



The whole thing cam apart pretty easily with the only struggle I had being getting one of the two head 'nuts' which are sunk down into the barrel cooling fins. I have got new replacements of those, along with OEM new head bolts.

I have decided to go for a 97mm Wiseco piston back in there, which I had sent over from Kedo along with a gasket set and the aforementioned OEM nuts and head bolts





I have sent these off to a local machine shop for a quick bore out, skim and re-seating of the valves. Hopefully that should be back at about the same time as I get things back from the powder coater.

I have also got new timing chain and guides that will go back in on the rebuild and an EBC clutch and plates. Will send in some pics when I get all the pars back and before we start putting things back together.

[cadno]

Where did you source the engine cradle from?

[firestarter_phil]

Its a Sealey MES01 and I got it from TradeCounterDirect

https://www.tradecounterdirect.com/seal ... inder.html