Is this a typical restoration?
Well, in the sense that it is a reasonably complete bike
with mostly original fittings, no. 
Many projects start with modified or non-standard bikes which
will need long hours of searching at autojumbles and on the
internet to find parts to bring them back to original - if
that's what you want. It is a typical bike in the sense that
most of it is worn out & what work has been done on it
during its life hasn't been to the highest standard....that's
a polite way of saying bodged.
Firstly get a decent digital camera (with a macro setting
if
possible) & take pix from every angle of every major
component, its fixings & position in relation to other
major components plus any odd looking or possibly non standard
items. These can then be emailed/sent to self appointed
know-it-alls (moi? surely not) to spot the oddity or tell you
whats missing (but probably not where to get it).
You will never remember where every nut & washer goes
so these pix are invaluable. Take more as the stripdown
progresses & write notes to remind you what is missing or
needs attention/replacement. You will have a looooong list by
the time the real work starts but you can start stocking up on
wants straight away
Very much a personal thing but I've settled on an order which
suits me. One aspect of restoring old bikes that can be
frustrating are the long periods where you are spending money
fast, working long hours on it & seeing no improvement or
progress. In reality you are getting there but you see the
same boxes of bits lying about. I like to spice the process up
by gathering the chroming together early on in the rebuild
& sending that off. That usually takes a few weeks to
arrive back by which time you are bored to tears of degreasing
frames & engines. The sight of some beautifully
rechromed parts raises the spirits...momentarily.
Likewise the petrol tank. It can be a great boost to do that
early on & look forward to the day it can sit on a
restored frame & cycle parts.
So this is the order I do things.......
The
welded on clutch centre......OOOH DEAR !!!
I like to get the engine out of the frame early on. Don't try
& take it out complete. Often it physically can't be but
that is not the reason. As long as the rear wheel & chain
are in place the rear brake can be adjusted on to lock the
wheel solid & this provides a valuable service when
tight nuts on the clutch centre/mainshaft/gearbox sprocket
need to be undone.
Note
that the engine has been dismantled "in situ". The
primary drive, cam drive, & entire gearbox have been
removed along with the cylinder head , cylinder & piston.
Now inspection of the individual parts can proceed
& the engine can finally be removed from the frame
Before we move on lets look at what was in the timing case
of this engine.
A
cam chain the like of which I've never seen. Normally the OE
"Elias" chain is a plain oblong sideplate. This one
would look more at home in a chain saw. If you look at the
"cam drive" section of the site you can see the
damage it did to the timing cover when the tensioner failed.
The OE chain is no longer made but a modern replacement is
available with a more appropriate profile.
This is the type of chain tensioner found in the engine. A
rather sorry looking original.
