Hi Doug,
Motoliner reckoned the headstock was pretty easy to move, but the real trouble lay elsewhere, not least the solid bar inserted in the bottom section. All pretty flimsy at the front really! I knew a guy with a single down-tube Triumph who called it Access, because it was his Flexible Friend, to quote the credit card ad from the 1970's. I watched it spit him off one day, and am wondering if this one might be another Access in the making?....
Thanks for the heads up Steve re the flea bay forks. I'll keep an eye on them. Would they be of the period 31/32?
I have done a good few miles behind Sunbeam Model 9 forks, and rather like them, and as the bearings all seem to be good, I have something to be going on with for now. The Douglas steering damper seems to fit the Sunbeam 1 1/16" stem OK - unless it's a Douglas stem matched to a Sunbeam blade? The head bearings are a skinny 1.710 OD and one is nicely modified to match the Sunbeam top race. The bottom one fits the stem as it should.
Rear wheel build is next. All good lock down fun!