kickstart cotter

[yosemite]

Hi
 I tried to start the t35  mk 4 today, but had problems with the kickstart, initially I thought that the cotter pin was damaged, so took a ride on the other douglas tothe local bycicle shop and bought a new one, however when I tried to fit it the new pin just did not engage, and further inspectiion revealed that the shaft was quite damaged, and the new pin was  quite a loose fit in the lever.
I am thinking of  filing up the flat on the shaft ,reaming the lever over sixe and then making a new oversize cotter pin to suit, however the kickstart shafthas what appears to be an alloy plug in yhe end  is it  hollow?  If so I dont know how much  i can file it back with out weakening the shaft too much, could anyone please tell  mew if it is hollow and if it is so the inside diameter of the shaft
Another alternative I considered would be to re-build the shaft with weld but that would need the box dismantled to do it, and again as the lever appears worn would probably need an oversize cotter
does anyone have any alternative suggestions
Thanks
Paul

[eddie]

Hi Paul,
             Yes, some Mk kickstart shafts were hollow and fitted with an alloy plug. If you are worried about weakening the shaft by re-filing the flat for the cotter, why not drill and tap the plug so that you can use a stud and nut to withdraw it? - then replace it with a steel plug. You should then be able to tidy up the flat with a small file. Something you will find is that Mr Douglas did not use the standard dimensions for the position of the cotter pin - it has a different offset from the kickstart shaft - so you may be forced to make your own new cotter pin (unless you know the whereabouts of an old established bicycle shop that still stocks 'blank' cotters without a flat) - you can then file the flat to suit.

  Regards,
                 Eddie.

[yosemite]

Thanks Eddie
Had a better look today, unfortunately the flat on the shaft  looks to have been previously "repaired", that is it looks as though whoever has done it has used a rocking motion when filing, and taken it quite far down, I also found a piece of thin steel  on the stand that looks as though it has been use as a spacer betwwen the old cotter and the shaft. tried a bar the same diameter as the cotter in the hole and it passes through without making contact. so even a blank cotter wouldn't help. looks as though the box will have to come out. Will have a look to see if I have a spare shaft  when I get to Ireland tomorrow, going to be a cold night.
Paul

[yosemite]

good news on two counts first  managed to get the kickstart sortod out today, the shaft had been filed back about  so he geometry was close to that of my BSA A65, ended up fitting a bsa kickstart, and filing back the cotter to suit, will do as a temporary repair until I get the chance to pull the gearbox, and fit the spare shaft I brought back last weekend . unfortunately  I've lost track  of where half my tools are. so not confident about doing any major work until I get everything back under one roof.
the second bit of good news is the t35 mark one got me to Ireland and back without a problem, through temperatures I am told were down to -6 and  torrential rain outside Belfast, a round trip of around 700 miles I am really pleased with the way it ran,
  Paul