The mock-up, part 1.

So, let's take this nice and slow.
Day two of the mock up starts with a big heavy chunk of octagonal brass that Peppe turned on the lathe to make a steering stem nut. This solves the problem of the mismatched thread and looks pretty neat:

 You may remember there was another issue with the steering stem: basically the neck is 1970 spec. and the stem itself is 1971 on, so a couple of spacers had to be machined:

The tattoos on the upper right arm are of the Archangel Micheal slaying something and the motto "si vis pacem para bellum" (if you want peace, prepare for war). Underneath, another motto: "in dogs we trust".

The spacer is held in place with a grub screw.

Not bad huh?
Next, more spacers, this time much larger and made of Teflon, also held in place with a grub screw. These are a tight fit on the stanchions to provide an attachment point for the gaiters.

Time to get the new tyre on:

The tattoo on the left calf is of a winged naked blondie with the motto "man's ruin"

Always nice to see how much new tyres change the look of a bike.

Sparks flying. This is a good sign and has been a recurring scene over the past few days. In fact, the bulk of the work has been metal fabrication, cutting, grinding, shaping and welding. Day after day. Peppe works fast because he has a long line of bikes waiting outside his workshop, but that doesn't mean it's sloppy work: everything went very well.

Above: the support for the oil tank is being cut to size, ready to be braced and welded on the frame.

The tattoo on the right calf depicts a cobra coiled around a 'V8' symbol, with the motto "bigger is better"... Peppe does have an AC Cobra but.... oh dear.

The oil tank is rigidly mounted so these welds have to be solid. This area of the frame will evolve to include the seat support and I can tell you it came out absolutely bullet-proof.

 Ok, now for the rear wheel spacer. We start from a big chunk of aluminium:

 And after a lot of work on the lathe...

We get an Apollo-capsule-shaped bit of awesomeness:

Starting to think about the battery:

And winding down for the day.

"It all happened so fast, officer..."

Well well... I have just spent a frantic week with Peppe doing the dry-build for the BSA. It is now "done" in the sense that all the welding and fabricating has been done. Now it all needs to come apart again to allow some of the welds on the frame to be reinforced, certain details cleaned up and of course proceed with painting those parts that need it. Once that is done, we can put it back together a second time and complete things such as oil pipes and electrical system.
I have taken about 150 photos during the mock-up, but it all happened so fast that it's going to be tricky coming up with something that's concise and not too detail-specific.
At the moment though, the BSA looks like this:

A weary Peppe gives the thumbs up. He has worked relentlessly at a furious pace to get all this done in such a short amount of time. Sparks were flying all the time, be them from an angle grinder, welder or sander. The incessant noise of hammering, drilling and filing, the smoke-saturated air (welding + Peppe's cursed cigar), it all made for an intense experience and it feels like the bike just "appeared" out of what was recently the familiar pile of the various parts. I think it will only be after it is painted and back in my garage that I'll truly feel like "it's done".