The Oil Pump and Tank...

So in the design I'm sorta basing my design on, the gent used a couple of sheave wheels as a faux oil tank.  He used a large sheave wheel as the main part then used a smaller sheave wheel to run a chain around.  It looks like he used a tractor pin in the middle.  Looks like this on the left side...

And this on the right...

Pretty darned clever if you ask me!

But I want to do something a little more representative of the period.  Not sure what yet, but I'm thinking...  So I took a piece of cardboard and traced out the opening.  Here's the opening below the engine...

And here's my tracing...

So today I went to Northern tool to find anything round with about a 6-3/4" diameter.  I mostly struck out--I did find the smaller sheave wheel.  But, my buddy Serg gave me a part off an old BMW that houses the air filter.  It's quite "mechanical" looking; and I think if I combine it with something else, it might work.  Here's what I'm talking about...

So you have to imagine something behind the these two pieces with the muffler in front.  Maybe a larger Sheave wheel at the back...I dunno yet...I'm still looking for something.  And you have to image the cast piece in the picture above painted black...basically it would look something like this...

or like this on the bike (with it painted black)...

You can click the image to enlarge it...

And I guess on the back side it would look like this (in the mockup) if I did a sheave wheel...

Anyway...just thoughts.

By the way...did you see the toothbrush holder in the first two images?  That guy is pretty darned ingenious!

Stay tuned... :-)

Need parts and time...

I haven't had and won't have much time this week to work on the project, but I can order a few things here and there online...

I can think of nothing better than an aged Brooks saddle and grips for this project.  I ordered both!

Classic and perfect for this project!

I need to keep looking for something for the oil tank.  I also need to use my fuel tank template to cut out the metal for my tank.

It's all on my list...but my list includes more than just this project...unfortunately...

Stay tuned...

Doesn't look like much...but it was a lot...

You ever have a time where you worked your butt off, but it really didn't look like you did a whole lot?  This evening was one of those instances...

I put on a spare set of mountain bike tires while I await my Quick Bricks to arrive.  Apparently they will not ship until after the 8th.

I also needed to mount the motor more permanently...but I needed some rubber pieces to go between the motor and the frame.  Not a problem...just look on the side of the road and you can find exactly what you need...

With a hacksaw and some patience, I was able to make the rubber insert I needed...

It was a pain the in butt getting the motor mounted, but I finally got it done.

I also installed a chain...and some old pedals to hold me over until I can go get some nicer ones.  Then I did the majority of the wiring...  The way the wiring comes from the factory leaves a little to be desired, so I redid all of it...and still have a little more to do.  I also got the clutch working and installed the ignition coil.  I even pedaled it around a bit...

Here's where it is right now...

So that's all for now.  I probably won't do much until next weekend.  Stay tuned...

More progress...

I stayed up entirely too late last night with some poster board, an X-acto knife, cutting map and tape.  I constructed a fuel tank as the go-by for my project.  I'm not sure if I love it or not...clearly as a cardboard tank it's not very attractive, but with the right paint scheme I think it might have potential...

I also realized I have some tires I can install on the bike while I wait for my Quick Brick tires to arrive...so if I get to piddling on the bike today, I will install the tires to get me by until the new ones come in.

I also realized I need to pick up some more parts:

• pedals
• Brooks leather saddle
• Brooks leather grips
• chain

I'm sure there's more...

I would like to fabricate some "rockers"...something like these (circled in blue):

Click to enlarge the picture (actually, you can click to enlarge any picture)

And I also need to design some sort of oil tank...
I've not seen many examples of board track racer replicas in general, and the ones I have seen have a fundamental problem in my opinion--the frames don't dip down for the oil tanks (like the originals), and even if they do, many times the engines look too small in the frame, and there's simply too much open area...

All those bikes look great!  But I really want to fill the frame as much as possible.  The guy who built the example bike I like so much accomplished this by using a couple of pulleys to make the engine look bigger...

You can see the black pulley below the engine in this picture.

It appears he tack welded the pulley to the frame.  I probably won't do that; I'll mechanically secure it to the frame some how.

On this side you can see how he used a smaller pulley and incorporated a chain and sprocket into the design.  I really like the way he did this!

Here's the other side...

So while I like the pulley idea, I want to use something else--something more industrial or mechanical looking.  I'm not sure what yet...but something.  We'll see...

Update on the Board Track Racer...

Today was a good day!  Sergio told me about a Sprockets Bicycles and More near Kingwood, Texas.  Magnolia Marc and I met Sergio up there to go through the boneyard of old bikes.  I needed a few bits and pieces for my project.  Matthew Morrison, the owner of the shop, was kind enough to let us rummage through all of the old bikes.  As luck would have it, I found everything I was looking for and spent a total of $13! For that $13 I got three and a half crank arms, three sprockets, a neck and a set of handlebars...and Matthew even let us take off parts there in his shop.

Matthew was great!  I highly recommend Matthew's shop to anyone looking for bike parts...great shop...great guy!

When I got home, I was able to spend a little time fitting various bits and pieces to the bike.  Here's where I am as of this evening...

Clearly there is a lot left to do...but I'm making progress.

I'll spend some time tonight or tomorrow making my tank out of cardboard to use as a template for the steel version.  My tires are on backorder, so I'm still waiting for those.  I still need to fabricate some sort of "oil pump" to go below the engine, yada yada yada...

Stay tuned...

A change of direction...

Since my last post, a lot has changed...I've gone off in an entirely (though similar) direction.  Since I've already restored a couple of bikes, I decided instead of building a board track racer bicycle that I would build an actual board track racer replica--motor and all.

The black bike in my previous post was the genesis; hence, I'm modeling my design similar (though different) to it. So I'm scrapping the direction I was heading (and the parts I was going to use) and starting all over. So here we go...

The first thing I did was use various graphic tools to do a mockup of the bike I wanted to build. It's been tweaked a couple three times, but ultimately this is the bike I'm going to build...

I decided to find a girls bike as a starting place. The reason for the girl's bike is that I wanted to design the front of the bike myself. I also like the way the seat stays of a girl's bike terminate into the seat tube. Plus, girl's bikes are traditionally cheaper! Searching the Internet, I found a 1952 Hawthorne on Craigslist. I got it for $35, and the headset and bottom bracket were in fantastic shape. Here's what it looked like when I picked it up...

It stayed like that for about 15 seconds before disassembly began...

Anyone need a basket? (actually the basket has been accounted for already...)

Since then I've been locating parts... I ordered and received the motor kit... and doing a lot of cutting and grinding on black gas pipe that I used for the new tubing.  A few parts that I've found were some 12-gauge-spoke wheels and a Schwinn springer front end...

With those wheels and fork installed, the bike looked like this...

Then to the cutting and grinding...

I cut a new top tube out of gas pipe and fitted it to the bike...

My buddy Sergio welded it to the bike...

Next I needed to build a bottom tube.  With a little measuring and figuring, Sergio and I came up with a template for the down tube that matches many of the original board track racers.

The problem was figuring out how to bend the pipe.  We tried stuff the pipe full of sand and using heat to bend it, but at the end of the day, I ended up taking the pipe to a pipe bending company; they made short work of it...

Here's what the template looked like and these were the pieces the tube was bent around...

Here's the pipe-bending machine...

Here's where the guy is marking for the final bend based on the template...

And here's aside about the pipe-bending place...

First, I tried bending a piece with a conduit bender. It worked great except the radius was too big. The smaller conduit bender couldn't bend it. Next, Sergio and I tried bending the pipe by compacting it full of sand and heating the pipe to bend it...unfortunately it kinked. So I made several phone calls to pipe bending shops...most weren't interested in such a small job...but I finally found a place that would do it. It's a funny story...goes like this...

Me: Hey, I have a small pipe I need bent in a couple of places for a project I'm working on...could you help me out?
Heavily accented Mexican dood [the owner of company]: Sure man! Tis no problem. Bring it over...we'll bend it! 

Me: Cool. I'll see you in a bit!

Me [walking into building]: Hey I called about the pipe...I talked to the owner and he said...
Arturo: Sure man! Tis no problem. I'm Arturo. The owner is at lunch...

I showed Arturo the full-scale mockup. He and a couple of other guys talked for a few minutes in blistering fast Spanish (too fast for me to pick up much)... then they set off to a couple of impressive and quite formidable looking machines. I got to thinking..."hmm...3 doods and two large pieces of equipment...I better ask how much..."

Me: Arturo...what's this gonna cost me?
Arturo: About a hundred and feefty dollars.
Me: WHAT? Seriously? That's way too much...sorry Arturo, I'll figure out something else.
Arturo: How about a hundred dollars?
At that point I got to thinking...well, I drove all the way out here...there are three guys on it...and the equipment is HUGE...
Me: Well, OK...

So Arturo and the two other guys set to work on my down tube based on the template. They actually did an incredible job, took their time, and ensured it was perfect.

As Arturo and I are walking out to my truck...

Me: Do you guys take plastic? (my debit card)
Arturo: Nah...no plasteec.
Me: OK, well I will need to go to the ATM and get a little more cash...
Arturo: Well, how much cash you got?
Me [looking into my wallet]: I only have $63. I'll go get the other $40.
Arturo: No no...that's good...[as he takes the $63]
Me: No... seriously...I'll go get the rest from the ATM...it's no biggie...
Arturo: No no no...it's OK. [as Arturo stuffs the $63 into his pocket] If you need anything else, you call me... Arturo. [as he scribbles his number on a slip of paper]

The owner is probably thinking...I wonder why that guy who needed the single piece of pipe bent never showed up...

That night I went back to Sergio for some precise welding!

And we also figured out where and how the motor should be mounted in the frame...

And more cutting, grinding and welding pipe...

All done (for now anyway).  Here's Sergio standing with his welding handiwork!

Here's what the frame looks like relative to the template...

And here's where I am on the bike itself...

...and the front tire is flat in that picture...and the new tires are a bit taller, so the frame will be a little more off the ground than it appears to be in the picture.

While I wait for parts, I'll be cleaning up the welds and fitting the pieces I do have to the frame.  I also need to mock up a gas tank with some cardboard and design an "oil sump."

Stay tuned...