I can breathe!

Before...

After...

That's better. Too much empty space before...

Details...more details...

Probably not a lot going to happen on the project today aside from gluing a piece of rubber on the outside of the clutch cover to quiet the clutch noise a little (which I already did). I read somewhere that this will significantly reduce the clutch noise…and sure enough it does. I first applied the rubber to the outside cover with spray-on adhesive and went for a test ride. Sure enough, the noise was reduced. So I removed the rubber and reapplied it with high-temperature silicon and clamped it on the case to dry…

It's like I say when doing carpentry work…and in the words of Norm Abram…"You can never have enough clamps."  Here's a project I built for a friend of mine...

... see...clamps good!

OK, back to this project...
Before I glued on the rubber to the clutch cover, I did take a picture showing the bike with the modified faux-oil-pump chain…

I'm much happier without the tentioner on faux oil pump...and I love the copper fuel line!

Tomorrow my retro Quick Brick tires arrive. And by the end of next week, my new wheels should be built. Then it's on to final tweaking…then all of the prep work (which is going to be significant--disassembly, sanding, grinding, cleaning up welds, Bondo, more sanding, more grinding…then eventually paint!) It'll probably be a while between getting the new wheels on the bike and paint…I'll more than likely ride it around like it is for a while (I like it). Though, maybe I will primer it and ride it around primered (like the hot-rod guys did in the 70s!).

Mas later...

Getting into the details...

Last night and today I worked on my fuel tank. I purchased a Kreem tank liner kit and went through all of the gyrations required thoroughly line and seal the tank. It seemed to work perfectly. Looking down into the tank, you can see the white liner….

The Kreem tank liner requires 24 hours to drive before putting any fuel into the tank. I will probably give it a couple days to ensure it's completely dry given the humidity we have here.

Next I worked on the exterior of the tank. Sanding…Bondo…sanding…Bondo…and so on and so forth…

I got it close enough to give it a coat of primer. I'll work on the finish more when I'm ready to paint, etc. That'll be awhile…so the primer will protect the exterior of the tank until I'm ready…

Next it was on to the fuel line. The rubber hose looks ugly…and I wanted a copper fuel line anyway. Without a whole lot of thinking, I was able to get the fuel line installed.

And yes…there is a filter; it's inside the petcock.  Here's how everything looks so far...primered tank and copper fuel line...

The final thing I wanted to accomplish was to remove the "chain tensioner" from the chain on my faux oil pump. To accomplish this required significant amounts of pain and suffering…but it lost--I won!

Looks much better!

I also switched the pedals for a less ratty set...though the new set are still a little ratty.

Anyway, that's all for now.  Tomorrow morning I get to put fuel back into the tank and go for a ride! Slowly but surely, it's taking shape.

More later...

A couple of daytime pictures of the new fork...

The picture from last night was obviously not too good...very dark, little camera, weak flash, etc.   So I took a couple more pictures this AM at different angles to show how the new fork looks on the bike.  I think it is a very nice improvement...

The bike rides a lot better as well.  I'm happy!

I ordered a different air filter...a different petcock (so I can run a copper fuel line easier and cleaner)...my tires have shipped (finally!)...and I have two new wheels being built (the front wheel with a Sturmey Archer brake...no brakes is a bit challenging...FUN!...but challenging).

Stay tuned...

Fork me!

I got the new fork installed tonight.  Too tired to do much other than post the picture...

It rides much nicer!

'night.

Choke me!

Well...I had a little time to do a little this and that on the bike tonight. I did some piddly things like adjusted the clutch arm (the way it comes from China is crap...it’s now at a right angle to the cable--much nicer), greased the gears on the right side of the engine (dry as a bone from China), and moved the choke from the handlebars elsewhere.

There wasn’t much to the clutch arm or the gear greasing, but I did have a bit more fun with relocating the choke.

I guess they (whoever they are) think the controller for the choke should go on the handlebars. It looks like crap in my opinion, so I moved it.

After searching a bit, I found a great spot--on the right side behind the tank.

I took apart the controller and welded the back metal part it to the frame...

Then I drilled and tapped a hole and screwed the rest of the controller to the frame...

Nice, right?

I also installed the cheap chrome pipe...though not sure I like it...

We’ll see.

So I’m still waiting on my new fork, tires, and rims...and while I do, I might figure out a cleaner way to mount the coil...just need to think about it for a bit...

That’s it for this weekend...I’ll probably find some time to piddle during the week. Hopefully the rest of my parts will show up next week!

Update on parts and pieces...

No pictures to add this morning, but things are happening...

My Sturmey Archer front hub arrived, so I dropped it off at the bike shop last night to have a wheel built. While the original board track racers didn't have brakes, living in Houston requires a front and rear brake! I thought about doing a disk brake up front, but stylistically it's not appropriate for the era; hence, I went with a hub brake. I also ordered stronger rims and spokes. The 12-gauge spokes I have now look the part, but the reality is they are just old pot-metal spokes...so I'm having some double-wall downhill-racer wheels built--black rims, chrome spokes.

I also ordered a new front fork...again, something appropriate for the period. I went with a Monarch replica. I like the design of the forks and think they compliment the rest of the bike. And yes, I've read all the comments on the Monarch forks on the Internet. I actually called the guys at Crossbow--apparently they were aware of earlier problems with the forks and have addressed the issues. The forks are now welded--not brazed--but if needed, I'll reinforce it with extra welds where it's needed (if needed).

I also got a chrome exhaust...it was cheap (really cheap)...so I thought, why not.

And I'm still waiting for my Felt Quick Brick tires to arrive--they've been on backorder forever...ugh! I'm told they will ship today...though I was also told they would ship on the 8th. Maybe they’ll arrive before my wheels are ready...

So when all those bits and pieces arrive and are installed, that will pretty much be the end of the "building" (aside from moving the choke cable from the handlebars elsewhere)...then it's on to the finishing. I have to clean up welds; Bondo where needed (smoothing out the tank, for example); sand blast a few parts; send a few parts out to get chromed (my buddy owns a chroming and plating company); paint the frame, tank, and faux oil tank their respective colors; and so on. But the question is...do I want to do all that finish work? It's not that I'm lazy or averse to the work...the reality is, I sorta like the bike just the way it is--bare metal and raw! Most folks I talk to (you cannot go anywhere on the bike without random people talking to you about it...I love that part) love it just the way it is...in general folks are trying to persuade me to leave it a rat bike. I dunno...I guess we'll see...

The littlest things take so friggin long…

Mas progress!

I got the rear fender installed, but like everything else, it wasn't without a few challenges. This had to be ground down; that had to be drilled; this over here had to be bent…

Anyway, here are a few shots of the fender…

More later…

Now that's an engine!

So this is another one of those times where it doesn't look like a lot was done, but it took a long time to do it!

I worked on my faux oil pump today…and also welded the pin-hole leaks in my gas tank. The tank welding was easy…the oil pump…a little challenging. I mean, even to get to here took entirely too long...

But eventually I got it installed. I had to fabricate another piece of aluminum for the other side…then figure out how to mount a chain tensioner…blah blah blah. Seriously…I know it doesn't look like a lot, but dang it…what a pain!

When you step back and look at it all together…tis nice, no?

 

Hopefully my tires will get here this week; I need to install those...and I want to move the choke elsewhere...and I have a lot of finish work to do--like grinding welds, installing the rear fender, filling all the scratches from the grinding, installing some copper tubing, yada yada...

Anyway, it's coming along!

A couple of videos I found on YouTube...

This one is from 1920...



...back when men were men!

This one is some modern-day guys having fun!

Mas progress...

I had some time this afternoon to do a little work on my project.  As I've mentioned several times, I needed something to fill the area where the oil pump used to be on the turn-of-the-century board track racers.  Well…I finally found something!  I went to see my buddy Vic at The Rover Shoppe…he let me wander around a bit and within a few minutes I found it--a fan clutch out of an old Land Rover…perfect!

I spend some time drawing and subsequently cutting out a bracket to hold it.  I need to weld in a couple of bracket to bolt it to the frame, but this is what it looks like right now…sans paint, etc., but you get the idea…

I have to make another bracket for the other side, weld on the brackets (like I mentioned before) and then install a shaft and gear for the chain that will run to it…yada yada… but at least it's taking shape!

I've also mentioned how I wasn't happy with the seat, so I fabricated a bracket and a way to mount it to the seat and the bike…looks nice and will support the back of the seat…

And then one other thing I was able to accomplish was to weld a tab to the frame to mount the chain tensioner.  I had this bolt-on thing that looked like crap, so I cut it up and was able to use a piece of it to accomplish the mission. And actually, I was going to weld it, but Sergio (I was at his shop) welded it while I was working on my seat bracket.  Thanks Sergio…but you only welded one side…now I got to weld the other!

hmm...gonna need to clean up those welds :-)

So not much time, but it feels good to knock out a few piddly things.

Mas later…

IT'S ALIVE!!!

I didn't plan on working a whole lot on the project today, but it was raining, so I piddled in the garage...

The first thing I did was to mount the tank to the frame.  Here's the hardware I used...I lined the inside with rubber and used rubber washers on the tank...

I've got four brackets on the tank...this is what it looks like mounted on the bike...

Remember me saying I didn't like the way the seat looked on the bike...well I fixed it!  I like this a lot better...

I'm going to fabricate some brackets to go from the seat stays to the bottom of the seat.  It will look a lot like an Indian from the era, but I don't have the metal to make it right now...it can wait.  But doesn't that look a lot nicer than before?

I guess you can see all the wiring and extra-long clutch cable flopping about in the picture right before the seat...so I went ahead and cleaned up all of that...

Muchas better!

After I checked to ensure all of the bolts were tight and double checked everything else, I put some fuel in the bike to see if it would start.  The first thing I noticed was that I had a pinhole leak in the tank.  I guess my welding isn't as good as I thought, but it wasn't too bad...I'll fix it later.  So after dealing with that...I started up the bike and went for my very first ride on it!  Omar was outside with his wife and kiddo...I gave him the camera to film the inaugural ride!

I was so fast I was a blur as I buzzed the tower!

And here's the bike after the ride!

I guess the pinhole leak in the tank was a little worse than I though...no problem...I'll fix it.

My first ride was awesome!  I'm still grinning.

There's still a lot left to do.  I did fix the seat, but I have to make some brackets for the rear of the seat.  There's also a lot of little details, but the big thing is to fabricate an "oil pump" and finish my gas tank... and all the other yada yada I've mentioned before.

I'm pretty jazzed about the bike starting so easily and running so well.  Super fun!

More later....

It takes a lot longer to build a tank than I thought...

Mission accomplished, but it took a lot longer than I expected...

I started out by placing all of my templates onto the sheet metal and tracing them out...

Then with my cut-off wheel, I went to work...

Next I needed to mark out everything.  I wanted to mount the tank to minimize external hardware, so I decided to weld some coupler nuts inside the tank so I could screw the tank to the frame in a more professional manner.  Here's the layout of the six of them...

Then I screwed them to the sheet metal in preparation for welding...

Next I needed a gas cap.  Since the tank that come in the kit had one, I decided to use it.  Before...

After... :-)

Here's a few other views...

Here's what the coupler nuts look like welded onto the inside of the tank...

And here's yours truly welding and grinding the new tank...

So here's the tank on the bike...  

It took a long time to build the tank, and when I was done... I was done!  Clearly the tank needs more grinding and sanding, but it's all welded up.  I'll pressure test it at some point in the next few days.  

Aside from that, I still have a ton to do.  I don't really like the way the seat is mounted to the bike; I'm going to do something different.  I still need to clean up some wiring.  I want to use copper line instead of rubber hose for the fuel line, so I got to figure that out.  I also need to fabricate an "oil pump" and incorporate it into the design...and on and on...but I'm getting there...slowly...

I don't think I'll be working on it tomorrow, but I'll piddle a bit during the week...

That's all for now...