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UPDATE:
I received the frame today and it is in pretty poor shape (paint wise). I think a good pressure washing will get the grease and multi color off of it (black, yellow and white). Also it is not totally unmolested, looks like the former owner tried to weld on a couple of brackets, for who knows what, with a stick welder (more chunks of welded spots ). I will be grinding that off and shooting it with some paint to keep it from rusting.
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DON'T FORCE IT... GET A BIGGER HAMMER!!
UPDATE:
I spent some time prepping the frame so the motor polishing is on hold temporarily, I do not have the gasket kit ordered yet so I still have time.
I have the frame power washed and it was not in all that bad condition except for the multi color scheme and a few scratches. All it needed was a washing and some sanding after I got the wanna-be welds off of there. I also had time to prime it today so here it is...
Right side after sanding:
Left side after sanding:
Right side after primer:
Left side after primer:
Here are some welds I can cut to achieve the desired rake in the frame without having it look molested:
I think by cutting these welds and pulling out the bottom then filling in the gaps I can have it looking pretty clean.
__________________
DON'T FORCE IT... GET A BIGGER HAMMER!!
I have been busting my ass at my new job and the second job and have not had alot of time to spend with the bike. However I did manage to get a few of the engine parts polished up and I have ordered some parts (a few were donated at a reasonable price, all prices include shipping). Here is the rundown :
Jireh Cycles
Cometic gasket kit $79.95
Hastings piston rings $23.95
3 position ignition switch $11.95
===================================
TOTAL $414.91
I am not including the rust remover and polishing compounds in the equasion because I will be using that stuff in other projects or people will be borrowing it I am sure.
I also have a few other ebay auctions I am watching and waiting to bid on which include: Triple tree: to replace the fork stem (by going with a newer frame), MIG welders (it will be great to do the welding where the parts are), rear drive belts (to get the geometry right for the rear end) and forward controls (?because the wife insist I need them on this bike?).
I will try and post some pictures tomorrow as a part of this update.
__________________
DON'T FORCE IT... GET A BIGGER HAMMER!!
It has been a great 3 day weekend! Total money spent is $12.00 for some steel pipe and $25.00 for a bottle of Captain Morgan and a bottle of Coke.
I.S.I. (my employer) was kind enough to borrow me a Miller TIG welder and a bottle of gas for the weekend and I managed to get the frame welded up.
The amount of things that have to be taken into consideration when doing a custom frame will boggle the mind. First off, the frame components must be perfectly straight and remain that way throught the entire project which means alot of clamping and measuring then weld a little and check clamps and measurements again. I must have done this a thousand times for just this one frame and I must say for my first full on custom frame it turned out being within 1/32nd inch in all areas. All areas that are welded together must mate up very close to perfect which means alot of grinding to make one pipe fit correctly to another pipe with all angles taken into consideration.
The downtubes were removed and replaced with 1 piece of 1.5" pipe, 5" longer than the original. Above the engine mounts I cut the frame and replaced the area with a couple of bent sections welded the downtube to the original frame. Then I made a piece to slip into the existing backbone section to extend it 3" out. The steering neck is at 45 degrees and that gives me a "true trail" of 4.5" which should be the perfect number.
Now for the pictures!
Here is the frame after I completed tacking up the front section to figure out my trail.
A close-up of the down tube mating to the bottom of the frame.
After I got my measurements correct for where the rear tire should be I tacked up the original bikes hardtail section and extended it 3" to accomodate the 135 tooth belt.
And lastly, here is the welded frame.
__________________
DON'T FORCE IT... GET A BIGGER HAMMER!!
It was a truly great weekend getting the skeleton of the bike together and almost ready for parts to be added. By almost, I mean, some of the welds need to be touched up and there is some sanding to be done just to get the welds virtually invisible after paint is applied. I am thinking that should be done in about 4 hours when I find time to get it done. Then I should have a 80% completed bike with the components I have in various boxes throught the garage, then I can start the wiring and/or the plumbing. I still need to recieve the engine gasket kit and I still need some wiring and turnsignals.
__________________
DON'T FORCE IT... GET A BIGGER HAMMER!!
UPDATE:
Saturday and today I managed to get the frame cleaned up and primed, with some help from my son. I used 2 items from Ever-Coat, the first step was to apply some Glass-Lite to smooth in the transitions from the larger diameter tube to the smaller size tube back by the rear end, then I sanded that and finished it with the easy sand body filler, A little sanding to clean up the scratches in the paint and smooth in the body filler and it was ready for primer.
I used some red primer to enhance the pictures and see what it will look like with something other than black. I think the red looks pretty good... but I am so used to black on a Harley it is hard to make a decision.
Now for the pictures:
Side shot:
The front end:
The rear end:
And lastly 2 straightness checks:
__________________
DON'T FORCE IT... GET A BIGGER HAMMER!!
Maybe I will keep the red but I will have to see what it looks like with the bike in "pre-assembly" mode, which means I still need to get the rear fender and tanks in primer and mounted with the wheels to get a better idea of what it will look like.
Tyler (the son) mentioned that deep purple tanks, frame and fender with the rest in black and chrome would look good and I am kind of partial to a maroon, black and chrome scheme. Time to switch mode and consider what a lighter color, in place of the dark ones, would look like. Seems like you guys are interested in the HD flat color, or is it the lighter color in general?
I will try and get it mocked up by next weekend and see if I can get a Photoshop picture done with the colors in question. I have absolutely no idea how to do it so I will put in a request on a board.
__________________
DON'T FORCE IT... GET A BIGGER HAMMER!!
