You can buy belt adjusters for this frame, but not on Saturday. I made these from hardware store bolts and nuts. I had them chrome plated. More on chrome later.

 

Next, I decided to move the tank up and aft. Here you see the position that I wanted it in.

 

I cut a new aft mount hole in the frame aft of the original. I then welded the original mount hole closed. At the forward end, I cut the mount bracket from the frame and made new ones from 3/4” rod which I threaded internally and welded to the frame. I did all of this to expose the chrome rocker boxes.

 

You can purchase from Paughco a frame post that holds the coil. That would be way too easy. I decided to make mine. In the first photo below you see my first attempt on the right. On the left is my second try, still under construction.

The next two photos show the post installed with the coil bracket welded in place.

The third and fourth photos show the completed post on the right next to my first attempt. The cut-outs are there to clear the exhaust and the cylinder head. The two holes at the top are there because the engine is offset to the left that exact mount. The hole on the right is an oil tank mount hole. The last photo shows the oil tank forward mount bracket in place with the coil post attached.

 

OK. All of the cutting, welding, modifying, etc. was now done. It was time to disassemble the bike and paint the frame. I was watching a Saturday morning “techno” show on Speed (I can’t remember which one but I think it was Hot Rod TV) and they powder coated an entire car frame in red. That was it for me. I decided to have the frame powder coated in red. There are lots of purists that think that welds should be smoothed and filled. I think welds are beautiful and functional. Let them show. Anyway, I had a professional powder coat the frame and it turned out beautiful.

 

The next step was to re-assemble the engine and install it and the transmission into the frame.

 

If you look at the front of the tank, there is a huge gap between it and the top of the top frame rail. I eliminated this gap with fiberglass and a little bondo.

 

It was now time for paint. First I sanded all of the paint from the tank. I then sprayed the tank and the rear fender with epoxy primer. I put black basecoat made by DuPont on the tank and fender and then set about designing a paint scheme. Designing a paint scheme is harder than Chinese arithmetic but I finally settled on a plan.

 

I masked an area of the tank, rear fender and oil tank. I mixed fine metal flake powder from House of Kolor in with clear. I sprayed that on the tank and then sprayed House of Kolor Kandy Red over it. I outlined the red area with a ¼” inch House of Kolor gold. I removed the masking tape and sprayed several coats of DuPont Hot Hues clear over the entire tank, oil tank, and rear fender.

I had some problems with the Hot Hues that I won’t go into but it is doubtful that I will use it again

 

It is time to put it all together and see what it looks like. It is not too bad if I do say so myself.