metal filler

d

Here is the front motor mount on Paul's 37 frame, it is a new vtwin mount which is a forging and tough as nails.   The dimensions are all corect, but the aesthetics are off.   Sometimes you run into an issue like this, where you have a nice reproduction part that is functional but needs a few features tweaked to make it look more like the original.   In this pic, the mount has already been welded to the  frame with steel filler rod, the first pass of sillicone bronze rod is already on, and I have to make a few more so that there is something for Jesse to file off.

 Here is the nearly finished mount.  1936 and 1937 frames have brazed front motor mounts, so there wont be any welding on this one.  I still have to put a couple tacks on the added mount to make it look authentic.  This is a lot of work, but it turned out really nice.

 This is a similar problem,  This frame is for Doug's 39,   some chopper momo  ground these lips off of the casting.

 Here is a pic of the filler on top

d

And here it is after Jesse filed it down.

d

This is the rear fender mount,  you can see that the horn button looking joint cups got sanded down,  this was definitely done to make somebody's bike more custom back in the day

 Here they are all done.   They are only tacked on the bottom of the frame on frames from 1936 to 1946. This is a lot of work, but its worth the effort.

Here is dougs frame all done.  It has new bottom rails, original loops installed and a new seat post and brake cross over shaft.   This is the frame that was in the jig during my wedding for those of you that came.

maiden voyages, transmissions, startes, clutches, nubs

This is an amazing pic of Herb Glass with his new 36 knucklehead that he special ordered in 35 with a 33 paint job on the tank. My friend RL from South Carolina posted this pic on the AMCA facebook page. If you guys have facebook, you should go join that group. there are over 1500 amazing pics on there. It is a nice place with free exchange of thoughts and information with out any attitude or politics
Wayne's 46 is operational and mobile. We have been tweaking it and putting in break in miles on it today. I have not ridden it yet, I will take it out for a spin tomorrow. When we finish a bike, my dad takes them for test rides, comes back with a list of adjustments, we make adjustments, then do the cycle all over again. I like to wait to ride them until after my dad or somebody else runs out of suggestions, then I can ride them with a fresh perspective and ear. There usually are only half a dozen things to work on if that.
Here is a cool pic of the riveted plates for a 38 to 40 4 bolt clutch. I cleaned these nice original plates up for Jim's 38. They are primo. This is the clutch set up that you want to use if you are running a 4 bolt clutch in your bike. the earlier bikes had just steel, fiber, steel fiber etc. and they would gaul up and get sticky.
Here is the primary all buttoned up and ready for service. I am waiting on some rear fender clamps to get painted black before I mount the rear fender.
We are working on a batch of transmissions, there are two 55s, a 37, 38, and a 47.
I got the starter for Jason's 65 all cleaned up and ready to go. I am waiting on a boot for the solenoid, then I can button up the primaries and start on the exhaust!
Here is a picture of my dad teaching dan how to co ax in a hole for the main drive gear race. A couple of the transmissions that we are working on had been run with the races loose in the case, so we had to bore them out for oversize races. When the cases were cut originally, the counter bores for the seals were concentric with the hole that the race goes in, so you can usually pick the bore up off of one of those dimensions, if they are shot, then you have to get a long finger for the indicator and dial in off of the hole that the bearing sleeve presses into.
This is the 38 case for my dad's bobber. it is pretty mint. check out the early drain plug, lack of date code and mintness of the castings.
whoa.
Here is a cast iron nub that one of our friends in michigan made. we are rebuilding his 38 motor for him. He couldn't find the correct 38 oil pump, so he machined these nubs out of a big block of cast iron and modified a 39 40 pump to work on his motor.
Here is the finished product. He did a great job, once this is painted it will be almost impossible to tell that it isn't a 38 pump.
one more pic of the case for my dad's 38, the two studs that the brake light switch go on are the same length as the rest of the studs. this has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I have seen some early original cases with the studs farther out, and some with all of the same studs. Do any of you guys have any comment on this? thanks and have a great april fools day

oil tank and rod race tool

My dad picked up Jim's 38 oil tank today. It turned out really nice. We are waiting on the fenders to get straightened out. They should be done pretty soon. I love 38s, they are the perfect year for a stock knucklehead.


Here is a tool that I made while I was still in high school almost ten years ago. It removes the bearing races out of harley rods.

Here is a picture of male rod next to the race that just got pressed out of it. When you do this, you want to make sure that the factory stake marks are on the top! The only thing better than a cool tool is a cool tool that you make yourself.

Go check out this article that my friend Ed Youngblood wrote up about me for the Antique Motorcycle Foundation website. have a great night.

http://www.antiquemotorcyclefoundation.org/people.html

plating etc

A box full of nickle plating showed up today from our friend Doug! This stuff looks so good. Most of the 36 to 39 manifolds are reproduction ones that we make.


These are for the 47 bobber that we are building for Glenn. I pre polished some spots on them, and as soon as i hit the areas with a little bit of compound, these will glow!



HEre are some of the carbs that got plated. Pretty cool stuff!




Ray is still prefitting all the stuff that goes on the 65. It is coming along well, the fender tips and tail light were repro on the bike. I found an original tail light and rear fender tip, but still need an og frong tip. Do any of you guys have one you would be willing to set me up with, shoot me an email at amcayouthprogram@hotmail.com if you do. Thanks

Carb pics

Some of our friends From the motor company are flying my dad and I out to York to do a tour and talk to some of the employees on wednesday. We will be back on Sunday. So I am trying to get some projects ready for Jesse and Ray to work on. My dad is gearing up to do a batch of carbs.... like 18 of them! All of the bowls in the front row are for early nickle plated carbs, that are still off at the platers.


Here is a dirty nasty bowl for a 45 that probably has not been cleaned since it was new!



This raised casting code is in all 38 and earlier aluminum bowls




The upper left bowl is for Jim's 36, the lower right one is a bowl that I have been holding on to for years. It is the hardest to find linkert bowl of all time, It isn't mentioned in any books, I have only seen two other ones. It is for super late 38s. It has the early casting date on the inside, and is machined with a fly cutter before the drain is drilled and tapped. Later ones were counter bored-drilled andthen tapped. Anyways, I am going to put it on Jim's 38 carb. I have to do a wild fix on the stem hole, but it will be worth it.

neat welding pictures

Here is Paul's 37 oil tank. it was cracked in the front because of the frame being busted. The indentations were from the coil brackets rattling on the metal.


Here it is all welded up. I forgot to take a pic of it all sanded down. Pretty interesting deal. this is the first tank that I have seen cracked in this spot.

Oil tank repairs.

I welded on a bunch of oil tank brackets this morning. This is Paul's 37 tank. It is an early tank and the bottom goes down farther than mid 38 and later tanks. So you have to section the back bracket.Here is is tacked in place


Here it is welded up.



DRUM ROLL

post cards, wheels and front ends

I got 35 of these cards from Tedd today. He is opening up a museum in New york on April 16th. There are hundreds of bikes there, unfortunately I will not make it to the grand opening. Mail me a s.a.s.e. at the shops address, and I will send you out one of these post cards that give you a discount on admission. Wish I could be there for the big grand opening, but I have other plans in April.


Ray mounted the tires on the 65 today. They turned out great. We should have a roller sometime this weekend.



I got Paul's 37 fork for straightening today. Check out the lack of reinforcements on the fender tabs. Our 37 is like this too. His serial number is 193x. This is pretty cool detail, and is the latest 37 that I have seen this fork on.

turning junk into diamonds

This case is for a panhead motor that my dad got in to rebuild. It is pretty common for oil pump shafts to get stuck in the case. I welded a 3=8-24 nut onto it and hooked on the slide hammer. After heating the shaft up, I pulled the old drive shaft out with a few tugs. This case is pretty tough and will need a lot of repair work, but we will turn it into a good usable running motor.


Here is a neat before pic of Paul's 37ULH Exhaust port, There was a pretty big chunk missing out of it



This is it after welding in a piece, grinding it and re boring it.




It turned out good and will last a long time.