Making a steel whistle.

No not really.

I did start drilling for the slugs. I know they need to be made, so might as well do it now.



The next one is a bit blurry, but you can see what I am doing.



This is the first time I have done this type of repair on a frame, so anyone that sees where I could go wrong with this let me know. I saw a post on chopperweb.info that showed using slits instead of holes to make shifting the slug around better. Of course that was after I drilled the holes.

I was concerned a bit about twisting so I drilled the holes at different distances 45 degrees from each other. Hope that no matter how it is twisted there would be something to help counter-balance the force.



Next thing I did was begin prepping for the tank mounts. I had originally thought about using the same style of mounts I had cut off the tank, but changed my mind and devised a new plan. Hopefully not an extremely stupid one. But a plan nonetheless.



1" flat stock drilled for bolts. I am going to weld the bolts onto this and clean it all up to be smooth. Before I do that, I need to get to work with a hammer to get a decent arc on the steel to follow the arc of the backbone tubing better. Then I will weld long bolts and cut them to length.



Then it will be welded into the the tunnel of the tank. After the edges and arc has been cleaned up.



Then I will use a strip of rubber to dampen the shakes and slide it down through the bar and I know where I can get some killer chrome spike nuts to tighten it all down.

And if I fuck it up. I guess I will fill it back up and then buy a sportster tank to get me by.

Let me down easy, OK?

I was tromping around at the office yesterday when my cell begins buzzing at me.

Text message.

Hmm, did I go over on my minutes? Someone telling me that they are watching me pick my nose from behind the dumpster? Did another creditor find me?

Nope, none of the above.

A buddy of mine has been keeping an eye out for anyone with old 750 parts and such. Looky looky, a picture message. Hot damn the tell-tale signs of a SOHC with a Windjammer on it. Alright where is this place, and how much do they want for it?

So after work and a couple of quick errands I swing by the shop where the bike is sitting. First thing I notice is a wood wagon that has a wicked looking set of super tall tires and wheels with small block sticking off the nose. Now this is my kind of place.

I met up with the owner of the shop, began talking to him about the bikes in the back there, and he takes to where they are sitting. Past a 50's Buick lowrider, a couple of Model A and T's and piles of VW parts and enough stuff to be a gearhead's wet dream.

There she was. Definitely an early SOHC, looks complete too with an intact Windjammer on it. Last registered in '97. Maybe it has fallen off the books? Tank, fenders, carbs, everything but the seat. Then I start checking it out a bit closer...

SOHC


650.


Shit.

I think I will call it a gas tank

Hell yeah!



I think it will hold gas now. Well I hope so.



All of the welds this time was done with Oxy-Acetylene on an old Victor torch with a 0 tip. It has been a lot of years since I have welded this way. And it took me some time until I could get my hands to steady themselves again. But I like the slower pace of a gas weld. I could see just how each section was going to lay and also push my filler around a bit longer than I could with the MIG.



I bit the bullet and picked up a flap disk and after I welded the tank up I began to go over the tank. Pulled off the primer I had on it and also smoothed off the gouges that I put in when I pulled off the old paint and filler.



I still need to get the pipe under it for mounting to the frame, but all in all it is nice to get something pretty well finished.

I am gonna go over the welds with a wire wheel, but otherwise they are going to be right out in the open for anyone to critique. And for me to tell them to fuck off.

Goes great with beer.

I saw this a while back and had to find it and post it up here.



It sure does hit the spot.

I was able to get a piece of patch steel from what I chopped off my fender that will fill the opening of my tank. So today I am gonna go and get the tank ground down and get the panel worked into a decently acceptable shape.

Pics later tonight.

Coming together.

So after a round of bull shit from the ex this morning, I called in sick this a.m.

So once that was cleared up, I had lost two hours of work and figured might as well stay home and work on other stuff. So MGD and fucitol started up at 9 this morning.

I cleaned up some of the apt. and began to wrench.

But last night I got this done



Gaskets are ready to roll. I made the openings for the bolts with a couple of good drill bits, a copy of the Horse and some cussedness. I think the editors of the Horse would be proud of me. I mean what better use for a 4 month old magazine of "backstreet choppers?"



But here is how she is gonna sit. I like the way it is gonna come out. Then again, I have been on a beer diet most of the day. So I may change my mind in the morning once I am a bit more sober.

Come on, come on. I need to roll.

Epiphany

More work has been done. I ground the fill welds off the frame and the fill welds off the fender.

As I ground it down, I noticed things I still didn't like. Spots where things were not as clean as I wanted. And sections of the fender that need a lot of work.

But as I go through each weekend. Welding, scrounging, begging and trading. I have realized that I just don't care. I know this bike is gonna be low-rent, just like its owner. It is going to be of questionable quality. It is going to be a mass of imperfections. And I don't care. I want it to go and take me places. When I am in a better spot I'll worry about something that looks nice. Right now, I want to be in the wind. I want to blow out some miles.

I did have a lot of plans for this ride. It just looks like the world around me has some other plans for my near future. Well FTW, I am gonna win for once and get my damned way. And the only thing that will stop me from riding this thing will be the CHP and possibly lane changing soccer moms on cell phones.

Keeping the oil where it belongs. Mini update.

They look so good together. And I am feeling like a proud papa right now. Three handmade gaskets, and they aren't totally screwed up.

I had the remnants of some gasket material that I picked up a while back for carb base gaskets on my Corvair. And since a Rochester is maybe 2x2 in size, I had plenty left over.




As you can see they aren't done quite yet. But There is not much to it. I want to see if I can find something that will help me cut openings for the bolts. But it will be detailed work. Something best when there aren't little people bugging you for entertainment.



I am also sure I have more material than I should in a few spots. But it is easier to remove, than add. So I can trim it to fit, piece by piece.

I still need some of the rubber seals for the shifter and kick starter arms.

Tomorrow I will be on a grinder for a couple of hours. Hopefully I can make a good dent in getting the frame cleaned up.

Melting metal

Yesterday I realized two things.

1. My welding skills have gone down the tubes in the last few years.

2. Welding tans hurt.

Ouch, ouch, ouch. You should probably avoid doing stitch welding without a hood. Right now my face feels like the skin has been run over 80 grit sandpaper. But I did get some basic things done yesterday.

Since I am in a hurry to get back on the road, I decided against going too custom on the tunnel of the tank. I had planned to get some steel and redo the entire tunnel area and make it a bit slimmer and also raise the tank up an inch or so. But yesterday I decided to instead use my old tunnel, raise it up an inch and then fill the empty area.



This should get the nose up a bit higher, add a few miles to my range, and was relatively easy to do.



Plus it doesn't look half bad on the frame. Not noticeably higher, but I know it has been changed. Once I get the front patch ready for it, I will spot it in and the grind the weld and go back over it using gas. Which I do believe is a much better way to weld up sheet metal if you don't have a TIG welder.

I also filled the holes in the fender. Now I need to grind and finish it. Now considering I can always grind off metal at the apartment, but can't get a welder in there, I left the welds on to finish at my leisure. And the neighbors displeasure.



It took me a while to dial in the welder and get the gas set up just right for what I was doing too. It was set up for much heavier materials than what I was welding and I am rusty enough that it took much longer than it would have to get it set right. And since I have yet to get the material I need to replace the bad areas of the frame I instead went about getting some of the uglier spots fill in properly.







I still need to get a relatively fine grit flap disk to get everything looking smooth, But now at least I don't have the low spots and crappy repairs to look at. Because I am gonna hide my crappy welds.

Since I was allowed to use the welder at the graciousness of an ex-in-law, I was trying to hurry some. So you can see below where I welded a tab in for the fender mount. It is not center, but again, it is easier to remove metal than it is to add it. So I figure I will get an idea on the exact shape and size of the tab figured out and clean it up accordingly.



I know I could use some new socks too, but no one normally sees them.

I have also gotten the girder arms primered up and ready for a layer of cheap paint. I guess it is a Fury girder. Too bad between the P.O.'s mess ups along with my own and some basic neglect, I am not going to have it in stock shape.



And I also scrubbed out my side cases on the motor. I think it is probably best not to say exactly how.



Still a long way to go. I really need to get the frame together and the motor installed. Since I plan on going jockey shift I need to get the clutch set up and also the shift arm. Still a lot more to get done than I had originally hoped for.