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.