Christmas Break

Merry Christmas. I had hoped to have more time to work on the bike during my days off over the Christmas holiday but things didn't seem to work that way. Not that they weren't good days, just not productive in terms of the restoration.

I spent a couple of days finishing up my shopping. I always seem to leave a few things to the last minute. I guess that ensures I spend a little time at the mall with the masses just before the holiday. I spent time with my kids and family. That, to me, is what the holiday is for anyway.

I spent a but of quality time with the parts washer. I'm happy to say everything I wanted to put through the washer has been scrubbed, rinsed, and in some cases, scrubbed some more. Everything that needed to be washed has been washed, rinsed and dried. A few things were lubed to keep them from rusting up again.

I keep thinking about putting together a plan of attack but haven't managed to get very far. I created a spreadsheet to track the costs of the restoration and I even went so far as to create a tab in my spreadsheet for a plan. All that's left now is some actual planning. I'm afraid the spending part of the restoration is about to begin at the worst time of the year - just after the Christmas buying season. Oh well. That's how it goes.

Since I don't have much to report I may as well spend some time planning, instead of writing about not planning. I've got a few more days off next week and I want to make the most of them.

No post is really complete without a picture.

Split to Pieces

Don't let the title of this entry fool you. This was a good day. My clutch removal tool arrived today and worked beautifully. It took about two turns of the center bolt, which presses down on the main shaft, pulling the clutch center off, and POP it was free. With the clutch center removed it was a piece of cake to get the cases split so I could remove the crank. A couple taps with a soft mallet and the cases were sliding apart.

In order to get the crank out of the case I had to get the distributor drive gear off the other end of the shaft. It was stuck a bit, but with some gentle taps with the mallet again it slid right off the shaft. As you can see from the picture, there is quite a bit of corrosion on the flywheels. I'm hoping they clean up well.

This means the bike is completely torn down. I have everything on a shelf and on my workbench. The third picture here shows mostly the engine pieces. I now start the task of cleaning everything up so I can assess what needs to be replaced, fixed, or just put back together. I'm hoping there aren't too many parts which need to be replaced but know right off there are going to be a few: piston, rings, valve guides, gaskets, to name a few.

I guess I'll fire up the parts washer in the next day or two and try not to pass out from the fumes while I wash everything. I'm pretty sure I will need to get the cases media blasted. I'm torn between investing in the equipment myself or having it done by someone. I think I may be too picky to have someone else do it but I don't really want to spend the $'s necessary to get right equipment. I don't like buying cheap tools. You just end up buying the good one after you waste the money on the less expensive version, or you break a part because you think you can make the inferior tool work. You don't have to break many parts, or scrape many knuckles to make the investment in quality worth it.

More research, more shopping, more buying. Although, I haven't spent much to date. A couple of tools, some rags, and two of books is about it. That will certainly change once I send the frame out for blasting and powdercoating then start buying new engine parts for the rebuild. Maybe Santa will bring me something shiny for Christmas!

Valve Removal

Below is a picture of the valve removal tool I had to make because I couldn't find one locally and didn't want to wait for something ordered to show up. The collets were quite stuck in the collar. I soaked them overnight in some penetrating oil and gave them a couple of whacks with my hammer to loosen things up. Once that was done the springs compressed and the valve released quite easily.

I'm still waiting for my clutch removal tool to arrive. It shipped on the 5th so it should be here very soon. I'm hoping to find it in my mail box tonight after work. I'm waiting until I get the rest of the disassembly done before I start cleaning everything. I don't want to load up the parts washer with solvent and empty is more than once so I'll try to do everything in one big batch.
The other item I got taken care of last night was the fork disassembly. I had to clamp the collar in a vice, heat the hell out of it and turn the fork tube by bolting a wrench into the end where the axel goes. Amazing what a bit of heat can do. Once the collar was free everything came apart without any problems.
I have a mounting number of ziploc bags on my workbench to keep everything straight. I'll have to get a picture of all the pieces spread out.
Well, that's the progress update. Not much, but slow and steady.

Wheel Rims

Since I'm waiting for my clutch puller to arrive in order to finish the engine dismantling I decided to focus on the wheels today. They looked pretty bad and I was not expecting much but I had nothing to lose in trying. I grabbed some gloves and steel wool and headed the back yard.


This is what I started with. There was a lot of discoloration, pitting, and rust.

It's hard to believe what was under all that crud and how relatively easy it was to bring the chrome out from under it all.


After about an hour of rubbing I had a pretty good looking rim.

Yes, that's a missing spoke. No I didn't polish the spokes yet. I didn't even touch them as I plan to take them out to polish them and the spoke nipples. Here is another shot showing the before and after contrast.





I did barely manage to get the front tire off of the rim. It wasn't easy as the tire was very hard and didn't want to come off. I finally had to cut the tire and cords. I'm going to have to do the same to the rear but that's for another day.









Next up:
1) Getting a valve spring compressor and removing the valves
2) Removing the clutch
3) Splitting the cases to finish the dismantling
4) Cleaning of all the parts so I can figure out what needs to be replaced

From there: engine work, painting, polishing, wiring, purchasing parts, assembly, and riding! I can't wait.

Beheaded

It took a lot of penetrating oil and a LOT of time but I managed to remove the head last night. One of the studs had some rust and was not releasing. After a day or two of squirting rust-eater into the hole I could get the head to wiggle a bit. A LOT of wiggling, pulling, tapping and patience and the rust FINALLY let go and the head was free.

I'm almost done dismantling everything and can start cleaning parts soon. I'm waiting on a tool to remove the clutch. I ordered one last week and hope it arrives in a few more days. With the clutch removed I can split the cases and get the crank out. I also need to get a spring compressor to remove the valves and rockers. When all of that is done I can start cleaning everything, determine what needs to be replaced, and start collecting parts.

I think I'm going to find some local help to get the engine squared away. I'd love to do all the work myself but I just don't have the tools for the piston and crank work I think I'm going to need. I also don't have the expertise to know exactly what needs to be done. I'm reading a lot and learning a lot but at some point experience is needed. Ideally, I'll find someone local who has the expertise and doesn't mind me 'helping' so I can learn how to do some of the work next time.

That's scary, I've barely begun and I already know this won't be the last motorcycle I'll restore.

I'm at the stage where I need to put together a plan for this project. I'm torn between engine or rolling chassis first. I've found a few places to get the frame blasted and powdercoated. I may go visit some next week to get some quotes and possibly get that work started.

This picture is about where I want to end up. It is reported to be a 1965 but it has the same color scheme as mine so I'm using it as motivation and as a template for where I'm headed.

Engine Opening

It's been a while since the last post. I was busy eating Turkey and spending Thanksgiving with my family so there wasn't much time for working on the bike. I have managed to spend a few hours on and off over the past few days dismantling more. I ran into a couple of snags along the way and have resolved one of them so far.

Getting the timing unit off the end of the shaft so I could open up the timing side case was the first problem and the one I managed to solve. There is a tool for pulling this plate off the end of the shaft but I don't own it so I had to improvise something. Once this was out of the way I got the timing side cover removed.

From here it was simple to get the inner case open to expose the gearbox and some nasty grunge.

The other side of the engine is where problem number two is. I can't remove the clutch mechanism from the shaft. I've tried the Haynes improvised tool but it doesn't budge - even a little. I think I'm going to have to find the tool. In the mean time I have the gearbox to disassemble and the wheels to attend to. That should keep me busy while I find the tool.

The other item to procure is a set of Whitworth wrenches. I've been trying to snag a set on e-bay but the prices have been higher than I want to pay so far. I've found some new wrench sets I can get for about the same price as the old ones so I'll probably be ordering some of those for Christmas.