Finishing the Tank

Getting all the metal work finished on the gas tank has proven to be a monumental task!  Curtis has spent countless hours cutting, welding, shaping, etc.  If I was paying for all the fabrication, the cost of the tank would be prohibitive.  But today we finally got the tank mounts completed and finished all of the work required to finalize the dash.  There's still a bit of work left on the tank such as mounting the tank badges and completing the modifications necessary to mount the speedometer but the worst (hopefully) is over.  A good friend, Andrew Peters, finished truing the spokes and mounting the tires to the wheels.  He also installed the wheel bearings.  I think the wheels with their new double whitewall tires look great.

The Fabricator has been busy

Back in Victoria for a month and time to resume work on the bike (aka "Dusty").  Curtis has been busy customizing the gas tank as well as building the tail light assembly.  The custom dash he's built for the tank is a work of art as is the tail light assembly.  Almost art deco!  Today we (mostly Curtis) drilled the holes and welded in the bungs necessary to mount the tank badges on the gas tank.  There's still a lot more work to do before I get to wave a paint sprayer at it but it's coming along fabulously.  Also picked up the hubs which have been powder coated and they look amazing!  Ready to lace the wheels with new chrome spokes.

Tank with custom dash

Powder coated hubs

 

 

Tail light Assembly

Gas Tank and New Stuff

I haven't been idle while enjoying the Arizona sun.  Have managed score a deal on some saddlebags and

Pillion Pad

 Saddlebags

Gas Tank  (note the ripples)

 

picked up the pillion pad for the bike as well as the tank badges.  Speaking of the tank, Curtis managed to get the first half of the tank blasted and cleaned up.  With the old paint removed, the reason for all the bondo became evident....looks like someone tied the bike down at some point using a chain across the tank??  Smart!  However, Curtis assures me he can get the small ripples out when he cuts the tanks apart for modification.

Away for a while

Left the continued fabrication of my chopper in my son's capable hands while we're in Arizona for the next month.  If he can, Curtis will try and get the rear fender fabricated and ready for painting when I get back to Victoria in December.  There's a lot of custom work to do on it and the gas tank so it's possible we won't be ready for paint until spring.  He also has a lot of work to do on his custom chopper over the winter so the work on my 72 may have to be put on a bit of a hold.  However, during the months of Nov., January, Feb., and March while I'm in Arizona, I'll be picking up various parts and accessories for my chopper.  Already picked up the pillion pad and have ordered a pair of goggles that will fit over my glasses to keep wind and road debris out of my eyes since the chopper will not have a windshield.

Painting the Frame

Spent the last three days painting the frame and the swing arm.  Ran out of primer and had to make a quick run to Canadian Tire to pick up some more.  The frame and swing arm each received two coats of primer, 3 coats of General Motors Light metallic Blue and 3 coats of clear.  My improvised paint booth worked really well and I am happy with the results

 

Painting the Frame

 

 

 

The Finished Product

Finishing the Frame

Today Curt and I finished modifying the frame.  Curt welded on all new mounting tabs for the oil tank/battery box, the seat, and floor boards then cleaned the frame with a wire wheel.  Also he pulled the bearings from the swing arm and installed the races for the new bearings.  Now my real work starts...painting the frame and the swing arm!  Just about have the paint booth set up.  This should be exciting.

 

 

Oil Tank and Seat mounted on frame

Framed

Yesterday Curt and I spent the afternoon customizing the frame.  Curtis summarily chopped off all the "extraneous" tabs, etc. and then broke out the welding gear to fill in some areas as well as add the mounting hardware for the seat.  Tabs for mounting the oil tank/ battery box still have to be added but that will be next weekend's project.  Also got to see the new period correct tires I ordered for the bike.  Love them!

 Fitting Oil Tank/Battery Box to Frame

 

 New Oil Tank/ Battery Box

 

New tires

 

 

Today I tackled the wheels in an attempt to finish restoring the chrome....an easier task now that the old spokes have been removed.  I think they came out pretty good!

 

 





Bondo Bondo

Today we tackled sand blasting the rear fender and the gas tanks.  Surprise....the fender has up to  quarter of an inch of Bondo under several coats of paint.  Didn't really see the need for so much Bondo as the fender is in pretty good shape underneath.  Some people just like the stuff I guess.  Rather than waste time paying for sand blasting time, Curtis decided to just blast the areas he needed in order to cut and modify the fender.  He plans on attacking the paint and Bondo with a wire wheel and angle grinder.  Same story with the tanks although not quite as much Bondo.  Those were blasted just enough for cutting and modifying.  We also managed to make up a parts list order necessary to complete the engine assembly.  We keep making progress.

 Fender before cutting

 

Fender after cutting...ready for modification

 

 

 Curtis "blasting"

Who Knew?

Who knew all that chrome was hiding under layers of dirt and rust?  Tackled the sprocket and triple tree today with the old standby: WD40 and tinfoil.  Added a new cleaning product to the mix this time called Evap-o-rust.  Seems to work pretty good.

 

 

Forgot to post that the seat and headlight had arrived from Lowbrow Customs.  Thanks Canada Customs for adding another $46.00 in taxes to the bill!!!  Anyway, they're here and looking great.

 

 

 



Still Cleaning

OKay...we took a week off...rode to Vancouver for the day last Saturday but decided to get back at it today.  This bike won't build itself!  Back to the bead blasting shop today to clean up the brake calipers, wheel hubs and lower fork legs.  As the pictures show, time and money ( $20. ) well spent.  We also cut the spokes out of the rims preparatory to re-lacing with new chrome spokes.  Next up will be new bearings in the hubs then paint the hubs and the brake calipers.  Before that happens there's going to be still more cleaning ie; triple tree and sprocket.

Calipers look good

 



One blasted, one as was 

 Both hubs blasted

Fork legs...one blasted, one not.

And the cleaning continues

Back at it again today with the WD 40, Brake Cleaner and Gunk Engine Degreaser.  The swingarm, originally chrome, was hiding under layers of old oil and dirt.  Part of the chrome has pitted and is beyond help so we will de chrome the whole thing and paint it.  The rear rake caliper (billet aluminum) came up pretty good as did the brake pedal and brake cylinder.  Today Curtis also determined the cylinders and pistons are in pretty good shape so we'll just install new rings and put the motor back together.

Bead Blasting the Frame

Today it was the frame's turn to get cleaned up...and it was a bit of a chore.  It's amazing how many coats of paint and dirt a motorcycle can accumulate in 43 years!  It probably took about two hours of constant bead blasting to get it to the final state.  But, it was worth it as the pictures will attest.  Next on the agenda....cleaning up the swing arm and rear brake components but that's for another day.

I Need a Cleaning Lady

I need a cleaning lady!  How could anyone let a motorcycle get this filthy?  I'm gonna have dishpan hands before I'm done.  Today it was the coil and voltage regulator that received a good scrubbing.

Then it was back to the wheel rim which is looking awesome.  Once the spokes are removed I'll be able to finish up restoring the chrome...my supply of tinfoil is getting low.  Also, received word that the solo seat and headlight I ordered yesterday have been shipped.  Probably won't get here for a couple of weeks as they're coming from the US.

August 30 The Cleaning Continues

Back at it again.  This time it was the fender struts.  They certainly had seen much better days but, with the application of WD 40, aluminum foil and (again) lots of elbow grease, they came out pretty good.  Next I started on the rear rim.  It was chrome once and, after about 20 minutes with the before mentioned miracle cleaners, it started to look like nice chrome once again.  Fabulous stuff WD 40 and, combined with aluminum foil, really knocks the he-- out of rust.

August 29 Bead Blasting

Today Curtis and I removed the cone from the engine as well as the kicker plate from the transmission.  Surprise....the engine has an Andrews cam and the innards of both the engine and the transmission look great.  Somebody spent some good coin on the engine at some point in the past.  Off we went to the Bead Blasting shop with the cone, kicker plate, rocker boxes and some other pieces.  Curt operated the blaster (he knew what he was doing) while I assumed the role of trusty gofer.  The pieces came out beautifully.  Beading is the only way to go!  Also brought some more bike pieces home for clean up.  Good thing I have some Gunk left.

August 28 Good to crank

Picked up the rebuilt starter and new solenoid today.  Looks like the shop did a great job.  Should crank the beast over quite well when required.  Yeah...no kicking unless I really feel masochistic.

August 26 The starter needs help

The Auto electric shop called today to say that, although the starter and solenoid both work, they're close to death's door.  A rebuild of the starter and a new solenoid is in order.  The cost quoted was less than buying everything new so I gave them the go ahead.

August 25 I don't want to have to kick it!

All the old Shovelheads had a kick start...so does this one.  But, seeing as how I'm not a fan of having my motorcycle kick me back sometimes, I want to be able to push a button and have the engine leap to life.  Ergo...the electric starter has to work!  So, today I took the cleaned starter and solenoid down to the auto electric shop and left them with the experts to be checked out.  Thinking ahead, I also stopped at a Canadian Tire store to check out the various paint colours available.  So many choices but I settled on Toyota Vintage Red Pearl.  If not that one exactly, something very close.

August 24: TheClean up starts.

As I am not that great a Harley mechanic or sheet metal fabricator (Jr. is), the task of removing years of dirt, old oil and other stuff that will not be mentioned here, from several pieces of my "new" custom bike, falls to me.  Thus, having brought home numerous pieces from Curt's house last night, today I started in.  I cleaned the inner and outer primary, transmission, transmission base plate, starter, solenoid, primary chain, compensator, and clutch hub.  All were filthy and required liberal applications of Gunk engine degreaser and plenty of elbow grease. In addition to the years of dirt, someone in the past had used liberal quantities of silicone on the primary gasket surfaces.  What fun...but I got it off.

Purchase of "The Basket Case"

While on a trip to Calgary,( dodging forest fires  along the way) I received a phone call from my son Curtis telling me:  "Dad, I bought another Harley." "Just what you need", I thought...he already has three!  "I couldn't turn it down Dad, it was only " $1000.00 and, if your interested, we can rebuild it for you."  OK, I admit it, I was hooked.  He then texted me a picture of the bike as it appeared in the ad he answered and it was a pretty nice looking bike.

 He then texted a picture of the bike he actually purchased and...it was in pieces!  A true "basket case". however, the engine and transmission appeared to be in good shape along with the frame, swing arm, and other bits and pieces so the deal was done and thus began this 1972 Harley Davidson Shovelhead rebuild/customization odyssey.