Week 3 – Engine mounting and painting

This week wasn’t the most exciting. I spent a good three hours every day after work painting various parts. On the plus side, the paint looks good and I’m ready to start putting things back together…

The things I cleaned, painted, and generally restored are:

• The tach and speedo gauges
• The main footpegs and passenger footpegs
• The triple tree and complete steering stem assembly
• The brake pedal
• The kickstarter
• The shifter pedal and assembly
• The front and rear brake covers
• Several mounting brackets and struts

I also did some prep work on the carbs, such that they should be ready to attach next week.

But the biggest success of the week: I got the engine mounted. It took a lot of time and effort to figure out how it fit into the frame, and unfortunately I dinged up some of the frame’s paint in the process. But it’s in, and the paint shouldn’t be hard to get patched up.

The bike is starting to take shape!

Along with mounting the engine, I moved the frame onto a makeshift stand. This should make it easier as I move forward. Specifically, it’ll be much easier to get the front fork and wheels mounted. I also still haven’t set the points advance or the valve clearances on the engine, which will be a job for this week.

Speaking of wheels, the rear wheel is completely rebuilt and ready to be attached. I decided that I won’t be replacing the rear tire, just the front, so the rear tire will be slightly bigger than the front. It shouldn’t cause any significant performance changes, and it might even look kinda cool. I have to do some minor clean-up of the spacers that go on the axle between the wheel and the frame, but I have all of the parts for the wheel laid out and major pieces painted, so it’ll definitely be attached sometime this week.

Another thing I was able to get done was to press fit the steering bearings and install the steering stem into the frame.

The down side is, it seems I didn’t get the bottom bearing completely installed, so I can’t fit the top portion of the triple tree into place. I’m thinking that I’m going to try to use the nut at the top of the stem to press fit the bottom bearing completely into place. One way or another, I intend to have the tree installed by the end of this next week.

Lastly, and most uninteresting of all, I spent a lot of time making a shopping list. There were a lot of parts that were badly damaged (headlight bucket, handgrips) or just needed replacement (drivechain, front brake shoes). So I spent some time and put together a massive order of parts which should hopefully be arriving this week.

As one final note, I’m considering restoring the gas tank this upcoming week. I hate to do it, seeing as the tank is in surprisingly good condition. I’m concerned though, as there is a fine layer of dust forming in the tank that could pollute the fuel. I’m thinking I’m going to clean and etch the tank with muriatic acid, and then buy some kind of generic tank sealer to coat the inside. That done, the bike will probably be ready for body paint.

To do list:

• Finish installing the triple tree and steering stem assembly
• Attach the rear wheel
• Install the handlebars
• Clean and coat the gas tank
• Install and set the carbs

• Get quotes on body painting
• Ask around and get some quotes on body paint
• Find a new front tire to replace the oversized ones the PO bought