Tuesday 31 May 2011

call that a wrench pal?...

 ...now this is what you call
a wrench, pal - haha

Monday 30 May 2011

thank fuck that's sorted...

I took a couple of mil off the gearbox plate mounts and fitted the support bearing to the inner primary. Paul came around again and after 'tea' we gently bolted the inner primary to the box and then engine, and after tightening up the gearbox we found #######...
With hindsight it only required the rear mounts grinding down but still surprised at how much space under the front mounts would still require shimming.
Came apart dead easy, no stressed tight bits, so gearbox sprocket can be tightened up if my big spanner arrives tomorrow and some shimming and a dab of paint on the bare metal.
Finally everything can be buttoned down and move on


Sunday 29 May 2011

yeah baby...

pieces of a man...


Gil Scott Heron 
RIP

saw the man at the hammersmith odeon in '76 when 'Johannesburg' came out, back in the day

the revolution will not be televised

if at first you don't succeed...

Problem No.3 - George turned down my rear wheel spacer 55thou (1.4mm) and the rear wheels in - perfect fit.
Problem No.6 - Crankshaft nut removal, George said to hit it head on with a copper hammer and it will break the adhesion. Paul came round with a 38mm socket and suggested hitting it sharply in the undo direction. I used both suggestions, and its off! no impact driver required.
Problem No.5 - It appears that the solution is to take metal off the gearbox plate so the box sits lower for alignment to the inner primary (which I had done a little already), but crucially the trans shaft support bearing needs to be fitted to achieve exact positioning.
Solving this last problem will mean I can finally button everything up and move on.
In last weeks black hole it really did seem as though Christine was never to be on the road...

Friday 27 May 2011

a litany of 'kin problems...


1. Solved this one, front wheel spacer goes behind the oil seal, read the manual next time tosser.  The wheel still sits to one side tho, and doesn't seem to spin that freely.
2. Solved this one, upper fork stem bearing very tight, so sanded down top of stem and the bearing slips on. Not like last night struggling to assemble the top end and holding forks at same time and then knocking them out with rubber hammer and bang they hit the floor just missing the frame and my foot.
3. Rear wheel won't go in with all that powdercoat, haha so I have to get George to machine a mil off one of the axle spacers.
4. Gearbox drive sprocket nut, can't tighten without drive chain on and a big spanner - ordered 48mm adjustable.
5. The gearbox, engine and inner primary will not line up unless all bolts are lose. Almost 3-4mm out at gearbox rear two bolts so box sits off the mounting plate. Can't figure this.
6. I put the engine drive nut on (by hand) so I could turn the engine over, now the fucker won't come off. A friend is coming round with an air powered impact driver, hopefully tomorrow, then I can put the bloody alternator rotor on.
7. And finally I can't put the support bearing (thats sitting in the freezer) in the inner primary till everythings sorted as it seems bloody tight on the shaft and probably won't fucking come off again! And I can't torque down the heads, cylinders, engine mounts etc either. Fuck.

Oh and I put my mobile phone in the washing machine this morning - grrrrrrrr!

Wednesday 25 May 2011

Sunday 22 May 2011

swinger time...


Its gonna be a Swinging Year
or is it...

no nonsense tough shov
from oldstfblog/murrey baxter site

Saturday 21 May 2011

Wholy holy...

Christines caliper
ain't so heavy now

crowfoot...

I got this crowfoot extension for my torque wrench so I can torque my heads, I'd use it on the cylinder base but not enough room. Could grind it like my 9/16th chevy door spanner but I think I can get along just fine with the spanner for the cylinder base. You need to adjust your wrench to the following calc I found here:
http://www.norbar. com/calculators/torque-wrench-extension-calculator.aspx

M1 = M2 x L1 / L2
Where:
M1 is the torque setting of the wrench.
M2 is the actual torque applied to the nut
L1 is the normal length of the wrench
L2 is the extended length of the wrench

Wednesday 18 May 2011

big mistake

these make my bike look crap
after spending ages looking for some second hand forwards and trying to put together the old style type I panicked and ordered these with the last remnants of my card. Fuck what a mistake.

Monday 16 May 2011

finally, thirteen weeks later...

 christine
 got
 her 
 new
 outfit
slightly flawed, but so's she  


Friday 13 May 2011

you wanna put a banging donk on that pal...

 malcoms hole set
can cause problems
half your bike may be left down the road
its a disease

Wednesday 11 May 2011

bitchin shim...

 a multi-tasking brewsky
trace that pattern bro
 cut the mutha to shape
and voila - a bitchin shim for my engine mount

stolen from 'Wrenchs' tips from back in the day

only prob is the fucking gearbox will not line up with the inner primary 
when bolted to the engine
hmmm, seemed ok before, but not fitted by me on the early frame build - bugger.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Swinger time


Its gonna be a Swinging Year
or is it...

Monday 9 May 2011

Wholy holy...

'Malcoms' Special  Hole Cutter Kit 
- fuck knows what I'm gonna do with it!
And an expensive large round heavy thing that was missing after my engine build 12 years ago supplied from stock! by Cycle Haven

badda bing...

 she's got to have it
brass dress up kit from Old Stf Cycle

Saturday 7 May 2011

found in 12 year old pack of flora margarine...

 My thirty year old 'woodruff key' found after twelve years in a flora margarine pack at the bottom of a big old cardboard box after a couple of hours of increasingly panicky searching!
And after realising I would need a bearing support of some kind (removed by somebody) and those special tab washers for the drive sprocket - and clutch, that if not put on properly will allow one's clutch basket to fall off in the middle of nowhere - haha - but thats another story.
Funny, they arrived today first post the day after ordering from the lovely Angela @ Cycle Haven yesterday but the rotor ordered and sent the day before won't be here till monday earliest - still with me? - post - schmost. 

Thursday 5 May 2011

gorgeousness...

 the cone head shovel is
one gorgeous looking engine





Wednesday 4 May 2011

don't try this at home without supervision...

New-fangled expensive metal and rubber gaskets 
for todays shovel builder - no sealant req'd
Today reminded me of early scooter days, the confidence of youth - fitting the piston and rings without a compressor -  still, kept the lambretta parts man happy - haha. 
Made me sweat today though (even with a compressor tool)...
and who spent a couple of hours taking the rockers apart and doing a bit of grinding when the rear rocker cover wouldn't fit and then discovered the he'd fitted the front cover on the rear? 










lowbrow land speed

 bloody fast delivery too 
and isn't that 'trawlers' shovel on their leaflet?

Monday 2 May 2011

shovel downunder...

 Rogers shovel, NSW Australia
 he's been running a BDL unit for over a year now
Rogers tale:
' I was offered a rolling chassis which consisted of a chrome moly frame using original castings, 18in Akront alloy rims, a 2in over springer and the tinware as painted. A 71 Shovel 1200 motor was added along with a new Revtech 4 speed box.......all the other odds and sods were worked out over the build. It's registered as a 1941FL. I've made a few subtle changes already and more in the works, it's a great bike to ride and I use it most days including to and from work.' 

Nice bike Rog, 
how's that front brake, is that the 1941 bit - haha
(guess the reg must must be down to the 1941 castings)  
- stickers on their way mate, cheers