Gilson Restomod
- Thread starter UnorthodoxCreat
- Start date
- Tags gilson h50 montgomery wards restomod
I was planning on waiting till after Christmas and my birthday that shortly follows to pickup an engine but I found this leaf vacuum on Craigslist for a good price. To me it's the perfect engine for what I want to do so I had my wife get it for me as an early birthday present. It's an HS50 and it's in great condition starts and runs well. There is a small crack on the shroud that needs welded but other than that I plan to just clean it, repaint and replace the decals. I might put a different muffler on it but I'm going to wait till I'm a little further along to decide that.
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I would get this throttle set and just use your grips :thumbsup: If you try to weld the old one it will just break again
1" Throttle, 53" Cable, 3 Conduit Clips
1" Throttle, 53" Cable, 3 Conduit Clips
Picked up a couple parts.
I got a good wheel from an OldMiniBikes member so now I have 2 good wheels.
I've been on the lookout for replacement front springs because mine are pretty rusty. I've searched all over and haven't had much luck till I was randomly searching ebay for Gilson/Wards parts. I happened to see these springs listed by OldMiniBikes on ebay. They were listed as NOS Bird Engineering forks but the dimensions seemed correct other than being a 1/4" long so I took a chance on them. After receiving them I think they will be a perfect fit. The diameter is pretty much the same and like the ad said they are only a 1/4" longer. The diameter of the wire is a hair thinner but I'm thinking the extra length will add a little preload and I'll wind up with the same stiffness spring. Not bad for $20.
I got a good wheel from an OldMiniBikes member so now I have 2 good wheels.
I've been on the lookout for replacement front springs because mine are pretty rusty. I've searched all over and haven't had much luck till I was randomly searching ebay for Gilson/Wards parts. I happened to see these springs listed by OldMiniBikes on ebay. They were listed as NOS Bird Engineering forks but the dimensions seemed correct other than being a 1/4" long so I took a chance on them. After receiving them I think they will be a perfect fit. The diameter is pretty much the same and like the ad said they are only a 1/4" longer. The diameter of the wire is a hair thinner but I'm thinking the extra length will add a little preload and I'll wind up with the same stiffness spring. Not bad for $20.
Time to get back into this. I've done everything I can at home where I have limited tools so I brought everything thing into work today. For Christmas I got new tires, tubes, a brake lever, foot peg covers and a fender. Most of that isn't stuff I need just yet but will come in helpful in the near future.
When I took the bike apart I cataloged every bolt so I could replace them with stainless. I hate rust. Paint chips off too easy and powdercoat can make a bolt or nut too thick to get a wrench so every bolt will be stainless. I know I'll need to get some more as I build and add parts but my parents got me everything I had cataloged so this will be a great start. Boltdepot.com is great for purchasing stuff like this.
http://i.imgur.com/8oDptm8.jpg[img]
My brother got me a new rear brake so today I got to work cutting the ends off. I'll weld this new brake onto the old hardware
[img]http://i.imgur.com/V3grGK2.jpg
I was able to get a rear mount tank off a member here. The petcock is at the wrong end for this bike but I knew that when buying and the price was right. I'll cut the petcock out and relocate it to the right place.
I'm converting the bike to a variable transmission model. I've gotten the Comet 20 series driver and driven and new jackshaft sprocket. I'm waiting on the jackshaft and bearings to come in before I can start building that.
Now that I've got some parts I've got a short list of chores that will be tackled next.
-Make new jackshaft plates
-Make bearing mount plates
-Move the gas petcock
-Make gas tank mounting straps
-Make rear fender mounting straps
-Fix cracks in original fender
-Modify new fender to look more like the original
When I took the bike apart I cataloged every bolt so I could replace them with stainless. I hate rust. Paint chips off too easy and powdercoat can make a bolt or nut too thick to get a wrench so every bolt will be stainless. I know I'll need to get some more as I build and add parts but my parents got me everything I had cataloged so this will be a great start. Boltdepot.com is great for purchasing stuff like this.
http://i.imgur.com/8oDptm8.jpg[img]
My brother got me a new rear brake so today I got to work cutting the ends off. I'll weld this new brake onto the old hardware
[img]http://i.imgur.com/V3grGK2.jpg
I was able to get a rear mount tank off a member here. The petcock is at the wrong end for this bike but I knew that when buying and the price was right. I'll cut the petcock out and relocate it to the right place.
I'm converting the bike to a variable transmission model. I've gotten the Comet 20 series driver and driven and new jackshaft sprocket. I'm waiting on the jackshaft and bearings to come in before I can start building that.
Now that I've got some parts I've got a short list of chores that will be tackled next.
-Make new jackshaft plates
-Make bearing mount plates
-Move the gas petcock
-Make gas tank mounting straps
-Make rear fender mounting straps
-Fix cracks in original fender
-Modify new fender to look more like the original
In order to convert my bike from a single-speed centrifugal to a torque converter I need to make new plates that hold the jackshaft and swingarm. I'm sure someone with enough patience could make these with basic shop tools but I think it's going to be worth getting these cut on a waterjet or something. That will insure that they are identical and all the bearings fit tight. I definitely don't have that kind of equipment but I do have a CNC router so tonight I worked on mocking up the new side plates. This will allow me to perfect them before paying someone to make them. I cut them out of some PVC sheet. The blue plates were my first attempt.
With those plates the driven pulley was really close to the swingarm. I also need to open up the oblong holes for the swingarm bushings a bit. These white plates are my second revision. These should work just fine.
My bike was missing anything related to the clutch covers. Capguncowboy was kind enough to send me a template for the clutch cover backing plate. From that I was able to cut out a new one.
Next up is reproducing the outside clutch cover. I don't have the patience to wait for a real one or the funds to pay for one in good enough condition to satisfy me. I'm going to mock this up out of pvc and once I have the cut files perfected I'll send them out to get them cut on the water jet and then weld everything up.
For anyone interested you can still buy a brand new Gilson manual. It's Part Number 23049, Description 54703/04 TRL/MINI B. I ordered mine from Jack's Small Engine for a couple dollars plus shipping. It did take several weeks to get. It is very similar to the Montgomery Ward manual that you can buy copies of on ebay but it's not identical.
With those plates the driven pulley was really close to the swingarm. I also need to open up the oblong holes for the swingarm bushings a bit. These white plates are my second revision. These should work just fine.
My bike was missing anything related to the clutch covers. Capguncowboy was kind enough to send me a template for the clutch cover backing plate. From that I was able to cut out a new one.
Next up is reproducing the outside clutch cover. I don't have the patience to wait for a real one or the funds to pay for one in good enough condition to satisfy me. I'm going to mock this up out of pvc and once I have the cut files perfected I'll send them out to get them cut on the water jet and then weld everything up.
For anyone interested you can still buy a brand new Gilson manual. It's Part Number 23049, Description 54703/04 TRL/MINI B. I ordered mine from Jack's Small Engine for a couple dollars plus shipping. It did take several weeks to get. It is very similar to the Montgomery Ward manual that you can buy copies of on ebay but it's not identical.