First big build on not so big bike

RadRacer203

RadRacer203

Active Member
#1
#1
Finally got my new bike in the mail today and I can't wait to start building it (thanks again Jason!). The story is it's a former Shriners bike built in a small town shop in Wyoming, from the 1950's. It had lights on it that were in really poor shape so I already took those out and I'm going to fill the holes. I'm going to keep it largely as it is except fixing a couple bad repairs, and I'm going to see if I can convert the motor to 1952 spec with a parts engine I have. The frame and forks are going to be a pastel yellow after I fix the frame up, with dull silver fenders- same sort of color as my 40's Evinrude outboard. I also want to have a custom seat done for it, is there anyone on here that can make one? I'm thinking black with silver piping. Overall it looks to be in decent shape, most of the work is going to be in getting the engine dialed in. Just fixed up a very similar engine and my god they're a pain to set up! Anyway, I'm very excited about this new project and I'm going to try to make it as nice of a show piece as possible.

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RadRacer203

RadRacer203

Active Member
#2
#2
This is what it's going to look like basically. I swapped on an ignition system from a 1952 model of the motor and used the cool fan from the older model too. I'd like to convert the belt drive to a chain drive but the clutch is smaller than a standard clutch, any ideas? It seems to be about 1" smaller in diameter than the max torque one I have on my shelf. I'll probably also need a new band brake too
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RadRacer203

RadRacer203

Active Member
#5
#5
Just tore the engine down because I saw one of the reeds was broken and it doesn't look great... Lots of scuffing on the piston. Not too bad yet but bad enough I'm just going to find another engine for like $100 rather than try to track down new parts for it. There's a restored one on ebay I think I'm going to bid on that would be absolutely perfect for this bike. The belt drive clutch was completely seized on the crank and I can't get the damn thing off so a new engine will probably be a lot easier than trying to cut the clutch off the crank. Also, since the clutch isn't going to be salvageable, I'll have to convert over to a standard 4" clutch and have to figure out a new band brake setup. I think the kit I got on ebay that's for a Lil Indian should work with some light modification
 
superflea

superflea

#6
#6
Get a hold of Manchester for your seat. Her work is impeccable. That is one sweet little ride. (BTW, Manchester/Karen loves the little minis)
 
RadRacer203

RadRacer203

Active Member
#8
#8
Just placed a big order today for all the little bits and pieces for this bike. I still have a big order for all new stainless hardware to place at Mcmaster once I have a little money again but all the grips, levers, wheel bearings, tubes, and sprockets are on the way. I ended up having to cut the original jackshaft apart because it was so rusty but I kept the original brackets and fitted them with new bearings so I can still have the original style look. Also sent the seat template I designed off to manchester1, I can't wait to see how it looks!
 
RadRacer203

RadRacer203

Active Member
#9
#9
Just won an ebay auction for a restored one of these Power Products engines. For the amount of time and effort it would have taken for me to restore mine I'm glad I spent the money on this. I'll post some pictures when it gets here and I'm going to have to see if the restoration was full or just a cosmetic one. I might be swapping over some parts from the one I just rebuilt, but hopefully I don't have to.

All the stainless hardware should be in tomorrow, and I'll start replacing all the original stuff soon. I ordered stainless everything including axles, and I'll be rebuilding the jackshaft with new hardware because the only parts of it I could save were the one chrome sprocket and the housings for the bearings. The new tubes and wheel bearings should also be in fairly soon so I can get it rolling nicely.

My plan is to get it running and riding to test it all out, then I can get it all dialed in before I pull it apart to make the welds look pretty and give it a fresh coat of paint
 
RadRacer203

RadRacer203

Active Member
#10
#10
Got my new engine in the mail today, it survived shipping really well and looks great! 3 problens with it though- the keyway in the crankshaft is way too short so I need to extend it. Any way to do that without taking the engine apart? Second the bolt pattern for the bottom is different but that's all right because the mount is an inch shorter than the other I have so I have room to make an adapter plate. For an adapter plate, I wonder how feasible it would be to have one cnc milled so it fits perfectly? Third it doesn't look like the paint is fuel resistant, the paint on the gas cap is coming off. Is there any good clear coat I can use to protect the paint on tthe tank at least? I'm not too worried about the engine so much.

On the plus side, whoever restored it did a nice job inside and out, if I didn't know it was 70 years old I would have thought it was just a few years old. The original "muffler" pointed straight out the side of the motor right into where my leg would have been so I adapted another "muffler" I had on the shelf from a 1950's chainsaw of some sort that points it out the front instead. Just mocking everything up now and seeing how it all lines up. I have a very nice old set of General Jumbo Jr tires on the way that should match the look really well, and another set of Kendas for when those explode lol

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RadRacer203

RadRacer203

Active Member
#13
#13
Still accumulating parts and sort of roughly laying everything out now. Looking for someone with a cnc mill who can make an engine adapter plate for me if I model it in Solidworks, and someone with a milling machine who can cut the keyway in my engine longer. I might be able to take the engine to school to stick in their Bridgeport and eyeball the keyway as best I can, but this engine plate I definitely want done by a cnc mill. Probably going to be a 3/8" thick piece of aluminum with 4 holes to bolt to the plate on the bike, then 4 captive bolts sticking up to bolt the engine down
 
RadRacer203

RadRacer203

Active Member
#20
#20
The build is still progressing, but slowly. I finally got the engine plate made and got everything mocked up including my band brake setup and clutch that still need some work. I really need to get it down to school to get all the welding done, and I used evaporust on a bunch of the small parts so I need to paint them soon. This is going to be a long build because of my lack of free time but I want to make it as perfect as I can. I think next is going to be filling in all the crappy welds, welding on brackets for the gas tank coming off the rear, painting the small parts, and filing the band brake bracket to make it fit. I'm hoping to have it fully mocked up at least in time for a local mini bike show September 19th but I'm not sure that's going to happen.

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