69 "Lil" Indian

#21
How did you clean em...
Ive got 67 all original wvwn 3hp Briggs ...wanted to clean all the bolts before reassembly..Thxz
Sooooooo, You're the one who scored that bike, good deal, I would have bought it but it was sold by the time he got back to me. As for cleaning the bolts, I used a Dremel with a small stainless wire wheel on the threads and a small stainless wire brush, Dawn dish detergent and Brillo pad on the rest. The soap on the Brillo pads has a wax in it that keeps them from oxidizing too fast. As for the spring, I used a small stainless wire brush and brushed it by hand, I then used a Brillo pad for the same reason as for the bolts. You can use S.O.S. pads too, In fact I like them better, they have more soap, I just didn't have any at the time.
 
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#22
Thank you.......
Ya I went back n forth with Mike...Good Guy..Motors getting done Now ..Frames getting PC I was going with Red although after I saw your Blue...Nice..
But this one was Red originally.
 
#23
Thank you.......
Ya I went back n forth with Mike...Good Guy..Motors getting done Now ..Frames getting PC I was going with Red although after I saw your Blue...Nice..
But this one was Red originally.
For some reason, I always feel the need to rescue these Lil Indians no matter how much I have going on. The bad part is, I end up selling a lot of them, then I wonder if they went to a good home or if I'll regret selling it :(. Yours is a keeper, that's for sure, sounds like it'll be getting the attention it needs, keep it all original for me!, by original, I mean don't split up the marriage between the engine and frame, I would keep the steelies too. I look forward to seeing how yours turns out, I'm also cleaning up a mostly original 1970 too.

A2M
 
#24
I took NOS spring to Lee Spring company today "my neck fork spring" and they Specd it out and will give me a quote to make some. Or I'm gonna find a lifter spring that matches Specs.. Dodge Diesel lifter spring Very Very Close keep a posted. Dropped frame off at Powder Coater today, gonna stay with fire red color .. originally red
 
#25
I took NOS spring to Lee Spring company today "my neck fork spring" and they Specd it out and will give me a quote to make some. Or I'm gonna find a lifter spring that matches Specs.. Dodge Diesel lifter spring Very Very Close keep a posted. Dropped frame off at Powder Coater today, gonna stay with fire red color .. originally red
Sweet!, I was thinking they may have used an old car door spring and is why there are chrome ones. I doubt Lil Indian actually had them chromed, they are really cheap when it comes to that kind of stuff, someone's holding a secret.
 
#26
Changing gears a bit as I really hate copying someone else's build almost to a "T". I have an old NOS Tecumseh Power Product AH-81 that has been sitting for a long time, so long that it's dry stuck. I'm also trying to source an original kart engine mount for it, I have a lead, now I just need to work some magic. The paint on the engine is also scratched up a bit, luckily another buddy of mine has the equipment for powder coating small items. He also has a CNC plasma cutter so I may try making an identical Power Products kart engine mount out of steel. Seeing how the original engine is red and the frame is blue, I thought about using my NOS 4" Lil Indian steel wheels powder coated in white, since the paint is yellowing and chipping. I think it'll really "POP" with that color combination without looking tacky. I would be going with the black seat too, I think the white piping with the white wheels won't be overdoing it with any one color. I put the chrome levers on and I think I like them better than the shorter aluminum Dia-Compe's. I also ordered one of the triangle head badge decals, I think it'll give it more of that "Retro" look I'm going for. I also have an aluminum Ruttman split sprocket adapter that I'll be using my red 60T skip tooth sprocket on. I'll get some more pictures once I start getting the powder coating done. I am also working on cleaning up my mostly original 1970 Lil Indian at the same time, I figure I can get more done this way while waiting for parts. The drawback is, I'm not going for a full blown restoration on the 70, just a really good clean up ad a paint job. Cleaning the 50 years of crud is actually harder than just throwing new parts at it but seeing how it's mostly original, I don't want to mess that up.

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#27
Changing gears a bit as I really hate copying someone else's build almost to a "T". I have an old NOS Tecumseh Power Product AH-81 that has been sitting for a long time, so long that it's dry stuck. I'm also trying to source an original kart engine mount for it, I have a lead, now I just need to work some magic. The paint on the engine is also scratched up a bit, luckily another buddy of mine has the equipment for powder coating small items. He also has a CNC plasma cutter so I may try making an identical Power Products kart engine mount out of steel. Seeing how the original engine is red and the frame is blue, I thought about using my NOS 4" Lil Indian steel wheels powder coated in white, since the paint is yellowing and chipping. I think it'll really "POP" with that color combination without looking tacky. I would be going with the black seat too, I think the white piping with the white wheels won't be overdoing it with any one color. I put the chrome levers on and I think I like them better than the shorter aluminum Dia-Compe's. I also ordered one of the triangle head badge decals, I think it'll give it more of that "Retro" look I'm going for. I also have an aluminum Ruttman split sprocket adapter that I'll be using my red 60T skip tooth sprocket on. I'll get some more pictures once I start getting the powder coating done. I am also working on cleaning up my mostly original 1970 Lil Indian at the same time, I figure I can get more done this way while waiting for parts. The drawback is, I'm not going for a full blown restoration on the 70, just a really good clean up ad a paint job. Cleaning the 50 years of crud is actually harder than just throwing new parts at it but seeing how it's mostly original, I don't want to mess that up.

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#28
It wasn't until after I posted my last update, started looking for my sprocket and adapter did I realize that I couldn't use the original brake caliper if I used the split sprocket, so I'm staying with the steel sprocket. They need to make a sprocket for these with cooling holes, that would be cool ( a little pun intended ).
 
#30
I have the OEM Spring that I had spec done by major spring manufacturer. I'm having them done in a 302 SS grade ...OEM Specs
Original was ( OTCS ) Oil Treated Chrome Silicon Wire. Old School wire and it will rust unless coated additional cost. I'll keep ya posted . SS Springs can easily polished to chrome appearance.. Identical Spring to .0014 specs..lol
 
#31
Just a little update as I've been pretty busy. I dropped off my NOS steelies to be powder coated, come to find out, they have a $100 minimum so I dropped off my 1960 GKC Greenhorn Enduro to be powder coated too. So now the count is four bikes being worked on here and there at the same time. While waiting for parts or powder coating for the 69, I'm also cleaning up one of my 1970 Lil Indians, My Monster Moto E-250 and my GKC Greenhorn Enduro. I decided to go with the old triangle head badge and chrome levers and red striped my Carlisle tires... twice!. The first time I used a red Sharpie paint marker and under certain lighting they looked pink. The second time I used a C.H. Hanson red paint marker and now they look a lot better. The Sharpie tire is on the left and the C.H. Hanson tire is on the right. The wheels in the picture aren't the ones I'm using for those who'll notice that they aren't original steelies. Yeah, I could just use them but I want to use as many original parts as I can as I think it adds to the nostalgia appeal. I also received my sprocket from Old School Mini Bikes, now all I need is to get my AH81 torn down, powder coated, inspected and put back together and I'll almost be done. I am on the hunt for a Power Products kart engine mount, I have a lead on one, I just have to work some magic to get it.

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#34
Here's what ones hands look like after spending three days scrubbing fifty years of oxidation off one set of aluminum mag wheels. I found that Brasso, the reddish brown Scotch-Brite and #0000 steel wool works great on these. I haven't even started to polish them and look how bright the aluminum turned out. Sure, I could've sent them out to be burnished but I'm more of the hands on type. What's the reward for sending everything out to be done and putting it together?, not as much as saying "I spent three days scrubbing the crud off of those wheels but don't they look good?".

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Addicted 2 Minis

Well-Known Member
#38
Got my steelies back from powder coating today. Rich from Ragz 2 Rich's in Lapeer, MI did an awesome job on the wheels. Wheels this size are a real pain to powder coat, they act like little cups and it's easy to get too much powder on them. I didn't want a white that was too bright or too creamy, I used Prismatic Powders RAL-9010 and they turned out great. I'm going to make some new paper gaskets to go in-between the wheel halves as they were originally, I know they're not really needed but that's how they came, that's how they'll go back together. Here's a shot of before and after. I just got the batteries and 500W controller for my Monster Moto E-250/500 upgrade so it's time to tinker with that, I just can't leave well enough alone.

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Addicted 2 Minis

Well-Known Member
#39
Not really too much of an update but here goes. I just got my set of Carlisle branded tubes and installed them today to go with my tires. I don't know about you but I hate mismatched tire scripts, ply ratings and different brands of tubes other than the tire brand. I decided to go with a sawtooth front tire like it would have had back in the day. The search for a matching or closely matching front tire with large script and an area for the red stripe that didn't say "Made In China" ensued. All the new 2-Ply Carlisle sawtooth tires have a very small script, narrow area for red stripe and wouldn't match my large script studded rear tire. I searched eBay until I was blue in the face and found a set of 2-Ply Carlisle sawtooth tires with nearly matching script and area for the red stripe. The only problem was, they were mounted on plastic one piece wheels. I don't know if you've ever dealt with 4" one piece wheels but it's a real pain to get the tire off without chewing it up. Seeing how I didn't want to destroy the tires and I didn't buy them for the wheels, I decided the best way to remove the tires without destroying them would be to destroy the wheel instead. In typical A2M fashion, I've decided to give silver wheels a try so off to see Rich again with another frame (RCF Micro) and yet another set of steelies. I ordered a white seat (sorry Karen, I figured you had your hands full with your Holder Micro) to see how that will look and will post some pictures once that gets here. I've been debating about going with a Clinton 2-Smoker like the model 300's had seeing how I haven't had much luck with finding what I need for my Power Products AH81, either way, it'll be cool (to me at least!). Here's some before and after shots of the 4" plastic wheels, I just drilled holes around them and broke the outer bead off to claim my prize!. The last picture is the color that I'm going to use on the other steel wheels, Prismatic Powders PMB-4241 (Rally Silver).

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#40
It's confirmed, I'm going with a 3HP 2-Cycle Clinton, yep, I'm the nut who bought that NOS Clinton on eBay. I got my all white seat too, unfortunately my idea of 2-1/2" thick (Total) and his were two different things it was just a "tad" over 3" thick, not to mention the piping seam isn't centered, who does that?. I mean, I get that it lines up with the front seam but it throws off the whole look. I sent the seat back today, I just hope he doesn't tear this one down to correct the problem rather than making an all new seat. My Rally Silver wheels should be done tomorrow, hopefully something can go right this week.

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