JC penney "El Tigre" rider project

markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#1
#1
Working on fixing this El tigre up. Not so lucky this time with the chrome like the sears bike I did last year, but its not terrible. It has some issues, rewelded at the neck, some add ons and the forks, well there really messed up.


I got it running/driving and it runs good, at top end there were some noises but I believe that its shrouding rattles at least I hope. Even with the messed up forks it drove really nice, I was being careful not get to rough with the single supported fork. ut its a comfortable ride so I'm gonna see If I can make something somewhat decent out of it.

Heres the motor

I disassembled today and looked the frame over pretty good. The footpeg bar is pretty beat up too, there is a crazy add on strap for the seat someone put on it and there is some questionable spots on the chrome here and there.



I stripped the paint off the front wheel and have it soaking in evaporust right now, its looking pretty decent they did not seem to sand on the chrome wheels when they painted so there is hope at least for the outer lips of the wheels. The back one has some paint stripper soaking in right now.

Dependant on how the chrome looks after I put some elbow grease into it I have an idea to address the bad areas on the frame and still leave most of it chrome, dunno how it will look just yet though.
 
Neck

Neck

Growing up is optional
#2
#2
I got one of those, my frame is still in pretty decent but the chrome after sitting outside probably for most of the last 40 years is not in such good shape, but I don't think I will re chrome it or have it painted. If I do decide to put some sort of finish on the bike it will most likely be Jet Hot. I found a 70 model H35 Tec at Mac's yard sale to replace the wheezing 3 horse Briggs that I got it with. I took the bike to Bonneville last year for a pit bike, and didn't have much time so I threw the 5.5 Clone off of my Baja Warrior on it, it worked fairly well considering how little time I had in it. I have a picture of it for my public profile, if you want to see it just click on my name.
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
Jet hot is some good stuff, we had them coat some tuned pipes for our nitro Radio control boats we used to race. That was years ago, I think the closest place to do it was like GA or AL I think. It held up good to high nitro percentages and drastic temperature changes.

Gonna try and keep this bike low budget, only coating its gonna get is leftover paint from other projects:wink:

I dove into the forks this afternoon and found the broken out section stuck in the fork lower. Think I can get it fixed without too much trouble:thumbsup:


I started to clean everything up so I can stick slug in there, of course I got rid of my stack of scrap metal when I did a "clean sweep" of the garage recently:doah: So I need to dig around at work tomorrow or just pick something up on the way home.


Heres the seat I'm gonna use I think, Its a Powerdyne, It fits the bars pretty decent, I have not decided if I am going to bring it right back the end or bring it forward so I can have sort of a "grab bar". Either way I'm just going to lop off the front section at the edge where ever I decide to place the seat, that will get rid of that extra brace that was welded on for the seat they had mounted on it.



Oh yea, If anyone has any ideas for for some what I like to call "tube sock" striping, I'm all ears. I want to use that to transition between paint and the chrome when I cover the bad area on the frame. something like on the sears bikes:
 Anybody ever seen anything striping like that remotely similar in a pre made roll??
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#6
#6
got a little work done, I bought some solid rod and inserted it into the broken fork and welded it up. I am by no means a good welder. My first attempt was not too good as I did not make very large holes to puddle weld into. That and I was not getting the best penetration with my small mig and the solid rod.

So I ended up cutting some long wide slots into the outer tubes and working my way out from the solid rod with the weld. The break was clean up in the spring cup so that did not help either. I did my best to at least get a few good spots melted together but it was not easy. I ran the inner rod up to the bend in the handlebars and down near the bottom of the tube, I dont see it being able to go anywhere.

Everything is still tweaked pretty good, I am going to take them to work and see what I can do with them on the shop press.



I also got the wheels stripped and out of the evaporust. They look pretty decent. The chrome on the outer lips look good so I think I might tape them off and paint just the inner sections.


debating on tires right now, I do have a matched set of original Good Years that would be correct for the bike, but since the bikes not really "stock" anymore I may keep those for another project and use some new tires I got from OldMiniBikes that were intended for my cat350ss that I just don't like mounted on the cat wheels.
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#8
#8
Little bit of work completed,

I scrubbed the frame out and wasn't real pleased. Its not terrible but some areas I thought were dirt etc. were not. The chrome is pretty thin overall.

I took the fork uppers to work and got them about as straight as I can on the press, stripped the painted areas on them only find they are really buggered up.

I cut the seat mount to get rid of the added on support at the front and fit the Powerdyne seat I will be using.

I also painted the centers of the wheels to hide the rough areas.



While I was disassembling the motor I found the source of the rattles at high rpm, the bolts were loose on the bracket that holds the shroud, they also have the throttle control riveted loosely tot it. That was a good find, I was a little concerned that it could be something internal.

Gonna try breaking in the new sandblast cabinet with the parts form this one, My old cabinet was really wore out after 8 years of abuse. Been chomping at the bit to use it, but my injured finger has been keeping me from being able to stick my hand in the glove:doah:
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#9
#9
cleared some space yesterday, did a little welding, installed some tires, some terrible paint work, and a little polishing to the bolts I had for it. Threw it together and its a roller now:

I blasted the engine parts a few days ago, I am thinking of leaving the block natural finish, and just paint the tinware.



I started to work on the muff too, will get some pictures of it later.
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#10
#10
Well I finally for the most part got the beater bike done and rideable!

I painted just the shrouds on this one to see how it would look, I think its alright:shrug: Installed older style decals(the motor is a '78 HS50) just because when I bought this bike it came witha whole bunch of spare parts and the decals were in the box:thumbsup:


OldMiniBikes member HReagle gave me a good deal on a brand new clutch brake so I mounted it up to this bike as all it had was a scrub brake to stop it:



I was trying to fit up the original style muff that was center mounted on the fender but I will need to make a header to fit it or just scrap the idea.

What I had from that project was the remains of the H50 header that had a rotted can on it. It just cleared the frame, I dug around and found a VW "pea shooter" tip that I pressed onto the pipe.


Its a tight fit but after riding the bike around a little I can tell that it will loosen with heat. I'm working on strap to mount to the frame for support and to keep it in place. It sounds quiet and smooth at idle but is loud under power.

I was getting frustrated with this bike so I got a little lazy with a few things on it, I just wanted it done and not put any $$ into it at the same time. but it looks alright I think for what it is, clutch comes on kinda late for a rider, I just bolted the one that was on it when I got the bike so I may have to change that out. Still trying to decide what I want to use for the chainguard, for now I put the one that comes with brake on it. Might just paint it black and be done with it.

 
lostinbaja

lostinbaja

Member
#14
#14
My Pennys ElTigre didn't come with a clutch or usable chain ( chain is so rusty I can't read a size).....What size chain did they use on that bike? I need to order a clutch and chain.
 
manchester1

manchester1

#15
#15
Hey you rookies. This is a 4 year old "project" thread. If you ask your questions in "General mini bike", I'm sure you will get some ansewers:thumbsup:
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#17
#17
lostinbaja said:
My Pennys ElTigre didn't come with a clutch or usable chain ( chain is so rusty I can't read a size).....What size chain did they use on that bike? I need to order a clutch and chain.
Click to expand...
35 pitch

Hey you rookies. This is a 4 year old "project" thread. If you ask your questions in "General mini bike", I'm sure you will get some ansewers
Click to expand...
I'm still around...for the time being :laugh:

Nice looking machine... Perhaps this would be a cool sticker for the front fork plate. From the Bultaco El Tigre, they're still available
Click to expand...
Problaby would have been, bike is gone now though :thumbsup:
 
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