I've been wanting a Powell for quite a while now, but most of them I have seen for sale cost more a little more than I could spare. So I finally found an affordable one, and picked it up yesterday. Let me tell ya, there's a reason it was so affordable. The dude I got it from said it had been sitting outside for the last 30 years. Here's what the ebay auction pix looked like:
Pretty sweet, huh? Thats what I thought too...... until I started disassembly. I already knew that it didn't roll.... but after the application of some PB Blaster the axles loosened up and I had a roller. Had to apply this stuff to everything that was supposed to move to get it apart. After an hours worth of beating with a dead blow hammer and prying with Wonder Bar I had it disassembled except for the wheels.
I believe a lot of water must have sat in this spring pocket for a lot of years.
The spring didn't look so hot either. It looks like there was an inner spring and a spacer in there at one time. I'm not sure if this spring will still work, and how well it will work without the inner spring. I may need to find some new springs for this thing. Anyone know of an alternative spring that would work?
Here is why the wheels were such a bitch to get apart:
The aluminum (or is it magnesium) halves of the wheels may be salvageable, but the steel sides are shot. Anyone got any ideas??? Anyone got some Powell wheels they'd like to sell?
I haven't figured out how to get the forks apart yet. Anyone know the trick to doing this? Also this torque converter looks frozen solid. I may opt for a new TAV or run a jackshaft if I can't get it to loosen up. I'd really like to run a shifter and three speeds like the original, I may be able to make a modern TAV work the same way with the use of an adjustable tensioner. The frame, bars, forks and swingarm are all pretty solid. If I can find a set of wheels for it, I may attempt a restoration. If not, it will be a custom. Any suggestions for alternative wheels? Anyone know what model or year this thing is?
Pretty sweet, huh? Thats what I thought too...... until I started disassembly. I already knew that it didn't roll.... but after the application of some PB Blaster the axles loosened up and I had a roller. Had to apply this stuff to everything that was supposed to move to get it apart. After an hours worth of beating with a dead blow hammer and prying with Wonder Bar I had it disassembled except for the wheels.
I believe a lot of water must have sat in this spring pocket for a lot of years.
The spring didn't look so hot either. It looks like there was an inner spring and a spacer in there at one time. I'm not sure if this spring will still work, and how well it will work without the inner spring. I may need to find some new springs for this thing. Anyone know of an alternative spring that would work?
Here is why the wheels were such a bitch to get apart:
The aluminum (or is it magnesium) halves of the wheels may be salvageable, but the steel sides are shot. Anyone got any ideas??? Anyone got some Powell wheels they'd like to sell?
I haven't figured out how to get the forks apart yet. Anyone know the trick to doing this? Also this torque converter looks frozen solid. I may opt for a new TAV or run a jackshaft if I can't get it to loosen up. I'd really like to run a shifter and three speeds like the original, I may be able to make a modern TAV work the same way with the use of an adjustable tensioner. The frame, bars, forks and swingarm are all pretty solid. If I can find a set of wheels for it, I may attempt a restoration. If not, it will be a custom. Any suggestions for alternative wheels? Anyone know what model or year this thing is?
