'78K Resto-Mod-"HaCkJoB"

[shinyribs]

Do you reckon it really matters if they lay in the groove or not?

[TOOLS1]

If they are not laying in the grove, they are only making contact between the boot, and carb/head on the raised lip of the carb/head. This would make the carb/head cut into the boot, or the carb could move. I have seen carbs fall off bikes before. They are also so big and clunky that you will have a hard time getting them into position, and tightening them.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

Bummer. Looks like I'll have to do something else then. Oh well, at least I'll have really nice clamps on all my trucks now!


Still snowed in and it is colder than the north side of a witch's tit. Never seen bottled water freeze solid overnight in the shop before!



Also never seen a drill bit do this before. Made of rubber apparently. No clue why it didn't snap.



My hopes for today is to try and start the bike. I used the wrong stack of steels in this clutch, so I gotta pull that out and fix it. I did bleed the front brake today. Seems to have a nice feel with the mismatched components and the caliper is retracting like it should. So brakes are done! Need to bleed the clutch, set the points, mount the carbs, finish the stator harness wiring harness, mount the starter solenoid and ... then I think  it'll be time to see what happens. Fingers crossed. Wish me luck!

[shinyribs]

No luck getting the bike running. No fuel line.

I did get the front brake bled out ( hassle ), bled the clutch (sloooow) and re-stacked the clutch steels properly. One thing I was VERY happy to see is how well the clutch seems to be working. You can work it easily with one finger and it disengages the clutch to the point where the rear tire will actually freewheel! Something I haven't seen a stock clutch ever do. Hopefully that will make for some smooth shifting and easy neutral finding.

Didn't remember that my carbs were empty, so had to go hunting for all of the internals. But, thanks to a heat gun (works good on frozen steel toes,too), the carbs are on and ready to rock. The Motion Pro cables and throttle sleeve feel great. Don't skimp on these parts. 40 years old cables and throttle tubes are just 'sticky'. Spend the $45. It's worth it. Oh, and my stock carb clamps worked just fine.   

Set the points and add oil, then she'll be ready to fire.  Heck, I might even (try) to take it for a ride in the snow tomorrow. Buuut, I think 8'' might be a bit much.



Previous tab          $1,605

battery                      70
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Current total          $1,675

[TOOLS1]

What carbs did you end up using?
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

MIGHTY ROUNDTOPS !   What else???

[TOOLS1]

I thought maybe some of those newfangled sport bike carbs that you seem to be fixated with. However a single S&S would be cool.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

Nope, I'm extremely happy to be using a good ol' set of trusty roundtops.

The wide-ness still tickles me.


And the carburetors.



I still need to tuck some wires away, but I really like that ^^^  pic.

[TOOLS1]

Now I am starting to get excited.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

Me too! But, not much progress today. Bought some tubing and got my fuel lines, overflows and vents ran. But I hadn't noticed that my petcock was vac operated. In the process of converting that now. Also had to move some rolls of hay for my buddy next door. And my water line is still frozen, so I'm still toting buckets of water up from the creek so i can still live halfway civilized until it thaws (probably be another week). Had to mail some parts I mad for a guy. Buy groceries. Shovel snow. Just wasn't enough time to warrant burning the oil to heat the shop.

Shoot. Just remembered I forgot to pick up a fuel filer.

But,before I forget...

Tab          $1,675

fuel lines         10
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new tab    $1,685

[shinyribs]

Still not running.  A few different reasons.

1: no lugs to make battery cables (oops)
2: no fuel filter (got another 6'' of snow last night-didn't go in to town)
3: this happened when double checking valve lash



Not a big deal,right? Just put on a replacement,right? Well, I did put on a replacement, but there's a piece of metal missing from what's left of that inspection cover. So I gotta pull the valve cover and find it.

Reconfigured the vac operated petcock () in to a good old fashioned off-on-res style. Needed only to epoxy shut the ''prime'' port and relabel the retaining plate. I ran a coarse tap through the ''prime'' port to help the epoxy hold well. And I was right peeved when I struck my ''O'' punch and found out the font on that punch is quite smaller than the "F" punches.  Looks all wonky, but it'll do. Oh, and made a blockoff plate to get rid if the vac valve.



But in other news, all of the wiring is now 100% finished,tucked away and strapped (well, almost *). I made a mudflap the prevent the back tire from slinging poo all over the engine and I made another cover (lost the first one) for the clutch. Looked too unfinished without it. Can barely make out the mudflap in this pic. I like that.



When I went to set the points I noticed that ALL of the screws were chewed. *sigh* So, went scrounging through all of my points plates until I found enough hardware to make one respectable assembly. So, that took way too long, but they are set,finally.

Checklist until start-up

1: fuel filter
2: battery cables

So close!

Anyway, current mockup pics. Nothing new except the clutch cover and no drooping wires, but... I like pics,sooo....



I'm liking this front fender more all the time.


I need to order a speedo and make mounts for the gauges (* got a pigtail hanging that needs wired in to the gauges). Still havent decided on permanently mounting an oil pressure gauge, but I would like to have it for the maiden voyage, at least. Then all that is left is paint!  

[TOOLS1]

I think that is a "0" not an "O" See the difference. How in the heck did you break the inspection cover?
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

No clue how I broke that cover. None of them were tight as I hadn't put the o-rings on yet. I was spinning them all on finger tight when it broke. I hadn't even went to get a wrench yet! I dunno, unless it was already broke and I never noticed it.

You know, maybe I do have my letter ''O'' and my zero "0" punches mixed up! Too late now, but good eye!

[shinyribs]

Made up my battery cables today. I don't know why I didn't think of this yesterday, but I've got plenty of 3/8'' copper ref. tubing laying around.

Flatten-drill-file-crimp-solder-heatshrink.



And I did get her started today!

 Albeit, breifly. I was sure that I had the points wires crossed, but after double checking them it fired up instantly on the first try. When I had my hand over the carbs to prime them I saw some debris laying on the throat of two of the carbs that had gotten drawn through. Obviously I need to clean them from sitting in storage for so long. You will see in the video (if it ever uploads!) that it dies instantly without choke. Dirty pilot passages. Audio quality is poo, but it sounded nicer than expected. Fairly deep note and not at all as loud as I thought it might be. Will update when the video uploads.

Proof! That a motor I assembled actually lives again.

[shinyribs]

Oops, I thumbed the kill switch.

But, points window! And a fairly accurate exhaust sound. It's a shame my phone has better recording abilities than my digital camera does.

[shinyribs]

Charging system is working,but it's weak. I have 12.2 at rest and 12.5 revved. Check the stator? Faulty R&R? Anyway to test a combo R&R unit?

[TOOLS1]

AWESOME!!!! I saw fire coming out the exhaust.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

lol. That's what short pipes and over-fat carbs will get ya.  I didn't have the jets I need on hand, so just used what I had. 140 mains!

[TOOLS1]

140 Mains? You trying to drown it?
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[shinyribs]

I know. They were in the chopper when I got it. I found some 110's today, but was too lazy to de-funk them. They're probably too small anyway. I'll jet this to match the WB. Seems like a good starting point.