Austin's Bobber Build

[knuckcrazy]

i cut off the lower corners on the base. plus i shimmed the tank mounts. that made the dash opening wider. i try to get some photos this weekend. i think i cut so much off the base i bought a second one thinking the first one must not be right. the second was just as bad

No need to send pics we had to do the same thing!!
Dash base was to wide by switch so we narrowed it to same as oem dash I had, also had to add spacers to fit the cover width way.
Turning stock on lathe to make little "donuts" to tack on base over screw holes.

[knuckcrazy]

Tail light

Austin stepped up on a tail light.
After laying sand paper on fender and rolling light we got most of the gap out.
After tig welding holes up.

Holes welded up after some gremlin carved up the tanks(wonder who that was)
We got the tank tabs welded on and dash finished up finally. All sheet metal is cleaned, biggest part of the dents have been worked out and we will start filler tonight (I just remembered why John Pierce is my Sheet metal and paint guy)
Big things left are Sheetmetal, setting up handle bars, still have to come up with a kicker pedal, wire everything and 1 more batch of parkerizing.
We found a M88 by the way, thanks to those that voulnteered what they had.
Austin has started Football and will go back to school on Wednesday so his time in shop will be limited. I am not real keen on him breathing dust from finishing sheetmetal even with a dust mask so I will do the sanding chores. He will do the masking for scallops and final assembly. He is to young to be exposed to all the things we have all subjected ourselves to over the years. Austin is going to bring his 1956 KHK basket to sell at Davenport, It is a fairly complete titled project. It was part of the deal when we got the WLA, it had to go to make room. He has been watching the "bobber" thing for awhile and the K didnt fit the bill so...
Hope fully there is a young person with a VERY understanding parent that likes it and we can see it here when they finish it. Austin also has a pile of parts to donate if there is a youth build for another WLA that likes CHROME parts.
I have alot more to post but gotta go for now
Thanks for listening to our rants and hope you are enjoying a look into little man's project.

Bob

[knuckcrazy]

I was playing with this rust remover/ Rust preventative that John Pierce told me about. It has the same look as Parkerizing. The cool thing was to watch it disolve rust.
There was flash rust on the outside of the tank and you can pour this stuff on and the rust just washes off with out touching it. I learned somenthing else about the re pop tanks we have, the filler neck is stainless and this stuff has no effect on it. Kinda sucks because I was wanting to have the top of filler neck black where the cap gasket touches like my EL tanks but oh well. The stuff says you can paint over it but I am going to have Austin blast them clean, I dont trust everything I read.

Mike is a good friend to Austin and myself and has jumped in to help with the body/paint work. Here he is sanding skim coat of glaze.

I'm gonna put up a mail box at the bead blaster for Austin he spends so much time there!!
ER

[Slojo]

Has the alignment of the shift gate been checked? The mounts look suspicious.

joe

[knuckcrazy]

Bolted it on and went thru the gears no binding.
Fit to the tanks leave some to be desired but we massaged it as much as it would allow.
Is that what you are asking??
Bob

[len dowe]

Bob,
Whats the rust remover you used? I would like to pick some up. Bike is looking sweet!!!
Len.

[bselph]

I too would like to know about the rust remover.

[Slojo]

Bolted it on and went thru the gears no binding.
Fit to the tanks leave some to be desired but we massaged it as much as it would allow.
Is that what you are asking??
Bob

The shift gate mounts in the photo appear to be rotated forward or if looking down on them, clockwise favoring the front of the tank .

joe

[knuckcrazy]

The shift gate mounts in the photo appear to be rotated forward or if looking down on them, clockwise favoring the front of the tank .

joe

Thanks Joe,
I never checked it.
I have nothing to compare it to but a big twin tank should they be the same?
We have learned one thing on this project, if you are gonna have to put tons of hours into a part to make it work might as well be OEM. I know the after market has made a lot possible for some folks but the quality has a lot to be desired.

[rwm]

Thanks Joe,
if you are gonna have to put tons of hours into a part to make it work might as well be OEM. I know the after market has made a lot possible for some folks but the quality has a lot to be desired.

this would be a great add to place next to tedd's in the club mag.

[knuckcrazy]

Bob,
Whats the rust remover you used? I would like to pick some up. Bike is looking sweet!!!
Len.

OSPHO is the name of chemical, and it bubbles so it is an acid, as always propper PPE
Never tried it on heavy scale rust but now you got me thinking about it when I get home tonight I'm gonna try it.
Bike is looking sweet until I paint it, hope it looks sweet after that....
Bob

[Slojo]

Thanks Joe,
I never checked it.
I have nothing to compare it to but a big twin tank should they be the same?
We have learned one thing on this project, if you are gonna have to put tons of hours into a part to make it work might as well be OEM. I know the after market has made a lot possible for some folks but the quality has a lot to be desired.

Yes they should match a big twin tank in location.

joe

[knuckcrazy]

Weekend work

The weekend was mostly body work, every thing stripped and smoothed ready for Primer. We still have some work on the front fender and should finish tonight.
Austin stripped his last parts for parkerizing and we will cook them tonight.

We have a speedo cable to donate to someone cause it dont fit this bike!!


Stolen parts, Austin found a brake lever he liked better than me I guess.
I will get it back

[knuckcrazy]

some more

We cut up his 6 bolt and made a 9 bolt horn out of it. Austin didnt understand why you drill 5 round holes to get 1 square hole. 1/32 inch in the corners then 5/32 in the center and small square file to finish. 2 hours later he understood.

Whitney punch notched the internal disk better than I thought it would. I figured it would be harder than Superman's knee cap but it wasn't.

Hillbilly paint booth

[Slojo]

Nice job on the square holes in the horn conversion. Now you must finish the conversion by getting a steel typewriter to re-type the data on the back side center washer into the proper font size.

joe