Hello From Barber Vintage

[denismccarthy]

Hello Guys

Just wanted to say Hi! to everyone since its been some time since I have been on the forums. Hope everyone is doing well! I thought you guys might like to know what the restoration staff has on the bench and would be happy to send a few pictures out as well. Currently, I am restoring two bkes, a 1926 Ace Four as well as a 1929 Excelsior Super X. Both bikes are still in their pre-paint stage, with both engines apart. So its still early days for these bikes. Both models are very interesting with their connections to history through William Henderson.

Mitch is in the process of restoring a 1938 BMW R51, which is in about the same stage as my two projects. Lastly, and almost complete is our 1917 Indian Model "O". All that is left of this restoration is the magneto, which we are in the process of re-creating.

Looking forward to getting back up to speed with everyone, and hopefully we'll see you soon at the next AMCA event.

Take Care!

Denis McCarthy

[Paul G Bergeron]

hi denis sounds like a dream job compared to most for me its wrenching on rusty dusty beat up cars up here in maine .many of us would rather be bringing old iron back to life so keep up the good work maby we can make it down to barbers track and museum sometime paul g bergeron minot maine 7989

[dlm32]

Hi Denis, Just down the road in Sylacauga, AL. Not sure if I've met you in person. Visit the Museum often. I've seen your work, and it's great. I write the articles on early Birmingham racing that appear in the Museum Newsletter.

[Will]

How bout some pic?
Thanks
w

[gww]

yea.. what he said.

How bout some pic?
Thanks
w

[denismccarthy]

Hey Guys

Thanks so much for the kind words! I'll be sharing some new photos of the restoration projects over the next few days. Here are a few pictures of the two bikes that I'm doing before they were torn down. I'll take a few pictures of the BMW Mitch is restoring as well.

Here is the 1926 Ace Four:







And here is the 1929 Excelsior Super X before the teardown..









Currently both bikes are down to the frames, with some minor mock-ups being completed. That is fitting up the forks, fenders, gas tanks etc..

Hope you guys like the new images.

Have a great day!

Denis

[Peter Cooke]

I gotta ask. Why are you restoring the ACE? It looks pretty damn good, paint wise, to me.

[denismccarthy]

Hey Peter

Unfortunately the fair paint was about all that this Ace had going for it.. After a close inspection, we realized the bike was in pretty rough condition. I'll share a few more pictures soon to show some of the issues that we uncovered. The paint for the most part was in so-so condition, but had been applied over several other coats of paint over the years. The fuel tank had almost 3/8 of a inch of body filler with several areas that had been repaired. The front and rear fenders were in pretty good condition, but did have some issues with the fender stay brackets that run down to the frame. So really once a restoration has begun, you really need to start from the frame and work your way out.. Once I pulled everything down, it was time to take a look inside the engine. A true mess. At some point the engine had a major failure, what we call a "uncontained engine failure". That is where the connecting rods do their very best to go into low earth orbit. So the cases had been broken and "glued" back together. I've got a few pictures of this too. So the engine was going to have to go through some major repairs. The frame turned out to be pretty nice, but some holes needed to be welded up, as well as trying to locate some missing pieces. Currently the bike is in primer as we work our way through the maze of engine repair, tank repair, and locating the missing parts to bring her back to life. I'm really looking forward to starting the engine build as this is a very interesting example of mid to late 1920's engine design. I'll post up some new updates when I get a chance.

Take care

Denis

[Peter Cooke]

Thanks Denis,
Just goes to show 'Looks can be deceiving'.

[Chris Haynes]

I was traveling through the Northern California town of Clements and saw this old semi along side the road. Any relation to the Barber Museum?

[RichO]

No Chris. That was Barber Bros. from Sacramento. Their shop is still on 18th st. but run by a co-op of guys. My good friend Mike is one of them. They mostly work on Alfa's and european motorcycles. They also have a scooter shop in town.

[denismccarthy]

Hey Chris

Nope no relation. Mr. Barber does not have any Brothers.. It is interesting and ironic as we have a large collection of Lotus race cars.. Go figure!