Powerplus or Bust, Eh?

[BoschZEV]

Finally, visual inspection showed the insulation to be in good condition, as shown in the next photograph.
5Coil2.jpg

However, one coil exhibits traces of epoxy in several locations, as can be seen near the bottom primary terminal of D3
6Coils.jpg

While both armatures passed all tests, D2 performed somewhat better so is the one I would recommend using in the principle magneto, with D3 reserved for the backup.

The armatures are now boxed, labeled, and in my car ready to drop off at the post office on the way to work so Kevin should have them back by the end of the week.

[Shaky Jake]

Thank you, Charles, for that very comprehensive set of tests and the detailed write up. You just gave me a higher sense of confidence about my chances of completing the Cannonball on this bike.

Kevin


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[BoschZEV]

Kevin,

The only other thing I would have done had I had a complete magneto is to run it in overnight on a long-term tester I built for that purpose:

http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbth...761#Post462761

Running 12 hours at the equivalent of ~40 mph puts 500 miles on a magneto, which isn't enough to cause premature wearing out, but (hopefully) is enough to reveal any mechanical issues. But, the tests I did on the coils, including at 50 ^oC, should give you a lot of confidence that those essential components are sound.

[Shaky Jake]

I have a huge amount of pictures that I want to share with you guys, but I just can't get it done right now due to personal and work priorities. I am making progress, and I will get the pictures posted, and I will ride the Cannonball. Here is a picture of the current state of the bike:








Here is what my work bench looks like right now, littered with transmission parts:








Here are my gas tanks. Steve at Buck's Indian came up with the extra tank that he calls the 'Hendee Extended Range Tank.' It's ugly, but necessary:








Kevin


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[painterdale]

Great to hear you are still on track, Kevin! Dale

[BoschZEV]

Great to hear you are still on track, Kevin!

I'm sure when he started on this ~18 months ago he had visions of it being completed by now and him putting on miles well ahead of the start to get all the bugs worked out so he could fix them at his leisure in his garage, instead of at midnight in a motel parking lot after a long day's ride. With the deadline now looming, it's totally understandable why his frequency of posts has dropped off.

[TechNoir]

Re: PowerPlus or Bust

Kevin, its great to see your latest update.

I had assumed that you had your head down and was just getting it done. Is the tranny the last bit that need to be finished?

It is still only in May so you should have time to get some miles under your belt before the Cannonball.

John

[gww]

go go go. look n forward to seeing her going over wolf creek pass in colo.. best on ya..

[Shaky Jake]

Playing catch up.

Boy; there's been a lot going on. I lost my little sister in December, and we buried Mom last week. The wife wants a new kitchen, so we tore the old out out, down to the sub-floor. Mother nature wants to knock down trees in the yard. The boss wants me to do some work. I haven't been sleeping much and everybody is mad at me for being grouchy and just generally in a bad mood. Going down to my little shop in the basement is my escape. My fortress of solitude. A cup of coffee, some blues on the stereo, my tools, and the little Indian. Somehow some progress has been made. I have less than 90 days left to build this thing. I should be riding it by now. I'll try to get caught up on this thread, I want it to be a complete record of the project. I appreciate the help and in-put I've gotten from all y'all.

Last time I was talking about getting the bottom end together. Putting it into the frame was a big day for me. I decided to put it in the frame before I mounted the pistons and cylinders, partly because it is much lighter to handle, and partly because I wanted to practice mounting cylinders in place, in case I had to do it during the Cannonball. here are some pictures:














You may recall that I worked with Nick Arias III to develop pistons for the Powerplus engine. The piston rings they sourced are for an 80 mm (3.150 inch) bore, so the end gaps needed to be adjusted for my 3.145 inch cylinders. When I set ring gaps, I like to slide the ring into the cylinder and use the top of the piston to square it up down in the cylinder:











Then I use a feeler gauge to check the gap, grind a little off with one of these little diamond wheel do-hickies, check it again, and on and on until I have to desired gap. You want to take a little at a time and sneak up on it, because once it's gone you can't put it back. I used .015 to .017 as my final end gap for the rings:











After my gaps are set, I like to use a little stone to lightly knock any burrs off that the diamond wheel may have left. Use a light touch, you don't want to chamfer it, just clean it up:









Then the rings can go onto the pistons. There are various contraptions available for spreading the rings out so you can slip them over the pistons. I always use my fingers. It's a bit of a nervous operation because you can very easily snap them in half. You also want to try to avoid scratching the pistons with the sharp edges of the rings. Some rings have a taper on the inside, which generally faces up. There is almost always a mark on the top side of the ring to tell you which side is the top, in this case it is just a little punch mark, which is common.










I decided to not use the oil rigs. This engine originally designed not to have oil rings, and I think it is important for a total loss engine to consume some oil so that it can be replaced with fresh. We'll see what happens, I can always take it apart and install the oil rings if need be.






More to come.






Kevin


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[Shaky Jake]

Pistons and Cylinders

The valves went into the cylinders without incident. George and Mike over at Central Cylinder Service had already put the new guides in and cut the seats for me:








When I went to hang the pistons I found that the bushings were too long. I'd had a local machinist make them for me, and somehow they got made to the proper length for the old pistons, not the new ones. I probably spec'd the wrong length. A minor setback. I made this puller, pulled them out, shortened them on the lathe, and re-fitted them. I found that an original valve spring retainer fit into the end of the perfectly to pull it out:








After that, the pistons went on and the cylinders followed:










Kevin


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[Shaky Jake]

footboards

I used Barge Cement to stick the pads onto the floorboards. I trimmed them to fit, scuffed up the boards and the backsides of the pads, applied the cement per the directions on the can, and clamped them in place:












I'm pretty happy with the results:









Once I got the boards on the bike, it was apparent that the reproduction clutch pedal that came with the bike wasn't going to work. It hit the left floorboard before it rotated far enough to disengage the clutch. It was the heel-toe style pedal, some bikes had that and some had just a straight toe style. I found an original toe-only pedal, it needed some work but it looked like it would work. It was bent down from years of use, so I applied some heat and straightened it. Before and After:










The square hole was worn, so I brazed it up and hand filed it to fit the shaft:










The spring hole was also worn, so I welded it up:










Kevin


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[Steve Swan]

Kevin, gorgeous attention to detail and sharing in your superb thread. My condolences to you and yours for the loss of your little Sister.

Trust the roughly 90 days remaining will give you the time necessary to touch your rear wheel in the Atlantic.

[Shaky Jake]

Thanks Steve.

While I'm talking about pedals, my friend Burgie in CA told me that there is supposed to be a stop for the brake pedal that the spring hooks to. I had no idea it was supposed to have one, but a search of internet pictures verified what he told me, and also I saw on on a 1915 Indian at the Omaha meet in February. It's supposed to be stamped out of one piece of steel in a 'T' shape, but I made mine out of two pieces brazed together. Close enough for around here:








I didn't have time to get it nickle plated, so I electroplated it with nickel:








I sourced a spring from McMaster-Carr. Here is the final product:








Kevin

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[painterdale]

My sincere condolences for your losses, Kevin. Dale

[Shaky Jake]

My sincere condolences for your losses, Kevin. Dale

Thanks Dale. How's your '17 coming?


Kevin