Powerplus or Bust, Eh?

[Shaky Jake]

You might not be getting a lot of feedback from guys like me, but that's because I'm lapping up everything you post and watching with intense interest. Thanks for documenting your work so thoroughly and taking the time to share it...it's very, very cool!

Thanks Harry.


Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

And vice versa. As far as I can tell, ours are the only two 2018 Cannonball builds on the web.

And vice versa.

I think Chris Tribbey has a blog out there somewhere, otherwise all I've seen is a few Facebook posts from the other folks. Your build blog is pretty amazing. I heard there might be some kind of award for best internet documentation or some such thing. If so I'd say you have a good chance at it. Are you riding your Ariel yet? Sorry - I've been working a lot and got behind on reading your blog.

Us "revisionists" got to stick together!


Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

My front saddle bags were looking a bit crusty from being rode hard and put up wet, so I decided to give them a little attention. My barber restores saddles on the side and he recommended this paste called Saddle Secret. It seemed to work pretty well. My riding gloves were looking pretty rough as well, so I put them on and used them to apply it to the bags.








Kat thought the whole thing was pretty exciting.








In other news, I found this in a local FB ad. I'm pretty excited about it. I used one of these back in the '70's when I was a teenager, for rebuilding connecting rods and stuff. It is now sitting in my box trailer in the driveway until I can find a couple of strong young men to help me wrestle it into the shop.







It will probably be this winter before I get time to clean it up and start playing with it.




Carry on!


Kevin

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[BoschZEV]

In other news, I found this in a local FB ad...

Congratulations on the Sunnen. It certainly opens up new possibilities in rebuilds. It also opens up holes...

McMaster-Carr will deliver tool steel rods this afternoon that I need to rebuild my Ariel's oil pump, and without the Sunnen to finish the internal bore as well as do the final sizing of the plunger at a level of a ten-thousandth at a time to set the clearance I don't know what I'd do.

[Shaky Jake]

Congratulations on the Sunnen.

Thanks. Don't you love the OSHA red light mod on top? I'm going to leave it there.


Kevin

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[BoschZEV]

Don't you love the OSHA red light mod on top?

Ah, I missed that feature. Mine didn't come with a red light like that so yours clearly is a better equipped model. I'm jealous.

[AdvenJack]

I'm so taken by this thread. You must feel so wonderfully satisfied with your efforts!
I really do tip my hat to you.

[Shaky Jake]

I'm so taken by this thread. You must feel so wonderfully satisfied with your efforts!
I really do tip my hat to you.

Thanks Jack. I really appreciate that.


Kevin

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[AdvenJack]

A guy can reread this thread at his leisure time and again, and enjoy the process quite a lot!

[Shaky Jake]

Congratulations on the Sunnen. It certainly opens up new possibilities in rebuilds. It also opens up holes...

I finally got some friends together yesterday to help me wrestle it down out of the trailer. Fun fact, if you slosh some honing oil on the floor you don't need a dolly to move it. ;-). Now I just need to put my engine hoist together to lift it off the pallet.


Kevin

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[BoschZEV]

Now I just need to put my engine hoist together to lift it off the pallet.

I hope you don't find, as I did, that the legs of your engine hoist aren't quite wide enough to straddle the pallet. If so what should take only 5 min. to lift, slide pallet out of the way, and lower turns into a much longer, and more perilous, job.

If you haven't already discovered it, be prepared to be shocked at how much the consumables for your hone cost. Just to cover the range from 1/8" to 1" requires mandrels in nine series, each with its own stones. At full retail, Sunnen's price list shows a box of the smallest size in that range is $35-50 (depending on composition), and of the largest size $67-$100. Taking an average of ~$60, if you only planned to hone bronze, and wanted roughing and finishing stones for only that material in that that range, they would cost 2 x 9 x $60 = ~$1100.

It's not unlike toner cartridges for a printer, where the manufacturer could afford to give you the printer for free because they'll make a fortune off the cartridges. Or a horse, where even if it were free you then have to pay for the stable, feed, vet and farrier bills, tack, horse show fees, trailer and truck to haul it to the horse shows, ...

p.s. because each mandrel only covers a very limited range ones from eight of the nine series would be needed to deal with holes in steps of 1/16th. So, while only nine of the approx. 80 mandrels required to cover that range with no gaps would be needed for steps of 1/16th, the cost of stones still would be ~$1000.

[Shaky Jake]

If you haven't already discovered it, be prepared to be shocked at how much the consumables for your hone cost...

If you want to dance, they say, you have to pay the band.

Right now I'm focused on finding additional adapters and mandrels for my Sunnen Honall, because I plan to bring it along on the Cannonball. The Honall is a portable hone that uses the same type of mandrels as the big one. I'd like to be able to hone up to at least 5/8 inch with it. Or 3/4 would be nice. You never know what someone is going to need.




Kevin

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[BoschZEV]

my Sunnen Honall, because I plan to bring it along on the Cannonball... You never know what someone is going to need.

Hmm, maybe I should rethink my bike's toolkit, that was going to be a Crescent wrench and Swiss army knife...

[Shaky Jake]

The new intake cam followers and lift levers have been CNC'd out of A2 tool steel. They are things of beauty. I just dropped them at the post office to go to the heat treater. I was so excited I forgot to take pictures. I should have them back in a week or two, I'll post some pictures then.


Kevin

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[Shaky Jake]

Potential spare cylinders. Or these may go on the racer. I wish I'd taken a picture before a cleaned them up. They had mud and something that looked like barnacles. I soaked them in solvent for a couple of days, them simple green, then a week of two in a bucket of EvapoRust. They are actually looking pretty good. The valves are time-welded to the guides though. I literally soaked them in Kroil for over a month. It still took A cut off wheel, a torch, and a lot of hammering later, to get the valves out.










Kevin

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