101 Scout... going to take a while

[pisten-bully]

I’m am going to try and do a build thread, a crummy one probably, but maybe something I put up will show something helpful to someone else… or to me!

My starting point is a frame purchased this summer with sheet metal and wheels from Ross in Manitoba, they look to be 1928 or 1929. And then thanks to a tip from Indianut I was able to purchase a 37ci motor from Norway, it is a 1930 motor. I’ve been casually collecting other parts (magneto, generator, generator drive, brake lever…and not done yet) and I’ve started assessing what I’ve got and what I have to do get this Scout back on the road.

Here’ how things looked after receiving them:

this is actually a picture from Ross before I got the bike:


and the motor right after I got it:

[pisten-bully]

The first thing I did was to clean the motor and take off the heads. I could get the motor to turn over about 270 degrees but then it would stop, so I wanted to see why. so off come the heads, I soaked the head bolts in PB Blaster and candle wax, tapped them lightly with a hammer and on the second day I was able to get them all out without too much effort. Front cylinder was gouged from a wrist pin clip! It also turns out the front exhaust valve was stuck badly (took me a week of soaking, heating, tapping to finally get it out… I wanted to save it so no heavy handed persuasion on my part)





front wrist pin had been replaced with buttons:


wrist pin clip must have damaged the front cylinder, so maybe the solution then was to install buttons and ignore the gouge"


pistons are not original, I haven't checked the bore yet

[pisten-bully]

So then I got to looking at the frame, and I noted a weld bead along the lower tube just ahead of the kicker, plus more welding on the brake shaft casting and on the kicker stud casting area. The kicker stud was an offset type and it was bent and tack welded in place. the brake cross shaft was not going to move but I wanted to save it so more soaking, more heat, more tapping on both the kicker stud and the the cross shaft. I also wanted to see if the 2” long bead of weld on the lower frame tube had penetrated well and wasn’t hiding a crack.



the old kicker stud, it was tack welded in place

[pisten-bully]

I also have been assessing the rest of the bike, I’m going to need fork work and handlebar work at the bare minimum to make this safe. the LH handle bar looks fine, the R H bar look like a piece of rope with all the creases in it… probably not safe.

one of the bends in the front fork


and the ugly RH handle bar


three clips on the front fork, not certain what they held

[pisten-bully]

and then there’s the tank…. ugly for sure but maybe it’s salvageable as it I don’t see any pinholes from the outside… so I split the tank to see what I’ve got.

bottom of the tank with some brackets made and the original holes filled in


and after the split


So I'll try to do updates, but those of you who have done these build threads have my admiration... it's not easy to take pictures and post them up with some writing. I'll do my best as I go along... slowly!

[Green Indian]

Nice work Harry, if it turns out as nice as the Chief you're going to have a hard time deciding which one to ride!

[painterdale]

I'll be following along! Looking forward to this.
Dale

[exeric]

You'll have years of fun with it, Harry Just like going up hill; you'll be half way to the top, look back, and be amazed at how far you have come. If I get a title for my free Honda, I'll be right there with you in new territory.

[Shaky Jake]

Yay. I love a bitsa-build.




Kevin

[pisten-bully]

Thanks fellas! I complained about myself on another forum about jumping around the project from one thing to another without focusing on finishing a specific thing before starting another. But at this stage I think that's working for me...I'll eventually zero in on an area and focus on it (e.g. frame...or motor...or sheet metal), but for now I'm still in the "exploratory" phase!

[painterdale]

Works for me, Harry!
Dale

[TH47Indy]

I've learned a lot from from your other build thread so I look forward to following you on this build.

[pisten-bully]

Nothing special here, but this is how I split the tanks. Using a soldering iron I worked my way around the tank on the seam and inserted popsicle sticks to keep the halves apart (the job would've been much more pleasant had each stick originally held a treat). The corners were tight and I changed to utility knife blades.

[Tom Lovejoy]

very cool, watching with interest

[pisten-bully]

Not much to report (things got very busy with work... the paying kind) but I did acquire a new wrench. I like tools, I've got three sets of them (warehouse, home, shed) but I didn't have a suitable wrench for removing the head adjusting cone in order to remove the forks. I used a strap wrench until the strap started to shred, so then I bought this beauty, an adjustable hook spanner :



Worked great and now I have another tool! Got it from ZORO.com. Their item# GO494155, $27.84 (it's marked PROTO, mfg #JC472) Should work on my bicycle, too!