101 Scout... going to take a while

[ihrescue]

I went for completion on one item to show myself some progress! The saddle was pretty much an incomplete skeleton so I worked on that first (last year...)

The pan was in trouble, some cracks and blown out holes:



So I did some welding up of the holes and cracks, and fabricated a missing threaded insert for an optional Mesinger back rest (which I don't have)



I also needed a few parts (there's a bunch of parts in one of these seats!), but the few missing parts were available through Walker



...and sent the seat off to Michael Paquette of Worsham Castle... I am quite pleased with the results, thanks Michael!

Since I can only guess, did the saddle maker sew up the saddle after riveting the pan to the bottom leather?

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

Thanks for the pictures, and text, Harry. What you're doing is my favorite part of messing with old motorcycles. I hope you're having fun.

And to use the controversial vernacular of the day I "Like" what Eric said here. the "favorite part of messing with old motorcycles" and it is what got me hooked on old ones, though my old bikes are much younger by comparison. If I have time and I can't find a way to work on an old motorcycle project then its going to be an old blacksmith's sledge or some sort of something old, rusty and in need of TLC.

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

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!

Thanks for quoting a source and part numbers.

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

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!

Honestly I think the jump around approach is most realistic. You start something and get to a point where you discover you need a part. Do you stop there until you can proceed in a linear fashion? No you jump to another sub-project of which you have a list of or you just look over the project and say "What's Next?" Loving this build thread.

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

Yay. I love a bitsa-build.




Kevin

I like my new catch-phrase for the day bits-build. You should know Kevin.

Cheers

Mike Love

[chuckthebeatertruck]

That is GORGEOUS work . . .and really makes me want to get good at alloy welding!

Thank you for sharing!

[exeric]

That is beautiful work. So glad you were able to find such a talented craftsman to save an iconic 101 motor case. Danny Weil is also such a craftsman, so you're in good shape, Harry

[pisten-bully]

...the cases arrived yesterday and they look great I think. Turn around time was almost exactly 3 months. The pinion shaft bearing race, cam bushings, and cam follower pins will need to be made up as the repairs left slightly oversized bores for those. Now I recontact Danny Weil and hope he can fit me in sometime!

[exeric]

What a great find! And someone that like you, also does a great job providing progress pics. Looking forward to seeing the final results.

I agree. Your photos, progress reports are some of the best i have seen, Harry. Thank you for taking the time, and effort to do such good job of documenting such a good job

[tfburke3]

It looks like you found a good guy.Work looks very nice.
Good luck with it.
Tom

[TH47Indy]

What a great find! And someone that like you, also does a great job providing progress pics. Looking forward to seeing the final results.

[pisten-bully]

After the welding is complete, back in the kiln to relieve any stress and then he begins machining the case back to spec:







So, that's about it, though he's not finished yet. He reported to me last week that he inspected all the welds and they're good with no impurities or bubbles, and no distortion, the two case halves bolt up nicely!

Aside from this being an endorsement of Juris Ramba, I'm pretty psyched and satisfied that I gave it a shot to save this case. Of course I don't have the cases back yet, but Juris Ramba knows old motorcycles quite well and I have the confidence he has saved my crankcase.

[pisten-bully]

I shipped the cases to Latvia with no guarantee he would be able to save them, he needed to see them first. I was happy to learn that he would give it a go, and he has kept me in the loop quite well with lots of pictures along the way. His first step is to put the case into a kiln at about 660 degrees F to drive the oil out of the pores, then he hydro blasts them clean and repeats the process again.

After cleaning he uses machine tooling to rout out the spider web of cracks and broken areas:





Then back into the kiln at 660 to preheat for welding:



During the welding he stops and re-heats the casting so it doesn't cool off too much, then continues welding:

[pisten-bully]

Thanks Eric, as mentioned I sent my cases off to Juris Ramba in Lativa, Juris is an AMCA member and quite involved with old bikes. Latvia is an interesting country, not far from Poland, Germany, Sweden, and more (of course). Much like the rest of Europe Latvia has seen many changes in rule over the centuries and they fell into the Soviet Union for a time, but now they're independent again. During the Soviet time there were shortages of many things, machine tooling being one such thing, so the population, and people like Juris had to develop their own methods using a mixture of old technology and creative solutions to repair and keep things going.... I think this is a big reason Juris has the ability to repair things like 1930 engine cases. Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of some of the motorcycles Juris has restored, he had a show two weeks ago:





Enough history, but I'll leave it at I am happy I found him and I'm optimistic he has saved the case, now onto his process!

[exeric]

I'm glad you found someone with the skill to save your cases. There is so much intrinsic, and historic value in genuine parts, so I think it's always worth the extra effort and expense to save them. Thanks for the update, Harry and look forward to the pictures.