'27 JD Cut Down Project - SWAN

[Steve Swan]

John, as i was looking at your most recent pictures if that infernal tank bolt under your Johns-Manville speedometer, i noted it is also a model 210AA which is specifically a motorcycle speedometer. The 210AA was fitted to a number of different makes up through the end of the 20's. The 4 digit odometer and 80 mph dial makes this era of 210AA's teens' up to early 20's from what the man who restored my J-M tells me. From what i am told, the J-M is a better quality unit except for the fact that the frame the mechanism is housed in is made of pot metal and degrades with humidity and temperature extremes. My 210AA had its issues, thankfully the fellow who was able to rebuild it had what was needed to make it work like it is supposed to. Motorcycle J-M speedometer's are a rather rare unit, especially if one is going with all J-M parts from speedo to rear wheel. Janus Napierala in Ontario, Canada no longer does speedometer repair, he does sell parts. Janus tells me the value on J-M is 2-3 times the amount vs. Corbin. Napierala is waiting for my check to clear and then sending me Corbin parts from speedo to rear wheel so the J-M can do its "thing."

[TechNoir]

Steve, its looking better and better. I like the rear end and the light. I cant wait to see it painted.

I see you have a Johns Manvill too as opposed the the more common Corbin. Is it an HD unit or did you adapt a Modet T unit?

John

[Steve Swan]

Thanks, John for your reply. i've made more progress, the wiring is finished, i have spark, lights and horn. Waiting on my local buddy to begin dismantle of is '29 (preparing for paint before he begins final build), then i get his foot boards and chains. The only other detail is getting all the drive parts for my speedometer and the thing is finished.

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[TechNoir]

Steve, the bike is looking brilliant. I am sure the motor will go good as it looks. The light and dark grey combination looks great.

With the rolling chassis, motor, transmission and lights looking like they are there or nearly there, there cant be too much more to do can there? (I added the last "there" in deliberately as I realised that I had way too many of them in one sentence )

John

[Steve Swan]

more progress.

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[Steve Swan]

engine is finished, goes in the frame tomorrow. using George Hood's off set inlet caps. George made the guides of aluminum silicon bronze, they will not wear out. He also did a bit of work on the inlet housings to make them flow better. George said my engine will run a slightly faster than a stock JDH engine. Of course a modified H engine will run faster than my slightly tricked out JD engine....

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[Steve Swan]

For those of you who might need Johns-Mansville speedometer work, i have the man for you. i sent him my 210AA which was a mess, this is now what it looks like. The fellow's name is Pat Mescher, 3545 Ridgeway Road, Bellbrook, Ohio, 45305, ph.# 937 848 8803 Old Frank should like his accouterments.

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[Steve Swan]

Thanks, John and Mick! the tach's on ebay, it looks really cool, but agreed i'm not sure i want the appendage hanging off and pretty sure i don't want to dish over $350 for a 100 year old something that might not work. Speaking of which, i am using this 1912 Warner-Lenz in my headlight, fwiw, the lens is 8-1/2"

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[aumick10]

Steve,
If you had a Corbin style speedo drive with a 2:1 ratio, you could turn up a boss to bolt on the back of the generator. Slot and Tang to drive off the armature. Wouldn't look out of place.

[TechNoir]

Has anyone ever known of anyone running a tachometer on a JD? All i can think of is fabricating some sort of drive box attached to primary cover that would drive off the drive shaft and connect to a fabricated drive cable. The whole mess looks Rube Goldberg ugly in my mind, but that Corbin tachometer is way cool and in the right rpm range too.

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Hi Steve, I agree that the tacho is cool but adding the drive to the timing cover would be F'ugly.

What about taking an electronic instrument and adding a replica Corbin face and making the case look vintage. OK, it would be fake but you wouldnt need to modify cases to add drive gears.

However it depends on what you want. If you want to use the original Corbin tacho then you have to add drive gears. If you are OK with something that looks like the Corbin then you might be able to use a modern electronic unit turned into a faux Corbin.

John

[Steve Swan]

Has anyone ever known of anyone running a tachometer on a JD? All i can think of is fabricating some sort of drive box attached to primary cover that would drive off the drive shaft and connect to a fabricated drive cable. The whole mess looks Rube Goldberg ugly in my mind, but that Corbin tachometer is way cool and in the right rpm range too.

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[Steve Swan]

referring to the parts book, appears i am missing pn 1558-20, "right end plate cover" does anyone have one they would sell? also appears i am missing pn's 1549-18 amd 1550-18, "timer shaft washers upper and lower"

[Steve Swan]

ok..... i am at a total loss. i was going to install the generator and have run into a weird problem. the generator to crankcase holes do not line up. let me try to explain.

when i very gently tightened the 2 screws go through the aluminium timing gear cover that screw into the face of the generator so the face of the generator mates up against the aluminum timing gear case, the 3 holes in the base of the generator chassis do not align with the 3 holes in the platform of the crankcase. the 3 holes in the base of the generator chassis are approximately 1/8" inward from the 3 holes in crankcase platform. another way of saying this is the 3 holes in the crankcase platform are 1/8" to far out from 3 holes in the base of the generator chassis

when i remove the 2 small screw screws that pull the face of the generator against aluminum gear case and turn in the 3 base bolts that go through the crankcase platform, then i have approximately 1/8" gap between face of generator and the inside of the aluminum timing gear case cover. with the generator held in this position the face of the generator gear perfectly aligns with the compound gear. if the gen.face is against the inside of gear cover, the face of gen gear is 1/8" past face of compound gear.

i am baffled. i had no problem of this sort when i built my restored 27, face of generator mated perfectly against inside of gear cover. the 3 mounting bolts and the 2 fixing screws aligned perfectly and faces of gen,gear and compound gear were perfectly parallel with each other.

attached are 3 pics of the condition i described and one picture of my restored '27 how the gen.face and inside of gear cover mate perfectly with each other.

the only thing i can add is, the generator i am using is a 1929 but casting numbers on right end plate the timer shaft slips in to are the same casting number as on my restored '27. my crankcase halves are paired 1927.

i was surprised to discover this, now i am baffled. looking forward to your thoughts and help.

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[Steve Swan]

JoJo357, thanks for sharing Walneck's JD looks akin to my project, other than wheel sizes, the only mainly other difference is his small headlight and horn vs. my large headlight and horn.

[JoJo357]

Sweet Steve, enjoying your build--Thanks.
Here's some shots of Buzz Walneck's 1928 JD "Lady J's".

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*M.A.D.*