2 more JD's for the road

[aumick10]

I have 2 JD projects to do this summer.
A 1926 and a 1929.
My current plan is to have both these bikes as riders by the end of the year.
I don't have any plans to restore them yet. I am looking out for a sidecar or, preferably, a package truck.
Depending on what I can find, one of these bikes might get restored.
I have collected a lot of the OEM parts I need to replace the repo and missing parts, but am still short of some stuff. mainly lights and horns.
The 1929 apparently has a fully reconditioned motor that has never been started, however I suspect it is a 61" motor in JD cases.

All the usual work to do, straighten bent parts. replace incorrect parts, chase threads etc.
I had better do some spring cleaning around the house first, as I won't do it once I start on the bikes.
Cheers,
Mick

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[ihrescue]

Look forward to following. Good luck.

Mike Love

[exeric]

I envy you, Mick. You have 2 great projects there, and there is a lot of enthusiasm for later J model Harleys in our hobby. Electrical parts are the most difficult to find, and often the most expensive, as I'm sure you know. I have a 1919 Henderson that I spent many years tracking down the electrical parts for. The generator was the toughest part I have ever had to find and I had to buy a whole motor to get that generator. Like Mike, I look forward to seeing your progress on those beautiful motorcycles.

[brettxlch]

I envy you, Mick. You have 2 great projects there, and there is a lot of enthusiasm for later J model Harleys in our hobby. Electrical parts are the most difficult to find, and often the most expensive, as I'm sure you know. I have a 1919 Henderson that I spent many years tracking down the electrical parts for. The generator was the toughest part I have ever had to find and I had to buy a whole motor to get that generator. Like Mike, I look forward to seeing your progress on those beautiful motorcycles.

I 2nd that ide luv to have either bike...

[aumick10]

Thanks all, I am looking forward to riding these some day.
I also have another 29 JD project in a box, just parts.
Once I have these two bikes running, I may sell them and build another 29. I have another 3 bikes I need to sell, running out of room.
Spent the morning going through all my parts, looking to find what I don't have. Apart from lights, I think I am in good shape.
Cheers,
Mick

[Steve Swan]

Mick, it's great to see you JD's on their lifts! Looking forward to seeing them revived back to life!

[aumick10]

Got a start on the 29.
First project was find out why the kick starter doesn't turn over the motor. Pulled the clutch and found no key in the mainshaft, that is an easy fix.
Felt a bit of play in the main shaft and high gear. Pulled the clutch hub and found water marks and some rust on the mainshaft. High gear also has a bit of play, but I haven't looked in there yet. Afraid to find what I expect. Not so an easy fix.
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Also noticed that the cases have a mixture of bolts and studs holding them together.
This motor has a 61" engine in 74" cases. I will change the bolts out when I change the cases for a 61" set.
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Next major project is to change out the magneto for a generator/ distributer system. No point in having a pair of big headlights on a 29 if you cannot use them.
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Cheers,
Mick

[Steve Swan]

Mick, i sent you pm.

[aumick10]

Making progress.
Cam cover and gears have been changed out for generator drive parts.

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Found a couple of items that needed addressing.
The oil pump drive was an early model, 22 and earlier. Had a later one in stock, so no problems.

I pulled the rockers and pushrods as part of the cam cover change. has new late model pushrods with big ball ends. One rocker had a big ball socket and one rocker had a small ball end, (pre 28?). Found a good late rocker, so now I have a set of 28 rockers on the 29 motor. Will need to keep an eye out for a set of 29 rockers with the bigger bushes.

Stripped down the generator to clean/repair anything needed.
Armature was good, just needed the commutator turned and undercut. bearings and brushes will be replaced.
Pulled the field coils and they seem like they have an intermittent connection problem, so replaced those.
Next step is to reassemble the generator with the new parts.

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I broke my 29 timer by being an idiot, so I may have to run a distributor for a while until I can find another timer.

Started looking at control cables and couldn't figure out why the throttle lever was in the wrong place. Turns out it was correct, it was the carby that wasn't correct. A M1 was fitted, not the correct Schleber. I had a restored DLX 66 so I installed that with a genuine air cleaner setup. Probably should use a DLX 45 for better throttle response, but I don't have one.
Now the throttle cable meets up with the carb and oiler control cable.

Hopefully get the motor closed up soon, then on to the transmission and wiring.

[aumick10]

DLX 66 installed

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This may be a stupid question but how do you tighten up the left hand nut on the end of the generator armature?

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Cheers,
Mick

[Steve Swan]

Mick, both of my generator gears are not recessed on either of my '27's, the nut tightens against the flat face of both gears.

[aumick10]

Steve,
I went and did some more research.
It looks like that drive gear is for a JDH, and has a stepped nut that tightens it.
I pulled another gear of one of my spare generators and it i snow on and tight.
Cheers

[aumick10]

I finally have the motor closed up. I only had early coils so I had to use a distributor for the time being. Looking for a 28-29 timer and coil.

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Waiting on some control coil fittings to finish the control cables. One question I have is how do you hold the cable spiral to the handlebars. They push out of the bars when the spiral pushed the inner. They don't go through the handlebars to anchor with a long switch screw, as others do, nor do they go into the handlebars to install the "collars" to hold them.
The hole in the bars is too small for the cable outer.
Any ideas will be welcome.

Next project is to look into the transmission. I already know the main bearings are loose, so sort of expecting the worst.

I was checking out my 26 and it has what I think is a 26-27 timer, as it should have. Someone has installed a distrubutor coil, so I am looking for another coil now.
I think this timer uses the 1588-26 timer cap. I can't find these anywhere, does any body know where i can get one?

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Cheers,
Mick

[Steve Swan]

Mick, if i understand your question correctly, the spiral is held in place by a threaded plug at the end of each handlebar. there are two plug types; slotted and hex, without looking in parts book, i can't remember which pug is correct for what.

1926 was last year for distributor ignition. 1927 was the first year for a wasted spark timer setup that went through 1929, however there are variations in the timer caps. 1927 had its own model year cap. 28-29 shared the same cap. if a 26 was converted from distributor ignition to timer ignition the factory made available a cap all of its own to fit the 26 distributor base.. i know that for certain on the cap . However, i am not familiar with the 26 distributor base, rotor set up, but i can tell you for certain the base on your 26 is not a 27 base. and your distributor set up on the 29 is what the 26 came from the factory with.

As an aside, when we were firing up my buddy's '29 fo the first time, it would not fire, i removed the distributor cap and it fired right up. Be forewarned. Rat Dave with Harbor Vintage has the cap you want. it is taller than most of the caps sold by other. the the first timer cap my buddy had on his bike was shorter than the cap Rat Dave sells; Rat Dave knows the difference. i am not sure what bike the shorter cap is for.

the tall type cap on the banged up green 29 bike is the tall type. the other 2 pics are period pics of 26's, you can see the the distributor cap on both bikes.

1926 1.jpg26JD sailor.jpg29jd.9.jpg

[aumick10]

Thanks Steve, I will have to look and see if the threads are still in the handle bars. That was something I considered doing anyway.
Any idea what year timer is in the picture of my 26?
I have later model ones that have a high body that the points sit down maybe an inch from the top, or maybe someone has changed the cam to one that doesn't have the rotor drive extension.