[NOTE: Pa's 1942 WLA build first appeared on the S&S Cycle Vintage Bike Forum in May 2014 and included 1580 posts with the build thread and comments from members of the forum. To view the build follow this link http://forum.sscycle.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12410]
OK.......... I'll start at the beginning on the build. It was back in 1995 when I decided I would tear this puppy down to the ground and bring her back as she once was. When I got her, she was far from her once beauty. About the only parts still original was the engine and transmission. Even those were tampered with, parts changed out, and so on. She did however sport her original M88 carb and frame. Tanks had been replaced with right hand shift Servi-Car 50's era tanks. Fenders were replaced with WL fenders. Front forks were 1939. Handlebars were 1939 and front wheel assembly was 1939. Seat was a later seat as well. I don't have any other pics of her in the state I purchased her. But as you can see, she was far from stock anymore. She also sported one of the crappiest paint jobs I ever seen. About the only thing she had going for her is she ran and went.
Screen Shot 2020-04-03 at 9.10.28 AM.jpg
The smile on the wife's face is a "yeah right" smile, just after I told her I would have her up and running again and back to her glory state within a year. The little woman was right though. I crushed my lower extremities and the build soon became decades.
Screen Shot 2020-04-03 at 9.10.55 AM.jpg
While I recovered from my first several surgeries, I spent much of my time collecting parts, since I had none to very little mobility. Below is a pic of a very small fraction of some the parts I managed to gather together.
Screen Shot 2020-04-03 at 9.11.20 AM.jpg
Many of you probably recall my WLA Trans Build topic here [the WLA transmission build will be included as the next several comments]. The trans build was where I first actually began returning the old girl to her original state of glory. Prior to the trans build, I continued to gather up parts and replacement parts. I chose the trans first because I had enough trans parts on hand to do several gear boxes. I also spent much of my time researching on serial numbers, wla types, date codes, gear, and the like. I found my best source of research material to be my friend Bruce Palmer III's book "How To Restore Your Military Harley Davidson". Johan at http://www.theliberator.be/indexmenu.html also provided extensive wla details. I found several sources throughout the web which helped me determine correctness for my wla restoration. Sorting through all of the available information on wla's was tedious but very enjoying as well. Even my wla trans build had one cosmetic error in it. I had the gear box side cover as olive drab upon completion but have since corrected the cosmetic error to white paint as my early 42wla type III would have been. Sometimes you learn as you go......
OK.......... I'll start at the beginning on the build. It was back in 1995 when I decided I would tear this puppy down to the ground and bring her back as she once was. When I got her, she was far from her once beauty. About the only parts still original was the engine and transmission. Even those were tampered with, parts changed out, and so on. She did however sport her original M88 carb and frame. Tanks had been replaced with right hand shift Servi-Car 50's era tanks. Fenders were replaced with WL fenders. Front forks were 1939. Handlebars were 1939 and front wheel assembly was 1939. Seat was a later seat as well. I don't have any other pics of her in the state I purchased her. But as you can see, she was far from stock anymore. She also sported one of the crappiest paint jobs I ever seen. About the only thing she had going for her is she ran and went.
Screen Shot 2020-04-03 at 9.10.28 AM.jpg
The smile on the wife's face is a "yeah right" smile, just after I told her I would have her up and running again and back to her glory state within a year. The little woman was right though. I crushed my lower extremities and the build soon became decades.
Screen Shot 2020-04-03 at 9.10.55 AM.jpg
While I recovered from my first several surgeries, I spent much of my time collecting parts, since I had none to very little mobility. Below is a pic of a very small fraction of some the parts I managed to gather together.
Screen Shot 2020-04-03 at 9.11.20 AM.jpg
Many of you probably recall my WLA Trans Build topic here [the WLA transmission build will be included as the next several comments]. The trans build was where I first actually began returning the old girl to her original state of glory. Prior to the trans build, I continued to gather up parts and replacement parts. I chose the trans first because I had enough trans parts on hand to do several gear boxes. I also spent much of my time researching on serial numbers, wla types, date codes, gear, and the like. I found my best source of research material to be my friend Bruce Palmer III's book "How To Restore Your Military Harley Davidson". Johan at http://www.theliberator.be/indexmenu.html also provided extensive wla details. I found several sources throughout the web which helped me determine correctness for my wla restoration. Sorting through all of the available information on wla's was tedious but very enjoying as well. Even my wla trans build had one cosmetic error in it. I had the gear box side cover as olive drab upon completion but have since corrected the cosmetic error to white paint as my early 42wla type III would have been. Sometimes you learn as you go......
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