Let's build a girl's bike: a 1967 Sportster XLH

[chuckthebeatertruck]

Another great write up and rattle can painting explanation! Pretty cool spray booth too. One thing I did not see or read about was the type of respirator you are using during your painting. Just curious of brand/type since I do some rattle painting on old dirt bikes

I use the disposable 3m organic vapor masks. I buy them from menards and toss them after a few jobs or if I smell any solvents inside the mask. I use them for anything that creates dust or vapors, whether in the shop or working on home projects like drywall sanding.

I just buy two or three at a time and keep them in the shelf. Like safety glasses, you always seem to need multiples.

heres a direct link

https://www.menards.com/main/paint/d...4421720517.htm

I also fully cover up when painting in confined spaces, including hoods and boots. There's more nasty stuff in chemicals than we appreciate.

[craig (DE)]

Thanks for the link. I will look into some disposable masks.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

Thanks for the link. I will look into some disposable masks.

just make sure you read what the filters are good for to make sure they match what you're using. For example; por15 rust treatment paint is LOADED with isocycanates. And iso's will mess you up bad. Problem is that they are cumulative exposure . . . so it's not like you do it once and have a problem -- it's the 15th time :-) Here's a thing from 3M to give you a rounded picture:

https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/...techupdate.pdf

Not all masks filter the majority of "old school" vapors. One of my own personal stories is from 25 years ago. Once, and only once, I painted a cargo van. My father had borrowed my respirator . . .and replaced my charcoal cartridges with straight up dust cartridges. I didn't notice and dove into the job. I was spraying full two part epoxy in a small garage for a friend . . .and it did not go well. I was throwing up within 30 minutes and was put down for several days as my lungs cleared. The best way to describe it is that it was like I smoked a joint; two a few acid tabs; and had an asthma attack all at the same time. From that point forward, I more or less used a fresh mask with each paint job.

Anyways, I like these particular 3m masks from menards because they are full organic vapor and with the extra filter packs can handle limited exposure to isos. I also toss the masks if I use them in a confined space with full non-low-VOC urethane clear coats like the UC35 House of Kolor that I like a lot. Those vapors are also really, really bad for you and the clear just binds to the mask filters in incredible ways. After a day or two -- it looks like tentacles of clear coat in the filter pods :-)

I also refuse to do any type of media blasting without a good mask. It doesn't matter to me if I'm using a blast cabinet or I'm doing outdoor pressure blasting -- the silica dust will destroy lungs in amazing ways that take years to show up. I just assume avoid that all together.


Sorry to go on . . . you asked a really good question and one that we should talk about. Thanks for bringing it up.

[craig (DE)]

just make sure you read what the filters are good for to make sure they match what you're using. For example; por15 rust treatment paint is LOADED with isocycanates. And iso's will mess you up bad. Problem is that they are cumulative exposure . . . so it's not like you do it once and have a problem -- it's the 15th time :-) Here's a thing from 3M to give you a rounded picture:

https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/...techupdate.pdf

Not all masks filter the majority of "old school" vapors. One of my own personal stories is from 25 years ago. Once, and only once, I painted a cargo van. My father had borrowed my respirator . . .and replaced my charcoal cartridges with straight up dust cartridges. I didn't notice and dove into the job. I was spraying full two part epoxy in a small garage for a friend . . .and it did not go well. I was throwing up within 30 minutes and was put down for several days as my lungs cleared. The best way to describe it is that it was like I smoked a joint; two a few acid tabs; and had an asthma attack all at the same time. From that point forward, I more or less used a fresh mask with each paint job.

Anyways, I like these particular 3m masks from menards because they are full organic vapor and with the extra filter packs can handle limited exposure to isos. I also toss the masks if I use them in a confined space with full non-low-VOC urethane clear coats like the UC35 House of Kolor that I like a lot. Those vapors are also really, really bad for you and the clear just binds to the mask filters in incredible ways. After a day or two -- it looks like tentacles of clear coat in the filter pods :-)

I also refuse to do any type of media blasting without a good mask. It doesn't matter to me if I'm using a blast cabinet or I'm doing outdoor pressure blasting -- the silica dust will destroy lungs in amazing ways that take years to show up. I just assume avoid that all together.


Sorry to go on . . . you asked a really good question and one that we should talk about. Thanks for bringing it up.

Great explanation as usual Chuck! I do look for organic vapor filters since I do a lot of epoxy and varnishing work on some of my boats. I also know about isocyanates as I use to work with them very early in my career. Very nasty stuff if your not careful!

[chuckthebeatertruck]

Well, the weather refuses to be kind to most of North America . . .and we were forced indoors by the lure of a warm fire place and kitchen.

But, as Sonny and Cher would remind us -- the Beat Goes On.

With that in mind, I decided to lace up the wheels for Mrs. Chuck's bike.

Currently, there are still tons of old NOS Dixie and Superior parts in market. For the last several years, we've been buying them when the super fire sales appear. In this case, we scored two NOS rims and two, zinc NOS spoke sets for just over $100. Yippee.

With that in mind, I greased and installed all new bearings in the rear hub -- along with a fresh seal. I also stripped the front hub and was delighted to find good, original timkens in there. Those got cleaned and put aside. The hub then got washed in zep-a-lume to cut 50 years of mess off it.

All that done, it was time to get to wheel building.

First, our tools:
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This really is all I use. One good fitting screw driver for the nipples; my favorite Rowe spoke wrench and a bottle of antiseize. This is my second Rowe wrench. I wore the first one out and once it started fitting poorly -- it's time for a new one.


Here we are laid out and ready to go.
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Thankfully, Harley was pretty lazy and used standard spoking patterns for much of the last century. In the case of the rear hub; it is cross four. Inside spokes go counter clockwise, outside spokes go clockwise. Below is 1/2 done.

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Flip over and repeat

IMG_5676.JPG I then draw nipples down until 2-3 threads show on each spoke. From there I snug just enough to first set off set; then eccentricity; then run out.

IMG_5677.JPG And, into the stand for final truing. This one was a fighter . . but we eventually got it to run .030 which is just below our target of 1/32 (.03125).

[chuckthebeatertruck]

With that done; we moved onto the front wheel. The only difference here is that from 1964 up to at least 1977 (I'm not sure after '77) HD used spokes with long and short heads on the front. You simply alternate these with the short spokes going counter clockwise and the long spokes going clockwise UNDER the short spoke. Then, on the opposite flange you simply move the pattern over one hole clockwise. After that; it's straight up cross four pattern.

For those of you wondering what I'm talking about . . . look carefully at the final spoking. You'll see each spoke crosses four other spokes. The first cross is adjacent pairs -- then it radiates out crossing three other spokes before entering the rim. There are other patterns; but cross four and cross three cover many wheels.

IMG_5679.JPG In this case, we're using a 74-77 clover leaf hub (left side single disc, showa 35mm forks) with a deep drop center 19" front. Not the lightest or prettiest wheel -- but for $20 you can't complain.

IMG_5680.JPG Like the front; it is a matter of offset/eccentricity/lateral run out.

And viola: a pair of fresh, clean wheels for the '67H.

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Because that didn't take too long; we used the "left over" time to do some parkerizing so that we can begin reassembling the chassis. The last few batches I've done on the outdoor grill but it was way, way too cold for that. So, I brought out the old hot plates and did it on the floor in the laundry room. If you can boil water -- you can parkerize.

IMG_5683.JPG And, yep, some of the stuff I thought was zinc plated was actually stainless. No big deal there. To prep this batch of garbage, it first went through the tumbler with walnut shells for several days. Then it got tossed in a bucket of muriatic (hydrochloric) acid until it stopped bubbling. Then, hot water rinse and into the park solution. As soon as it came out of park -- right into clean motor oil. I let the parts cool in the oil for about 15 minutes before wiping them dry(ish) and placing in a clean box lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. In a couple of days the parts will be "dry" and lovely.

The nice part is that you just pour the parkerizing solution back into the storage container -- add water to make up for what was lost to evaporation -- and reuse in the future. You can do many lots of hardware before you need to replace the solution.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

I walked up to the attic this morning to check and see how the rocker boxes on Mrs. Chuck's '67H came out.

Last week, I stripped the rocker boxes and washed them with Zep-a-lume; which is an industrial strength, acid-based aluminum brightener. They then got washed twice in hot water and dawn dish soap.

After the boxes dried, I used a technique I learned as a boy building model railways -- dry ragging. I also ran into this technique in several VMCC publications in the UK, but have rarely seen it in print in North American publications. Anyways, in this case, the boxes were pretty fugly from years of dirt and patina. But, they weren't polished or chromed and so it was a matter of restoring a good surface finish and reducing staining. Most folks would simply bead or vapor blast the boxes. I think this makes them look too new and blasting also leaves the pores very open so when they do get dirty -- they get hella dirty.

Instead, what I do is dip a clean painters rag in aluminum rustoleum/tremclad (not silver!)


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I do not shake the can before doing this nor do I stir the paint. Instead, I just pop open the can and dip the corner of the towel in there. I then dry off most of the paint by rubbing the corner of the towel on a piece of cardstock. After that; I lightly run the "dry" rag over the box. I keep doing this until I'm satisfied.

What happens is that a very, very thin layer of nearly translucent aluminium paint is left on the surface. Aluminium paint contains ground alloy -- which is what gives it the look and sparkle. These bits of ground alloy get stuck in the open pores. The more you rag the boxes, the more silver they become. BUT the more you rag the more obvious you painted the part.

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IMG_5686.JPG In the above photo -- it's hard to tell the box was even ragged . . .but indeed, this is the "after" shot.

When done well; the part simply looks like a very clean 50 year old part. That's our goal with this type of "restoration" work. Not over restored and not left looking like garbage either.

IMG_5687.JPG In the above picture you can just barely make out the silvery sheen on the set screw. That is how thin the layer really is -- but it totally changes the color/look/feel of the box because of the alloy trapped in the pores.

The last step is to bake the boxes for about an hour at 250F. This sets the paint and it becomes almost impervious to other stuff. I will then sand/polish the faces of the boxes as original, wash them again, and get to assembly.

This dry ragging technique is also a very handy technique for hiding repairs on cases and covering up stains on cases. It also makes it a snap to clean stuff in the future because the alloy pores are "sealed" to some extent. Because the paint layer is so very thin -- it doesn't flake off either.

So there you go -- how to fake patina on alloy with a tin of paint and time.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

Over the past week, several parts we painted silver dried and were ready for baking in the oven. I generally like to set engine enamels at 250F for about 90 minutes. In some cases, I painted parts that would normally be cadmium plated. The parts in question had pretty ugly chrome and so the paint is a stop gap until I hunt better parts at swap meets.
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While the cylinder heads were baking, I took the time to toss new valve guides in the freezer. Then, when the heads were fully up to temperature it was just a matter of popping in the new guides. I do like to use three bond or scotch weld on the guides to ensure no oil can get sucked past them through the head. In theory, the correct press fit should do this; but I've had more than one "fresh" set of heads weep just a bit.

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With the parts cooling; we turned our attention to finishing up the forks. Over the past few weeks, I spent the evenings watching TV and sanding alloy parts. If I'm not using liquid compound on the buffing wheel (basically turning them into flexible grinding wheels) then I tend to sand in increments of 100/220/320/400 before turning to emery paste and tripoli on the buffing wheel. These fork legs were done that way and then washed several times before assembly. All new rubber parts were installed -- but the remainder of the forks is stock.

I did decided to put fork gaitors on instead of the original boots. (Keep in mind I'm using a 1975-77 style front end, not the original which came in 1967). Honda offered gaitors for 35mm showa front ends on the GB500 (yes, GB).

So, we ordered a pair and they fit perfectly.

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The legs will get a final polish after they are installed in the triple trees. With some luck, we will be assembling the chassis in a week or two.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

The weather finally doesn't stink in Chicago -- so Mrs. Chuck and I got down to building the chassis for her 1967 XLH.

Step one was collecting all the parts. We had previously painted and wrapped in tissue paper most of the chassis components. Those went out first and got unwrapped on the bench.

I then carried down the frame from the attic/paint room and stopped by the closet for a box of NOS parts and some new parts.


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While I had the frame in the living room -- I took the time to cover the bottom frame rails with blue painters tape. While the paint is tough -- it's still scratchable from the service lift.

Here are some close ups of the frame work to show you how it turned out. Keep in mind this is all metal and paint. No filler at all.

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Overall, the repairs to the neck, seat tabs, castings, attempt at neck raking and all the other f'ed up stuff from previous owners came out pretty good. Even better when you know how little we spent on paint!

[chuckthebeatertruck]

Chassis assembly was straight forward. Other than missing one ball bearing for the neck and the upper shield (thankfully, had spares for both!) the chassis went together with far, far less fuss than it came apart. It was about three hours to go from just the bare frame to the roller.

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The only "trick" piece here is the GMA 2 piston front caliper. This will be Mrs. Chuck's first street bike and we wanted to give her the best "period" brakes we could. There are lots of ways to accomplish this goal - but the GMA kit is the most straight forward. It bolted on without trouble. The only challenge is that I need to tweak the front fender on the right side to provide a bit more clearance at the struts.

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With regard to the pictures: I usually mock up the rear without the drum first to check everything. The eagle eyed will also spot that I have a primary leak under the left rear corner of my 64CH stroker. I have the correct James gasket to deal with that leak . . .but it's also nowhere near as bad as that picture makes it look. That "puddle" is about 6 months of drips.

IMG_5709.JPG Note that all the "silver" pieces here are neither cadmium nor zinc -- that's silver paint. The parts here were in terrible shape and we chose to paint them until we can find really nice replacements for replating. These will suffice quite well until then.

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It's going to take me sometime to get used to the big old disc. Mrs. Chuck was very happy.

So, there you go -- we're back to a rolling chassis. There's still some work to do tidying up the chassis, but it's mostly done and ready to go.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

Recently, Mrs. Chuck asked if she may have saddlebags on her 1967 XLH (I got real, real scared of the question until she said: "on my bike.")

So, I went up to the loft and pulled down the original Royalite bubble bags I ran on my '59 for several seasons. Sadly, the bike got knocked over by teens taking pictures on it -- and the left bag took the majority of the damage. The lid cracked in several places and the bag itself got punched out on the inside. A few weeks later, a lady backing into a spot hit the left side bag and also cracked it at the mount on the inside. Argh!!!!

But, no worries, as these aren't fibreglass bags. Instead, Royalite made their bags out of ABS. For those of you who don't really know plastics; it's the S in ABS we like. It stands for Styrene -- and almost all styrenes are thermoplastics. Thermoplastic means the substance becomes liquid at rather low temperatures and can be infinently reheated and reformed (think injection molding). It also means you can both heat and chemically weld almost all styrenes without loss of strength and with ease. To put this in perspective, thermoset plastics literally change their composition when subjected to heat and cannot be reformed. They "glue" vs. "melt" together. So, we much prefer ABS repairs to thermoset plastic repairs.

Now that we know what the bags are made of; repairs are stupid easy. All you need is some acetone, a bottle of ABS cement, and a small sheet of .060 ABS. If you don't have acetone, but you do have a partner that paints their nails (no judgment here) -- you have acetone. Just steal their bottle of nail polish remover. It is a bit slow; but it works fine and smells better than straight acetone.

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As for ABS cement; just buy it from the hardware store or Amazon. Oatey and others make fine stuff. It is just ABS dissolved in acetone and MEK. Similarly, sheets of ABS are $4-6 on Amazon and about the same from craft stores.

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With our supplies done, it was just a matter of sanding the cracks and starting the bonding/filling. ABS cement can be thickened or used in multi layers. When it dries -- it IS ABS . . .so with some tape you can easily fill holes, etc. ABS also forms readily with a heat gun at about 150-175 degrees F. Just use a cotton glove and literally push it into shape while warm. Trim, glue into place, and cover over.

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In the photos, you'll see me about 1/2 done. The cracks and holes are filled. I'll sand in the next day or so; then touch up any pinholes or other mess. After that, I use SEM Texture Coat to recreate the pebble grain on the bags. Then, two coats of SEM plastic and vinyl paint. I like Landau Black, which is semi gloss. It's not as shiny as oem Bubble bags, but I prefer it. You can choose your own color

All in all, it's about 3-4 hours to repair, sand, and paint the bags. They won't be "restored" but they will look good and be very serviceable.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

While we were waiting for the ABS cement to dry, we went ahead and finished the primary and timing covers. Both of these covers were previously chromed -- and both needed repairs. On the primary, it was heavily nicked, cracked in several places, AND had the level plug stripped clean out. I repaired the cracks, welded in a new bung for level plug, and ground out all the scratching/gouging. I stripped the chrome myself and got about 97% of it off. Once polished; I could live with the 3% chrome bits.

The timing cover needed the welds finished from where it was broken on the rear corner and had tons of gas pitting from the chrome getting water under it. I had the cover professional stripped and finished the welds myself. The gas pitting was a real mother. We got some of the pitting out . . but it was so deep we decided to stop sanding. Again, once polished, it's ok.

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Please keep in mind that the sporty did not come with polished covers. This is solely for dealing with past sins. A better way is to retexture parts. But, we like shiny here.

Note that the timing cover carries a 64 date code; but clearly has a vent and a starter notch. In this case, I notched the cover. 1967 had a unique cover and I like it better than the 68 up style. Not to mention the 68 up cover that came with the bike was worked on by an idiot. They removed all but one bush and EPOXIED them into place. None were correctly sized or positioned. It will take a few hours to undue their hackery.

Anyways, the 64 cover was in nearly perfect condition minus the break and the chrome . . .so there you go. Might as well use up a "garbage" part.


After both covers got sanded (80/120/220/320/400) they got buffed with emory, tripoli, and white tripoli.

Then washed in the parts washer, washed in hot soapy water, baked, washed, and finally glyptal. Then baked at 275F for 2 hours to set the glyptal.

IMG_5717.JPG This is the real deal glptal. This is only my second quart in some 30 years. I've had this one nearly a decade and have done about 10 motors with it . . yet I've used less than 1/8th of the can. A little goes a long way. And, don't cheat on baking it. The paint totally changes color and composition when baked for at least 2 hours at 125C or roughly 275F.

Buffing and sanding is messy work and I assume have NONE of that grit find its way into a motor/transmission.

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IMG_5725.JPG I also decided to "color in" the valleys on the primary cover. This is nothing more than rustoleum black . . .baked for two hours.

And, below is the interior of the primary after glyptal. Notice how "brown" it is? That's how you know glyptal was properly applied and baked. If it is orange or red -- it was improperly applied and liable to come off. No, I'm not joking. This stuff is tremendous when done right -- but crap when done wrong.

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[craig (DE)]

Do you get much fumes from the baking? Not sure if my wife would let me use her oven for such stuff.

[chuckthebeatertruck]

No, I don't get much in the way of fumes.

The trick is to let the parts fully dry before baking. In the case of glyptal, if you bake it before it fully sets; your whole house smells like mineral spirits and melting plastic. If you let it dry 24-48 hours before baking, the smell is very mild. The best way to describe it is if you've ever smelled a "mold o rama" at an amusement park. The kind that do the injection molding for a novelty after you put in our bucks. That hot plastic smell is about exactly what I get off doing this in the house -- and it goes away in less than an hour. You'll also see I line the oven shelves with foil to avoid any transfer, etc.

I also generally don't let Mrs. Chuck know I'm about to do this. I often wait until she's running errands or visiting folks. When I know I have a 2 or 3 hour window . . . parts get baked and put back on the shelf before she gets home. If I'm really smart, I make lunch or dinner and cover up the smell totally.

[jim d]

Back in the70s- 80s or so Farberware made a model 460 convection oven for household use. They are just the right size for motorcycle parts and easy to move around. They were also well built with no digital controls. You can still find them on eBay and Craigslist or Facebook market. All of them have a metal cabinet with a simulated woodgrain finish perfect with the harvest gold and avocado green of the day.