1931 101 Scout Build Blog

[djqsrv]

Hello everyone. I don't think I ever posted this here but I have a blog where I am documenting my 1931 101 scout restoration project. After a long layoff I am back at it and updating the blog if anyone is interested in checking it out.
Started about 5 years ago and am now just finishing up. Actually the bike is done just have to finish the last few blog updates.
here is a link to the site.

https://djqsrv.wordpress.com
or
https://djqsrv.com

Thanks
Daniel

[PaulCDF]

Wow
Impressive!!!

[jim wagnon]

Great read! Well laid out and presented. I have to ask, this seems like a unique color scheme, was this a factory option?

love that it’s been in the family for 60 years!

Jim

[djqsrv]

Hi Jim,

Yes this was a color scheme from 31. It is usually seen in red though. Green was an option and you could order it with the green and cream with gold stripes. I think the green that was available in 31 was lighter though but I could not find any good pictures of a green one in original form. It was a big whopping $11 to upgrade from red to one of the other colors. And I think the cream was an additional couple of dollars. Big money in 31! Most rolled off the line in red as that was the standard with no up charge.

[jim wagnon]

Wow Daniel, that’s really interesting. Indian really offered such a verity colors, even that far back. Thanks for your informative response. Always something to learn here.

Jim

[ammorest]

Daniel, your build blog is like a good book; couldn't stop until I finished it. Well done, excellent photography, great work. I know a lot of what you went through. I did a 1931 four black with red tank panel and stripes. Hard to find enough pictures of the tank to duplicate the panel. Thanks for sharing. your 101 looks great!
Dave

[RichO]

Great job well done. The best part now is you get to ride it. I had a scruffty original 1930 101 and of all the bikes I've had I think it was my favorite to ride. Many road runs over the High Sierras, Death Valley, and many other places just as trying it never let me down. Handled like dream, enough power to do the deed when needed, oh boy. Now your fun begins. P.S. Love the green!

[T. Cotten]

You have documented it so well, Daniel!

The pics have great resolution, and your text is superior.

I regret I cannot read it all, so I must please ask, ..

You've still got the Schebler somewhere, right?

....Cotten

[djqsrv]

Hey Cotten,

I do have the Schebler. It was fully cleaned up and rebuilt. Looks like it was just made. It currently sits on a shelf in my study surrounded by old Indian cans (oil and paint polish) and paraphernalia. It is in perfect working order and could be bolted right on and used. As you probably know they are not made of brass but rather a very soft "pot" metal. This metal wears out pretty quick. especially the threads for the bowl. Once those go the body is pretty much trash. It just made more sense to put a good brass body carb on there for use and keep the schebler safe and sound for originality.
I am doing the same with the original tank. It needs to be completely de-soldered cleaned up, re-tinned and put back together. This was not a project I wanted to do right now so I went with the repro tank. Once the OG tank is re-done I will have it painted to match and it will also sit on the shelf. That way I have the ability to throw it all back to original parts if I want wile I keep the originals nice and safe.

Daniel

[T. Cotten]

The Schebler metal is called "ZAMAC", Daniel,..

And the bowlstem threads suffered more from moisture than use:
CRBONATE.jpg
Trashed threads do not trash a carb, although many have been trashed by cobbled fixes! They often can be properly repaired.

Besides corrosion and "leadpest", another problem with "potmetal" is that it is constantly moving over decades, as a "super-cooled liquid". The bores can egg and constrict, aggravating wear from the throttledisc, and even the detente spring pressure can push the power needle to where it misses the seat. (I have a fix for that too, but the idle needle still eludes me.)

"Rebuilt" is half-way with a Schebler.

....Cotten

[djqsrv]

When I first started with the bike I did some of the basics with the carb. New float for example, but when I decided to do the full restoration The carb went with the motor down to Danny at Laughing Indian. He took it from there and did the reconditioning of the carb. Not exactly sure how he overcame some of those problems or if he even had to as my carb did not have much use on it.

[T. Cotten]

With a potmetal Scheb, Daniel,..

Its not just about wear. Its about decades, even if it sat in a box.
The shadows in this bore shows how squirrely it can get, and its critical where the throttledisc closes.

113bore.jpg

Please look inside, and feel for an eyebrow groove.
BOREWEAR.jpg
Carbs are forgiving, but tuning gets tricky when the groove approaches the idle bleed holes. (Repair requires more than parts swapping....)

....Cotten
PS: Floats last forever on the shelf. Is it cork, or molded and shiny like this, or..? Thanks.
GRERELP1.jpg

[T. Cotten]

One more question if I may, Daniel!

Does your bowlstem have a shoulder to compress a cork gasket like shown on the right,..
79S.jpg

Or is it missing like the one in the middle?

Gotta love potmetal Schebs... Thanks in advance!

....Cotten

[djqsrv]

The float that was in it when I first started tinkering with it was cork and was pretty much disintegrated. Don't know if it was original or not. Might have been as the bike was not used much. I think the bike was crashed very early in its life and then sat as a project until my dad got it in the 60's and he barely ever ran or rode it. When the frame was with Tim Raindle for straightening a few fellow 101 association members saw it there and were blown away with how pristine it was and how little wear it had. The carb did have a little bit of wear near the bleed holes like your pictures. I don't know exactly how Danny took care of that as it is perfectly smooth and the throttle disk fits perfectly. To be honest I don't remember if it has that gasket ledge. I thinks so but I have not taken it apart in a few years and once I decided to run the Linkert I kind of put it out of mind. I will take a look when I get home

[T. Cotten]

Since the eyebrow cannot be filled, Daniel,..

Danny would have opened the bore to remove the wear, and then custom-fit both an over-sized disc and also an over-sized venturi.

The cost would have been memorable (to most of us...).

Can't wait until you get home, Thanks!

....Cotten