1946 Indian Chief Preservation

[jlammers]

I introduced this bike over on the new member forum. Thought I would create a separate 'build" thread to document the history and preservation of this bike. Below is a link to a video (Don't Worry Club Garage) I did which includes a walk-around of the bike. Feel free to subscribe so you catch my updates. I'll also put stuff here on this thread. Enjoy.

Jim

[Green Indian]

Great bike with a well documented history to it. Enjoy the journey and I’m looking forward to more videos of its preservation.

[KNUCK]

Will be watching the progress on this wonderful bike. I also have a 1946 Chief, but mine came home as a near complete number matching basket case. Now completed and a 97.25 AMCA bike.

[PaulCDF]

Great video will be watching for next steps.

[JoJo357]

Enjoyed the video~good luck on the Indian.

*M.A.D.*

[micmac]

Nice, video Jim. I have a '46 and '47. I for some reason favor the '46. Nice example.
Pete

[jlammers]

The guy I bought the bike from called to let me know he found his Grandpa's old riding belt and wanted to know if I wanted it? Hell yeah! What a cool piece and knowing it came from the prior owner is icing on the cake. It is a Buco belt from the 40's / 50's and is in pretty good shape. In one of the zippered pouches were two fuel receipts from a local farmer's co op - they are dated 1961. On the back of one of then, he wrote down the mileage at the time.
He and his brothers are in the process of cleaning out their parent's property which is how they found the belt. I told him if he finds anything related to this bike, I would be interested. He told me that he thought he saw the original battery in the basement, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I also just posted another Youtube video of me messing with the spark plugs on this bike - hope you like it!

[jlammers]

Here's the details on the belt and the receipts.

[ammorest]

Hi Jim, great score on the belt! Just keeps getting better. If they find the old battery maybe you could hollow it out and install the sealed lead battery I told you about. Keep those videos coming.
Dave

[jlammers]

Well, the family member brought the battery to me. It's not the original, but is a vintage Beck unit - anyone know by the looks what years this battery was made? I am considering hollowing out the internals of this case to drop in a modern battery, what's the easiest method to do that?
Also, one of my fuel petcocks has the handle snapped off. Can these petcocks be disassembled so the handle section can be replaced?

[PaulCDF]

what years this battery was made?

Jim I'm not sure what year Beck battery you have there. I the magazine archives there is a very good article on Indian batteries see:

2011 Vol 50 No3 pgs 68-70 The Indian Battery Mystery by Marty Megregian Part 1

2011 Vol 50 No4 pgs 69-71 The Indian Battery Mystery Part 2

I believe the petcocks can be taken apart. If you can post a picture I think I may have some old petcock parts I'll try and look this weekend.

[jlammers]

Thanks for the info Paul, very interesting article on the batteries. Another member found a Beck advertisement from the late 60's that had my battery in it so I'm guessing it's from that era.
Here's a couple of pics on the fuel petcock broken one vs good one.

[tfburke3]

You remove the cotter spring then tap out the tapered plug to clean and replace or repair handle.I would probably try and find replacement.
I recently got an email from Kiwi that they have battery box that looks like your Beck for very reasonable price.
Chris Daniels,"The Battery guy"has what I think are the nicest Indian boxes and are very accurate year specific,but more expensive.
THe made in India replacements 6v show up from time to time and work well but can have acid leak issues if overfilled or overcharged.
Tom

[PaulCDF]

Jim here are a couple of links to previous forum discussion(s) regarding fuel petcocks:

forum.antiquemotorcycle.org/bboard/forum/technical-discussions-indian/chief/12252-petcocks-leak-46-chief#post130113

forum.antiquemotorcycle.org/bboard/forum/technical-discussions-indian/chief/295754-brass-fuel-valve-restore#post295969

[hairynob24]

Great looking bike