Ryan's A.M.C.A. Giveaway bike build!

[Ryan Mackey]

Hey Guys,
Don't forget to lay down the wrenches & pop the bubbley (choose you're own poison!) tonite!

What better way to bring in the new year by working on old bikes?

Last night Carl and I got the cam tolerances set. They had to be free to a maximum of .005 of play.


After we got them all set up, I stayed up and cleaned the cases really good and taped them to get painted.



I just finished painting them to seal the inside this morning.


This is what I used, Matt and Carl use it on all their motors.


They are curing in the oven now and once they are cooled off I will start to put the motor back together! Not a bad way to end 2009 I'd say!

[Matthew N. Olse]

Today was a good day. Ryan got his flywheel endplay all set up and his wheels in his cases. Then he installed and timed the scavenger pump in the right case. Everything was going well until we ran into a minor speed bump. We desperately need to replace the valve that presses into the cam cover part number 25350-37. This valve doesnot work on Ryan's cam cover. It is back ordered in v twin's book, does anybody out there have a spare one lying around? Please respond if you do. I would love to keep moving forward on this project.
Here is a pic of Ryan putting his bottom end together.


Here he is with the almost finished product!

[sswaney]

HD Part #25350-37

Matt I have a couple of those #25350-37 NOS breather valves. I will get one into the mail for you guys first thing Saturday AM.

[Slojo]

Matt Ryan and of course Carl
You guys are doing a great job. The speed which your moving along is impressive.
Keep it comming.
Joe

[1945UL]

i might have missed this earlier in the post, but, what is the purpose of using an electrical insulator inside the cases of the engine? keep up the good work.

[Ryan Mackey]

Matt I have a couple of those #25350-37 NOS breather valves. I will get one into the mail for you guys first thing Saturday AM.

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it. This is so amazing to me, what other group could get enough guys to donate parts to give away a bike like this...you guys are great!

Matt Ryan and of course Carl
You guy are doing a great job. The speed which your are moving along is impressive.
Keep it comming.
Joe

Thanks Joe, we are all surprised at how much is getting done.

i might have missed this earlier in the post, but, what is the purpose of using an electrical insulator inside the cases of the engine? keep up the good work.

It is to seal the inside up so that over time, oil won't seap through the cases and discolor the outside. The way the cases were cast, there are air pockets in them which can let oil get through...I asked the same thing.

Last night I got a cool surprise and got some aluminum heads thanks to Brian Crawford. He is another ace engine rebuilder in South Dakota that is friends with Carl. He does very good work on vintage motors. His phone number is 605-329-2805 if anyone is interested. The heads are in really good shape, there were no broken fins or anything...just need a little cleaning up and will be as good as new!


After I got the bottom end assembled last night, Carl did a thorough inspection and heard some grinding from some grit that must have gotten missed so today I tore everything down and cleaned it really good and put it back together. Now it is really quiet and smooth. I am really glad that Carl caught, I would much rather tear it all down now than have to do it later when something breaks. I was also much more comfortable putting everything together for the second time.

Once everything was cleaned I straightened out the valve spring covers. You can see in the pic that they were a little rough.


I had to do this to make sure that there is a nice flat surface to get a good seal when everything is put together. I made an arbor on the lathe that fit snugly into the covers so that I had something to hit against and straighten everything out. Here is the arbor.


And here they are all straightened out, you can see how the arbor fits inside.


I also got the tappet blocks installed today, its really cool to turn the motor over and see everything moving... I can't wait to fire her up!


Before we could go much further, I had to get the covers ready for parkerizing. While I was at it I cleaned up some other hardware that will be getting parkerized as well.

Tomorrow we will do a batch of parkerizing and keep moving along on the motor.

[c.o.]

Great job Ryan! I know this has been said before but there's more than one of us here that are a little green-eyed at the opportunity that you've been given. Having said that it certainly seems like you deserve it! Keep up the good work!

[Slojo]

Machinist Private Ryan

Private Ryan
The arbor turned on the lathe to repair the valve spring covers could have a better finish if you increase the speed and depth of cut a little. Spindle speed factored by the diameter of the work piece produces what is known as surface feet. By increasing your surface feet the steel will be happier to peel off leaving a better finish. Are you using high speed steel or carbide to cut with? High speed steel generally is limited to about 100 surface feet on common steel. Modern carbide will permit surface speeds of 500 or more. High speed steel is not as easy to produce good finishes as carbide. It is my understanding that the momentary heat generated at the tip of the cutting tool is necessary to produces a good finish. Higher speed equate to higher heat. Sharp tools properly honed are also factors in producing good finishes. To better understand surface feet and how it affects the finish, face off a piece of solid steel stock in the lathe. Start with a larger diameter, say around four inches and set the spindle speed high maybe between 500 to 800 rpm. Now take a small face cut from the outside to the center and watch how the larger diameter area leaves a better finish that the area closes to the centerline. There is a greater amount of surface feet generated at any given RPM at the larger diameter. You will achieve a better finish there than close to the center of the facing operation. The trade off is if you run the surface speed to fast you will burn up the cutting tool and possibly work harden the material if it has enough carbon content.
Joe

[Matthew N. Olse]

Joe,
That is very good advice. Ryan used a high speed steel cutter, I think that he is doing pretty good considering that he didn't know how to turn a lathe on three weeks ago. Today we are going to cut valve seats, and then work on fabricating a flat bed set up for the cannonball run. Ryan is planning on riding his 45 along for the race next september. I am excited to have him be a part of it. Wish us luck, I am sure today will be another fun day.
best,
Matt Olsen

[Slojo]

Matt, Private Ryan
Ryan is outperforming my expectations he is doing a fantastic job. Understand first, my commentary yesterday was to help him along not discredit his accomplishments. He is welcome into my shop any time to further advance his skills.
Joe

[Paps]

I can give ya a great finish using high speed steel, even at the lowest rpms. Tool grind and lube are the difference makers at low rpm with high speed steel tool bits. Though a finish may look nice and shiny with carb cutters and high rpm, what you really see is a glazing of the material. The surface is still rough. Using a profilometer surface finish unit, to gage the finish, will prove this out. If finish seems to be difficult to achieve on a lathe work piece, leave a little file and emery stock. For an example on finishes, one needs only to eyeball a newly honed cylinder. Cylinder wall looks rough due to the cross hatching but in reality, the finish is better than a 16f. OH YEAH.... Ryan....when using a file..... use only a file with a handle on it ! Keep file away from the front of you ! Do not force the file into the work piece ! Wire file brush the file teeth often ! Use the correct file for the job! Paps

[Ryan Mackey]

Thanks guys for all the advice, I could use all that I can get.

It was -22 degrees out this morning when we got started...I thought Cleveland could get cold! We got some work done on the cylinders. The first thing to do was to measure the valves to make sure they were not worn. All four were really good. Here I am measuring them.


The next step was to fit the valves in the guides. They were really tight and not within the specs so we had to hone them a bit. Here I am using a reemer to get them close.


Then I finished them off by honing them.


After the valve fit nicely, I made sure that they seated properly. To do this I used a permanent marker and put four marks around the valve. Then I pushed them into the seat. They should leave even lines on all the marks, all four of my valves were good! Here I am putting the marks on the valves.


And here I am pushing them in.

[Matthew N. Olse]

Today we did a small batch of parkerizing for Ryan's Motor and transmission. Here is a pic of everything fizzling!


Here is a pic of the batch after all the oil was washed off.


These are the pieces that I was most excited to see. Valve spring covers were always cad plated from the factory. I have never seen a parkerized set before, and I really like the way they turned out.


With the valve covers parkerized, Ryan was able to put his top end together, Here he is lubing up the valve stem.


We used 3m 800 to seal the surface between the valve guide and the upper valve spring cover.


Here is a pic of Ryan compressing his valve springs,



And installing the keepers!



Unfortunately we can not button up the motor until tuesday, which is the day that the n.o.s. flutter valve will show up from Scott. We couldn't resist mocking up the rest of the engine to see what it looks like. Here it is all bolted together! It is a really pretty sight.


And of course the next step was to throw it in the chassis.



We are headed back out to work on the flatbed set up. Have a good night!

[c.o.]

Well ain't that a pretty site......... You guys are making a pile of headway in a short time!!!

[Slojo]

We defiantly elected the right man for the job.
Joe