Frame Restoration

[Steve Little]

Once the toolbox bracket was removed. I started linishing away the weld and came across a straight line of a crack. Which then turned into a hidden tube repair. It was hidden by toolbox bracket.
Maybe someone cut into the tube when they removed the original toolbox bracket.
1945-46 frame restoration 005.JPG

Further linshing revealed a rectangular repair which had been silver soldered in place. There is also a screw welded in the tube.
Once the repair, and the welding style had been identified, we had to change our plans.
The brazing weld made it impossible to do any other type of weld so we decided to cut this tube up further, and making our splice joint closer to the axle carrier.

[Steve Little]

Toolbox bracket

Time for the cheap toolbox bracket to come off.
1945-46 frame restoration 009.JPG
I am not sure why the manufacturer felt compelled to stamp this in the tool box bracket.
It looks more like the poorly manufactured products that come out of Taiwan.
1945-46 frame restoration 018.JPG

Less than ideal appearnce on the welding
1945-46 frame restoration 017.JPG

[Steve Little]

Electrodes should be stored with the end sealed. Electrodes will soak up condensation in the air, and damp electrodes do not function properly.
Dry/warm storage is the key storing electrodes. We go through a pack of electrodes in a couple of weeks but we still keep them dry.
A open pack of electrodes left on a bench over a week end will get damp.
Tip toe into the kitchen and grab the Clingwrap and wrap the electrode box to seal it.
If she catches you, your on your own. You didn’t get the idea from me.

[Steve Little]

Cross over tube to engine mount

Hi. Apologies for the low number of posts yesterday. Mondays are a busy day. See if I can get a few more posted today.

When the brake crossover tube is installed in the rear engine mount to the correct depth, then it is time to tack and weld it. There is a critical length for the fitment. If it is not put in deep enough the overall length will fould on the brake cross over shaft
I put two tack welds on opposite sides to stop it pulling. The mandrel is inside to help with alignment also.

[Steve Little]

As previously mentioned in this thread, the decks had been badly ground by someone trying to get an engine back in this frame.
To fix it, we bolted the CNC engine mount jig in the traditional mill, and freshened up the engine decks.
Now it is ready to be bolted into the frame jig for re-assembly of the frame.

[Steve Little]

The oil tank was either, loose for a very long time or (and maybe also) the oil tank was the only thing holding the frame together at one time.

The groove worn in from the battery/oil tank base, is about 1/16” deep.
I think the same person might have forgotten to put the spacers under the oil tank before tightening it down.
I decided it was junk and used one of ours.

The guy that used to own this bike, probably had a jam jar full of washers and small parts that he would look at occasionaly, and scratch his head.

[Steve Little]

Hi.
I received a question from a guy about why I didn’t use the oil tank mount and the running board lugs off the frame section.
These pictures will show that at some stage, someone has taken the running boards off and re-assembled them back on the bike, forgetting to replace the thick washers on top of the running board lug.
This dammage to the running board lug is the end result. Both sides have worn, well under the original machined pad.

The thick washer is designed as a "consumable" in manufacturing terms.
It is supposed to be the part that takes the wear and be replaced when out of service.

They are both junk.

[hdkh1947]

I just couldn't help but to add this after you posted what you posted! I found this listed on ebay right after looking at the thread with a starting price of 495.00 $(KGrHqMOKpQE7IwNOMyQBPZ8n(fhZQ~~60_57.jpg Jonathan

Except for the front engine mount, the rest of this section is junk.

We will cut the front engine mount away this frame section and clean out the tube. Then it will be set up in the mill and we will lightly cut the damage to the decks so that it can be bolted to the jig when we start to re-asemble the frame.

I had a laugh.
I was standing there getting my energy back and looking at this junk section on the floor, and the young guy who works with me pipes up and says, "Ive seen some guys on ebay who would list this as a good start to a frame restoration"

[c.o.]

This thread just keeps getting better and better. Thanks to both "Old Steve" and "Young Steve"!!!

[Steve Little]

I fit and weld the brake cross over tube to the rear engine mount before it is fitted to the seatpost.
Slide the mandrol through the left side of the rear engine mount, and then through the brake cross over tube.
Sit the rear engine mount up on a thick block, then a quick line up and adjustment for the correct angle of the grease nipple hole, and whack her in with a nylon mallet.

Now its ready for welding.
I leave the mandrol in the assembly while I tack and weld it.
We manufacture these mandrols to the correct total length This means from the end of the brake cross over tube to the left side of the rear engine mount.

This will be the last post until Monday morning.
It is Friday afternoon here and I have a few things to do this afternoon and I,m working on my 37 over the weekend.
I can tell you that the frame looks marvelous, but you will have to wait, and work through the process in the posts in this forum.
If you have any questions feel free to ask or contribute.

Regards Steve Little
Race Frame Engineering
Australia

[Steve Little]

A quick trip through our store. This lot should be right for the job

[Steve Little]

Some of the arsenal you will need when cleaning tubing out of a forging

[Steve Little]

Time for re-assembly

Check the tubes will fit into the sidecar lugs. The left side slipped in. The right side had shrunk so I used the die grinder with the 1/4 inch tool that was still in it. Then polised it with our self made tool. 1/4- 6mm rod with a slit in the end. 12 inch -300mm of emery tape. fit it in the slot, wind it tightly around the shaft and way you go. fit tube, polish a bit more, fit tube, polish a bit more, until it slides in.
If you dont take the time to get it right, it will be a bugger to work with. You need to be able to slide this tube in and roll it left to right with ease.
Now that the weld has been ground off and linished, we will shorten the rear tubes a little more.
The reason for the left side is that we like to have the join away from the inner primary relief pressing. We will cut the tube back about an inch. This will place it in the middle of the rear trans cross braces.

[Steve Little]

Hi.
I was just re-reading the thread to see if it was in order and made sense, and I looked at these pictures. I thought I should mention: that regardless of whether it is a 4 inch, 5 inch or 9 inch grinder, if you are cutting through a frame tube, you should make sure you have your feet firmly set apart, your elbows folded in close to your body, and holding onto that grinder with grim determination.
Quite often a modified, or crashed frame will have a lot of stress in the tubes.
You can bet your bottom dollar that the time you dont brace yourself, it will be the time that the tube will pinch on the cutting blade.
I have broken many 5 inch slitting blades and one 9 inch cutting blade. The 9 inch incident was memorable and the vibration, intense. A bit of sphincture clamping going on I can tell you. The small slitting blades will cut a finger off as quick as a buzz saw
If you are not holding on to a grinder properly chances are it will be the time that it pinches the blade.

[Steve Little]

Next job is to clean the tubes at the back of the frame.
On this job I have decided to use the remaining part of the lower tube at the back section of the frame.
We will make a sleeve to go inside the tubes.
A rule of thumb that I use is that the wall of a sleeve should not be any thicker than the wall of the parent tube.
We have repaired so many frames that have come from the U.S. that have solid slugs inside a repair.
Generally a crack has appeared at the end of the solid slug repair. A solid slug will not move with the rest of the frame.
1945-46 frame pictures 053.JPG
1945-46 frame pictures 055.JPG