Frame Restoration

[Steve Little]

46 frame resto 029.JPG Here is a picture of the repaired spigot.
Next job is to repair the seat post bush area that had the top section cut off.
I turned down a peice of thick walled pipe to the correct dimension of the top of an original seat post cluster.
I bored the inside to accept the bush. Normaly the tube would come up through here but I will bore it for the bush.

[Robert Luland]

Keep it coming Steve. It's great stuff, Bob L

[Steve Little]

Then weld and linish/blend to assimalte original look. The guy who does the sandblasting can be instructed to give this smooth area a good going over.
Not realy sure how to orient these pictures into the correct lineup but you get the idea

[Steve Little]

46 frame resto 028.JPG
After a little blending with the die grinder it looks like this. For the life of me I coudnt find the 5/16 unef tap to drill and tap the grease nipple hole so I will do that later. A good roughing up by the sandblaster and a coat of paint, and I believe the customer will be happy.
It looks a bit skinny on the ribs in this picture but it looks normal to the eye. Must be the angle or the wifes camera lense.

[Steve Little]

Lauries frame 002.JPG Our standard Bullneck
We have modified one of our standard Bullnecks to assimalte the look of the early Bullnecks.
I think these early bullnecks that did not have the extra metal behind the bearing cup have confused a lot of people into thinking they are the early neck.
Most people look for the extra metal to identify a Bullneck.
The best way to identify a earlier frame is to measure the total elongated area at the botom of the neck.
Bullneck is 2 3/4" (70mm) and 41-46 frame is about 2 3/8" (60mm)

[Steve Little]

Ive just been busted by my wife.
Its Good Friday here, and I wandered out to the workshop...(I guess its a bit of a habit) and shes come alookin for me and isnt taking "No" for an answer.
We are off on a camping trip for a week so I will complete the frame then

Hope everyone has a safe and happy easter with family and freinds.

[Steve Little]

Drilled and taped 5/16 unef for grease nipple. Brass bush fitted with holes to the side.

[Steve Little]

Now we set to repairing the wings that wrap around the tubing. All Knuckle frames have these wrap around wings. Panhead frames do not have them.
Wings formed and clamped in place ready for first part of welding
46 frame resto 001.JPG

[Steve Little]

Applogies for the slow posts. I have had many failed attempts at trying to do sequencial pictures and descriptions, but I think there may be a problem with the AMCA web site uploader. Some times it works fast and other times it hangs in limbo.
I am using the Manage attacments, then basic uploader, then upload pictures, then I try to add line break for description and the load wheel just spins away with no result. I will have to do singe entry pictures and descriptions.

[Steve Little]

46 frame resto 002.JPG first weld the wing.
46 frame resto 004.JPG Then form the wing down onto the tube while it is still hot.
46 frame resto 006.JPG Then linish off this weld before welding the rest of the wing.
This stops the remaing weld from being touched by the linisher and gives a original look.

[Steve Little]

46 frame resto 010.JPG Completed seat post cluster

[Steve Little]

The tubes under the front engine mount have been severly flattened out and someone has tried to build it up with weld to try and get some shape. The left tube has nearly cracked completly through this welding. I have decided it will be safer for the customer, if I remove these affected tubes and splice in some new tubes. First I will clean up the front engine mount. First job is to remove the old tubing.
I use a 5" (125mm) X 0.060 thick slitting blade to cut the tubes as close to the engine mount. After I have cut all the excess tube away I fit a grinding blade in the grinder and ease into the remaining weld until I see the sepparation line between the engine mount and the tube. When I can see a sepparation line all the way around, I use a large sharp cold chisel and drive the corner of the chisel into the tube at different places to drive out the old tube. I do this in the vise with the engine mount well held.

[Steve Little]

Tubes all cleaned out and ready for next step

[Steve Little]

Next thing to do is straighten out the wings that wrap around the tube. This allows the front engine mount to be bolted to the jig then the replacement tube can be slipped in place.

[Steve Little]

Front engine mount

Next, we address the crack in the front engine mount.
I fitted a 5 inch grinding disc to the grinder and start to explore how deep this crack is.
Quite often, what can be seen on the surface is not the true depth of the crack.
Front engine mount 006.jpg

This crack turned out to be deeper than what was visible on the surface.
I got down to a certain depth and then change the blade to a slitting blade to find the bottom of the crack.