fender butterflys

[pete reeves]

Anybody know when the butterfly brace reinforcement band fitted to the underside or early knuckle head fenders was discontinued?
Should a late 1937 have them?

Pete Reeves 860

[Jerry Wieland]

Peter

Thirty years ago Tom Philips had a NOS green front fender with 1938 paint scheme and it still had the butterflys. I suspect it was a gradual thing depending on the color paint you ordered. Popular colors being used faster than the less popular. I asked Tom about this fender the last time I saw him probably 10 years ago at Wauseon, Ohio and he said he could not remember but if he kept it it burned up in his fire with all the rest of his stuff.

I will never forget the first time I met Tom. He was vending at I think Farmington Minnesota in the late 70's and had NOS horns and NOS 1947 HD Speedos. He had a pallet full of horns and 2 cases of 1947 Speedometers (10 per case). He was getting the ridiculous price of $75 for the horns and $100 for the speedos - and I think $150 if you bought one of each.

Jerry

[rustynuts]

welding butterfly bands

where are the spot welds for the butterflies? couple of touches here and there, willy-nilly? did it depend on who was working the line that day?
would any close-up photos be helpful? thank you!

[exeric]

I've taken many H-D spot welded parts. . . apart, and they were hand done. You can expect the expertise of an experienced spot welding technician but don't look for CNC precision. Spot welds are visible when the metal is really clean and carefully caressed with ScothBright or steel wool. The least destructive way to free the welded parts is with a small end mill in a milling machine but that's easier said than done. I've used rotary files and dremel tools as well as shaped cold chisels. The hard way to separate the parts has been mentioned. The easy way is; drill through the butterfly and fender.

[Chris Haynes]

A bottoming drill or endmill works just fine.

[rustynuts]

whoops!

thanks for the reply Eric. sorry i wasn't more specific but, i'm not removing the butterflies- i am installing them. so i have some brand-new remake bands that have no holes to weld through. where on the band are the spot welds? if memory serves (which isn't likely), there are a couple 3/16-1/4" holes, diagonally drilled on the band to spot through??? thanks again!

[rustynuts]

?

thanks Chris- wrong tab though. are the holes in a similar layout on the ELs? Can someone tell me where the spot holes are so i don't have to guess? only getting one shot at this. thanks!

[Chris Haynes]

thanks Chris- wrong tab though. are the holes in a similar layout on the ELs? Can someone tell me where the spot holes are so i don't have to guess? only getting one shot at this. thanks!

The other butterfly is visible on the other end of the bracket. There were no holes them before they were removed.

[rustynuts]

?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????

Chris- i don't see another band! how complicated is this question. and i don't know what a mill this and bottom that is. i have simple hand tools.

HOW/WHERE IS THE BUTTERFLY WELDED??

SIMPLE QUESTION!!

[exeric]

Chris was just trying to help you out. It takes some effort to dig up parts to photograph and upload to Photobucket. I believe a thank you would have been a more appropriate response.

[cheifrider]

lmao!its a little early for cabin fever aint it?

[rustynuts]

Forget It

i'll glue it on

[Chris Haynes]

Chris was just trying to help you out. It takes some effort to dig up parts to photograph and upload to Photobucket. I believe a thank you would have been a more appropriate response.

Thank you.

[rudy]

fender clip

hope this helps

[Chris Haynes]

Chris- i don't see another band! how complicated is this question. and i don't know what a mill this and bottom that is. i have simple hand tools.

HOW/WHERE IS THE BUTTERFLY WELDED??

SIMPLE QUESTION!!

If you would use your eyes and look at the opposite end of the fender brace you would see the other butterfly. Although not in perfect focus it is there.
If you also use your eyes you will see where the spot welds are.
A bottoming drill bit is one used to make the walls of a hole go to the bottom of a blind hole. They have a flat tip, not a pointed tip. An end mill is shaped the same but you do need a milling machine to use it.
If you are going to restore a motorcycle you better learn how to use tools other than those from Fred Flintstone.
The best piece of advice I can give you is to know exactly what you are doing before you start doing it.