Refurbished '48 Chief

[Greasy rider]

Hello all, I just wanted to show everyone a few images of my project. It is a numbers matching '48 Chief that I bought about five years ago. I built this bike to ride, not to show. The engine is a 0.010" over 80 c.i. H-beam rods, CV carb, electronic ignition, and a four speed over drive transmission. The bike was painted "Packard blue" ( you would swear it is black in subdued light), sheet metal was "metal finished", formed new skirts for the front fender, added re-pop police tanks. This was my first bike project, and at 74 years of age, it may be my last. Interested in your comments, good or not.
tom

[Steve Swan]

Beautiful! Job well done!

[fxcw64]

Nice work on the skirts ........Beautiful Indian!

Did you use19 gauge steel ?

[JoJo357]

Sweet Indian Tom! Remarkable first time effort~Congratulations.

*M.A.D.*

[PaulCDF]

Nicely Done, Super You hit the bulls-eye first time out!!! More pictures Please!!!

[pisten-bully]

Love it! Especially like the one picture with boxes on the floor full of parts, followed by the final picture with the completed, great looking bike!

[joe fxs fxr]

Looks great, well done! The seat color complements the bike beautifully

[micmac]

You should be extremely satisfied and very proud of your work. I appreciate the time and effort you put in. I love your color choice.

[painterdale]

Beautiful color!

Dale

[Greasy rider]

Thanx, for all the positive comments, much appreciated.
Did you use19 gauge steel ?
I used (0.047" as original)18 gauge AKDQ steel (aluminum killed drawing quality) to form the new front skirts. I will add an image or two of the tooling I used.
Looks great, well done! The seat color complements the bike beautifully
Navy and tan, is a classic color combination, thanx for the compliment.
If anyone has a question or wants to see anything in particular, please ask, I'm happy to share.
I chemically removed all the rust using tetrasodium EDTA (a food preservative) and citric acid, I will post a link to a hotrod forum that I posted the process and the results on.
Tom

[Greasy rider]

Images.

[RichO]

Is that a 32 Ford on 32 rails next door to the Chief? Sweet!

[exeric]

Love what you have done, Tom. Particularly forming your own side skirts. I think it's the ingenuity of our grand hobby that I enjoy most of all, and I get a lot of inspiration from members like yourself that take the initiative to noodle-out, and solve a problem. It's easy, and fun to just buy a part, but a lot more satisfying to do a good job on your own. I also love Packard blue, and was seriously considering that for my Sport Scout. I'll be second guessing my choice but I'm pretty happy with my color choice at this point. I'll bet I speak for many of us in saying I would love to see more pictures of what other things you had to do.

[Skirted]

Wonderful job Tom! That bike has great curb appeal!
Have you got to put some miles on it? The 4 speed would be awesome. How is it kicking over with the 80"

[jim wagnon]

That turned out magnificent! I have a 4 speed overdrive transmission in my ‘46 and love it. If you come to a point of not wanting to kick it over any longer you might consider the Kiwi electric start option. Thanks for sharing!