1917 Powerplus

[hairynob24]

Dale thats interesting about the valve plugs one being Bronze inlet and Cast Iron for the exhaust ,i was able to get repo ones here years ago and they were always made out of bronze , speaking to the machinise one day i asked why were the not cast iron like the barrells ? he had no answer for me , i have found the repo ones varied in OD on the threads , i have a set of cast iron ones he made up for me without any threads cut ,because the front exhaust would aways come loose ,i am yet to get the threads cut to suit , i beleive the valve plug holes vary also . Pore 15 has a product called Fire Stop which i use when installing these plugs back in the barrells , Rob

[exeric]

So Dale, are you going to pull the motor and do a mechanical restoration?

[painterdale]

Thought I would take some time to peek inside the motor. Just spin off the valve cover plugs. Well..... I sprayed them down with Kroil and let them set.



The primer cups came out easily and are in good working order. I suppose this is due to being covered in grease for so long.



The plugs weren't interested in budging after all these years. I took a couple of thin USA made wrenches and tacked them together and welded on a piece of stock for leverage.



I was able to get the front intake plug out. That's when I noticed that the intake plugs were made of bronze (?) and the exhaust plugs cast iron. Learned something!



Things didn't look too hateful inside. A bit black but not too loaded with crud.



I think a little heat may be in order to help get the others loose. This project is just screaming along! Dale

[painterdale]

Thanks, Kevin! I have some rivets around here somewhere. Not sure if they are the right ones, though. If not, McMaster Carr it is! How are you coming on yours? I'm trying to persuade Bob to post up some pics of his '21. Sounds really nice. Dale

[Shaky Jake]

Good score on the rear stand clip. It will look perfect on the bike. McMaster Carr has rivets. Great pictures! I want to hear it run!

Kevin

[robert vajda]

Dale,once again great pics. I have the NE model also. My fuse block is a little different. More of a T shape. I think one wire comes from the ammeter thru the block and then to the pos. battery.Maybe somebody can enlighten me. My headlight is a two bulb set up,low and high. The two wires come out thru the on/off switch at the rear of the bucket. I don't have a metal name tag on mine. I also need a tail light.I have the bracket and lens. Thanks. Bob.

[painterdale]

[painterdale]

Bob, the wires are for the fuse box. Mine is an electric model, although it is missing some of the bits and pieces such as the taillight and ammeter, the headlight and fuse box survived. I believe the headlight is a Hawthorne horn/light. Dale

[robert vajda]

On your tool box,what wires are attached to it? Nice pics of the seat. I have some L shaped brackets that I think are for the seat height adjustment. Thanks again. Bob

[painterdale]

Also found this on E-bay. The one on my bike had broken off long ago. It was advertised as for a Powerplus. Looked right (as far as I knew). So the time to buy it is when you see it. I bought it. Only took 8 days to get here from Australia! The width and spacing on the rivets look good so maybe I got lucky! Dale

[painterdale]

Hi, all. I got in touch with Bob and explained that if I could get my hands on a correct seat in like condition (well used) that looks right on the bike, then I could let the seat go. But I don't really want a bike with no seat at all. So I thought I would "throw it out there" if anyone has a seat to sell for a '17. In the meantime, he had a few questions on the mounting so whether mine is right, wrong or indifferent, I am posting a few more pictures. Hope it helps. Does anyone know the dimensions of the springs inside the canisters? Dale

[robert vajda]

Really enjoy your pcs. My name is bob vajda and I have a 1921 Indian powerplus that I am restoring.I noticed that your seat is for a 1921 Indian.I am looking for a seat for my bike. I believe 1921 is the first year for the long cans over the springs. Would you consider selling the seat? I have a seat for a late 20's Indian that I would trade. You can reach me at rvajda@sbcglobal.net. Thank you and keep up the good work. I am also following Kevin. Indian Motorcycles by Jerry Hatfield is a good source for the changes Indian made over the years.

[gww]

morn n, i looked at a later big valve photo (1921) that did have toad stools. not having hands on, my guess is the later cases must have been casted differently to allow for this. don't know.

[Shaky Jake]

morn n, was wondering if you have found any more info on the RX case numbers? Linda an I are slowly also working on a 1917 RX that have some interesting differences. hope you dont mined my jumping in on your writings. gary
no toad stools with exposed valve springs. believe cyls to be big valve.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]16199[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]16200[/ATTACH]
...

Very interesting. On my '16 the valve stems are 2 1/8 inches apart, so yes, it would appear that your engine has big valves which would require the stems to be further apart. Does anyone know, do all big valve Powerplus motors have no toad stools?



Kevin

.

[painterdale]

Don't mind at all, Gary! Please jump right in. The more the merrier! This is all new to me so I am learning as I go. I have not found any more info on the RX numbers other than what we already knew. (Model J "special"). I know nothing about the internals past what I have learned from Kevin's (Shaky Jake) project. I imagine you have been following his thread, also? I figured that if I could absorb as much info as possible, I would feel more confident if I should have to go inside the engine. Hopefully I won't have to in order to get it running. I'm thinking my next move is to see what is frozen on the decompression lever that shuts it down. Please feel free to post lots of pictures here, too. This is for all of us! And "Hey" Kevin. Good to hear from you. It's been a while. Dale