day two three

i recruited my dad to build the wiring harness for the bike. its getting down to the wire on getting the bike done for the smoke out so i can use all the help i can get. my dad has wired everything from little tiny prototype lights to airplanes.

here is jess displaying the tail light fender combo.

i welded some tabs on the underside of the fender to hold the wires off the tire. i used tefzel wire for these wires since they are going to take some abuse.

this shot shows the fender, sissy, and engine installed.

here is the tank in primer with the first skim coat of filler sanded, awaiting the second primer coat.

second primer coat complete.

this is the first coat of the ivory base coat.

i did two coats of base and 2 coats of clear, i cleared it so that i didn't risk harming the base when i did the masking for the graphics.

here is jessica color sanding the clear with some 1500, sorry about the pants jess. i got an added bonus of g-star denim dye on the tank.

for the graphics i masked the entire tank off with 3m blue masking tape. make sure all your tape joints are stuck down really well. run over all the surfaces with a squeegee.

for the circles i just made a compass that originated off the center of the gas cap hole. you have to use your best judgement when finalizing the lines because some of them didn't wind up exactly right visually due to the shape of the tank.

here it is after having my way with the x-acto knife. try not to press hard cause you don't want to cut the clear coat. use a brand new blade lightly.

first coat of black base.

the black base with the masking removed.

here it is after being cleared.

day 22

here is a little piece of leather that i stamped out to place between the box and the frame, this will stop any sqeeks that this joint might be inclined to produce.

here is the box mounted on the frame with the highbeam and horn switches on the box.

here is my pangea emblem mounted on the lower triple clamp cover

so i wanted to utalize the choke on this bike, i am all about riding these bikes so standing around with my hand on the throttle waiting for my bike to warm up isnt an option.


i took the stock hand controll that had the choke lever built in and raan it through the band saw.

after the saw i clamped it in the lathe and gave the bottom a nice flat plane.

i had to make a short little pull cable to actuate the choke so i cut down the stock cable then took some .25 in steel rod and drilled a hole through the center.

after drilling the rod i cut it off too about .25in long, then i continued to weld the rod to the shortened cable.

here is the set up all mounted on the carbs. it is pretty discrete and really easy to get to, just the way i like it.

day twenty one

here is the tank and fender with the sealer sprayed on them.  ALWAYS spray your raw metal with sealer before puting any filler down. what allot of people dont understand is that when you mix up filler it causes a chemical reaction that creats heat. heat on metal will draw moistier out of the metal causing condensation to form between your metal and filler. then you get rust forming under your filler, ever wonder why those hack fill jobs always wind up with rust under the filler. well thats why.

  
so it only took one skim coat on this fender to get it where i wanted but if it needed more filler another coat of sealer would be needed.

here i sprayed down some primer, then misted some flat black over the top. this is called a guid coat. when you sand the fender any low spots will show up with black in them. when you can sand it and have zero black you know your part is pretty flat. (always use a block)

here is the storage box after a skim coat ready for the first coat of primer. it took a few coats to get this thing right.

here it is with primer and guide coat.

i built this profile tool by just roughly cutting the shape of the edge out of a paint stick. after cutting the stick put down some packing tape on the fender. put some body filler on the tape then smash the stick into the filler. when it is cured you can pop the stick off the fender and sand down the extra filler. now you can swipe the profile guide through some filler to create an even detail line on the fender edge.

here are the box and the fender right before i sprayed the black  base coat down.

if you have the chance to use an oven it makes the painting go a little faster.

day 20

after the removal of the electric starter i was left with this huge hole in the tranny.

to solve the hole issue i just went over to this engine building shop by my house and they had a steel freeze plug that fit perfectly. sorry i forgot what size it was but you can figure it out pretty quick with a pair of dial calipers. if i remember right it was a pretty round number like 1.80in

doing the engine turning on the side cover was pretty easy. i just put the roloc mandrel from my grinder into the drill press with a scotch brite pad mounted on it and that was that. i thought about drawing out a grid so they were all exactly even but after doing it i dont know if that would be very valuable.

here is the engine mounted in the frame with the side cover on display.

this phot is a little bit late but i machined these little bosses to mount the coil in the electrical box under the seat. i just drilled some holes in the box then welded around the boss.

day 19

this is a shot of the axle spacer that i machined, using the mill i machined a slot to locate the chain tensioner.

here is the tank sealant kit that i ordered from the local paint shop.  it comes with a surface cleaning solution, anti rust etch, and the tank sealant. 
put the cleaner in the tank, i think they say to mix it at a 1:1 ratio with water. after washing it around for a few min i drained the tank and rinsed with water. after rinsing i let it dry out and the repeated with the rust etch. to speed up drying i used the shop air.

pour the sealant into the tank, tape off all holes and oil any threads that you dont want coating on. rotate the tank around for about 30min. drain the rest of the sealant back into the can. let it sit for about 96hrs before using the tank again.