U
uncle_punk13
Guest
Hey all,
I just came in from the shop. Over the past two days I've been able to move foward a bit on the 'fireball 5' Whizzer project.
New Whizzers are manufactured to be mounted upon today's larger (diameter tube) frames, so in order to properly mount the tank, front engine mount, and clutch cable bracket on the 1950 DX frame it was necesary to chop up an old Huffy girls ATB from the scrap/parts pile. The inside diameter of this tubing is only a few thousands of an inch larger than the outside diameter of the vintge frame's tubing. It fits like a sleeve.
I began by donning my respirator, thick black rubber gloves, and safety glasses. I poured paint stripper into an old tuna can I keep around for just such things, and set forth to removing more of the six layers of paint from this area to be worked upon on this vintage frame. After using various scrapers, adn sanding pads, I shut down shop for the night.
Today I cleaned all the residue from the area I stripped last night, and went to work on the tube 'sleeves'.
I cut two 1 1/4" lengths of the Huffy tubing with my mini tubing cutter, then clamped it lengthwise in the vise. Using my 4 1/2" angle grinder, I sliced the tubing lengthwise, then ground off a little extra. Using the grinder and some files, along with a debur knife, I cleaned up the 'slits'.
T spread open the slits, then slipped them over the top tube. I held up my tank for the precise mounting/placement, moved the 'sleeves' into position. I then marked the ends with a sharpie.
I removed the tank, put the 'sleeves' back into the (marked) positions, and cinched them down with a hose clamp. I then tack welded each end of the slits on the sleeves.
Bingo! The tank now mounts perfectly to the vintage frame, and in a few moments I'll be out to finish the job with the other parts. I have to do a partial dry fit/build up of the bike with engine to get the mounting points for the engine mount and clutch bracket, then tear it all down again to weld up the sleeves in these areas.
This is really not absolutely necesary to mount the engine, but halfway across the states last time this idea occured to me, so i want to build this frame up specifically for this engine, and lots of long distance rides.
Maybe in a couple of years I'll ride it in the Iron Butt...
LOL
Thanks for listening,
Rif
I just came in from the shop. Over the past two days I've been able to move foward a bit on the 'fireball 5' Whizzer project.
New Whizzers are manufactured to be mounted upon today's larger (diameter tube) frames, so in order to properly mount the tank, front engine mount, and clutch cable bracket on the 1950 DX frame it was necesary to chop up an old Huffy girls ATB from the scrap/parts pile. The inside diameter of this tubing is only a few thousands of an inch larger than the outside diameter of the vintge frame's tubing. It fits like a sleeve.
I began by donning my respirator, thick black rubber gloves, and safety glasses. I poured paint stripper into an old tuna can I keep around for just such things, and set forth to removing more of the six layers of paint from this area to be worked upon on this vintage frame. After using various scrapers, adn sanding pads, I shut down shop for the night.
Today I cleaned all the residue from the area I stripped last night, and went to work on the tube 'sleeves'.
I cut two 1 1/4" lengths of the Huffy tubing with my mini tubing cutter, then clamped it lengthwise in the vise. Using my 4 1/2" angle grinder, I sliced the tubing lengthwise, then ground off a little extra. Using the grinder and some files, along with a debur knife, I cleaned up the 'slits'.
T spread open the slits, then slipped them over the top tube. I held up my tank for the precise mounting/placement, moved the 'sleeves' into position. I then marked the ends with a sharpie.
I removed the tank, put the 'sleeves' back into the (marked) positions, and cinched them down with a hose clamp. I then tack welded each end of the slits on the sleeves.
Bingo! The tank now mounts perfectly to the vintage frame, and in a few moments I'll be out to finish the job with the other parts. I have to do a partial dry fit/build up of the bike with engine to get the mounting points for the engine mount and clutch bracket, then tear it all down again to weld up the sleeves in these areas.
This is really not absolutely necesary to mount the engine, but halfway across the states last time this idea occured to me, so i want to build this frame up specifically for this engine, and lots of long distance rides.
Maybe in a couple of years I'll ride it in the Iron Butt...
LOL
Thanks for listening,
Rif