putting the F back in a model F

[zeppelin builder]

just got the gearbox complete had to re, tooth the sprocket ,it entailed getting an industrial plate ring 28t 5/8x3/8 ,a massive thing indeed
i chopped the original centre out the sprocket which had a good few reference areas i could grind it back to i didnt want to do an interupted cut with the curved parting tool .
on the new sprocket i cut a 72 mm slug out with the modded end of the iscar tool with the bed locked up and fed it with the compound then i bored it with a bar to 75 mm
i ground a prep on the weld area and tacked and welded one side , i had to turn about 3 mm out of the inside
then dug the prep out till i removed the line back to the opposite weld then welded it stick and flushed it metal bolted it up and put one wee spot on nut and the cone to secure the nut
the rear sprocket is about the size of a dinner plate so i might cut the blank with the plasma less chance of the jaws distorting the ring if its a skinny one depends what metal the original has to play with

and no im not putting 6 holes in it
the remainder of the holes allowed me to do the weld returns

 

[zeppelin builder]

started machining the rear sprocket today cut the old tooth area off and the new ring leaving enough to stop deformation of the new ring with the jaws , also left a locating edge to centre the ring
the tool was an iscar curved grooving tool driven by my old dsg

 

[zeppelin builder]

thats the sprocket stuck on with 2.5 6013 dwn hill 90 amps very quick
and not buckled wee tidy up with a flappy and a scoot of khaki now

 

[zeppelin builder]

some more progress , made up some rear wheel spacers and thick washers ,ironed out faults in back brake / front brake ,gear linkage assembled clutch and fitted some cheap 5/8x3/8 agricultural chain £35 for 5 metres looks good quality to me and bonus was no half links
needed still numerous faults on the running gear to fix

 

[zeppelin builder]

progress slow this week snowed under with jobs .
however fitted rear mudgaurd and extended gearchange gate to give more lever travel and engage 3rd gear fully , primary chaincase fitted too all nippy wee time consuming things when using non original / mix of parts we are now at the front end
controls and forks so almost there

there are two brakes on the rear wheel external band (front brake ) inner shoe type (rear brake ) i found the correct cable attachment which is very clever the bowden wire passes through is looped back thèn a nut with a tapered bore tightens and holds the wire like on a sheave block

wouldnt mind another one i wonder if ships chandlers do some thing similar ?

 

[zeppelin builder]

front brake sorted out new cable stop made out solid bar ,old one was tin,
cable had pulled through was convinced lever was off a garden roto hoe , owner said its original so i use it , in the intrest of safety i tigged the flimsy clamp to the bars and tacked the body to improve the action , moving to the forks made a 24 tpi nut out a bit from

the g box sprocket blank and milled a hex and a washer , a 3 stage hammer in expander plug was fashioned for the stem so it didnt get crushed by the top yoke

top rebound springs awol and stops in upside down so forks to come apart next session

 

[zeppelin builder]

we managed with the aid of a sash clamp to compress the forks no worries about paint on this bike ? and guesstimate a suitable length for the rebound springs cut from another donor spring . with the retaining caps tightened down and the bottom rockers fitted they looked to be at a decent angle so on with the mudgaurd , missing spokes were fitted to front rim. was so simple to remove and replace the beaded edge tyre compared to a modern rice burner ,
we fitted decompressor linkage to lh twist grip got the hand oil pump working balls and springs were all wrong way round , pumped a bit of sae 40 into the sump and fired her up to fine tune carb , it was found that twist grip had so much wear the backlash either way was dangerous
so we have to weld and remachine a few bits , a reliable tickover was obtained if i held a bit more tension on the carb inlet valve making it richer , so a bit more spring tension wound up will sort that , both petrol tanks have started to leak i think the sealer that had been used is pre ethanol type so i will be soldering on as usual
interestingly the bottom rockers had hard steel bushings with no hole for the grease to get through , cobalt drill said no so i used a pointed carbide burr in the drill flat out and lots of pressure all of a sudden the burr got the bush red hot and pierced straight through its a great trick for drilling hardened needle roller races if needed . bear in mind the carbide part can melt the braze to its shank if it gets too hot

 

[zeppelin builder]

removed the oil pump and the threads inside the tube were toast it looked like a bit of copper water pipe so tinned the pump and got the biggest copper bolt out and soldered it in for good , replica tanks looked like the had been fillet welded to the base then ground back and had started to split apart i tinned both sides as the split weld area would not tin , i think it was migged so a small angle section was tinned
and soldered on i sprayed in dye pen and this immediately showed up a blow hole , needs another dab with the bolt and that should cure it for now , i could have tigged the corners but they were ground so much they were razor blade thick ness and i could see a nightmare with the internal sealer gassing out

 

[Gritineye]

Great pics and explanation, and some cunning fixes.

 

[zeppelin builder]

still discovering faults on the old harley i think though the exorcism is almost complete ! managed to get all the slop out the throttle cleaned up the groove in the bars and made a new oversize peg to fit the scroll fitted a sensible cable and a return spring at the carb , also reamed the carb body and fitted the os spindle , was highly entertaining as the butterfly is soldered after centreing . with the new super clean metal and new bakers fluid it capilaried itself up the spindle as well and locked it solid ,after much swearing all was taken out cleaned up and a wee coat of moly cote made the previous bits non stick this time , new float, needle and seat too just for good measure. looking around the seat post area for the chassis numbers i seen a dirty great crack on the frame lug yes both sides a clean up wirh a flap wheel made it even more pronounced so i drilled a row of countersinks with a 1/4 drill and dragged a ball carbide burr to dig it out proper , pleasant surprise the lug drilled like steel not cast iron almost like a forged lug ! i thought try tig so i used some 2 pc nickel carbon wire and put in a root pass no spitting or bubbles

welded nice then a cover pass and no cracking or tinkling
noises a rub up with a flappy and hope fully thats another nightmare taken care of .fine tuning of the carb was next and now i had an acceptable tickover and no hesitation winding her on brakes were held on in gear to get a bit of bed in on the new linings rear drum was good enough to stall the motor but the external band would do for pushing it out the shed , clutch still needs work its hard to get a free clutch for gear selection or no slip when kick starting it needs more pull so i guess i will have to build up the actuator ramps to get more motion ps the undercut is for free

 

[steve t]

Just saw this thread brilliant

 

[zeppelin builder]

final foibles were cured. did a few mods to the ramps to get more lift the idea was that the weld build up would give more lift . mutch tiggin grinding and peerying (die grinding ) i came up trumps weld deposit on moving half at the ends parked into a recess on the fixed side pull clutch and instant 2 mm lift increase . no clutch kept self adjusting after checking gearbox mainshaft was not floating
we discovered the thrust bearing cup
had lost its interference fit and was pulling through , we made a slight
mod and tigged it in place now we had a decent clutch
the owner came up for a test ride and returned with a chesire cat grin
front tyre was grating at tip of front over fthe big bumps so mudgaurd stays were cut and a piece set in for more clearance . carburation seems to differ day to day so i think ive got him round to me making a manifold adaptor to take an amal concentric for easy day to day stuff
the owner has put about a hundred miles on so far and he is well impressed with its grunty power
bit sad to see it go , but now i can get some of my own stuff sorted
well maybe
ps a spanish resto firm was in touch
after seeing a video of it turns out it was built of junk components purely as a shop display bike that explains why every thing was donald ducked

at a local meet last night

 

[Rannsachair]

ps a spanish resto firm was in touch
after seeing a video of it turns out it was built of junk components purely as a shop display bike that explains why every thing was donald ducked

I take it the owner never knew that when they bought it!

 

[zeppelin builder]

I take it the owner never knew that when they bought it!

needs the mag done and a few wee jobs the seller told him