D-Mac's rat bike to......cafe bike? Here we go again.

[D-Mac]

Busy week with non-bike stuff, but there have been a few developments….

You might recall that I was having trouble removing the lower race from the steering head (it’s buried in a tapered portion of the head and not easily accessible from above). After making a few custom tools to try and drive it out from above, I was still stuck. I decided to resort to another tactic, so I borrowed a MIG welder, and carefully ran a bead around the inside of the race. As I’d read on here and elsewhere, it loosened up the race immediately. I then welded a couple of tabs onto the sides so that the welds stuck out enough so I could finish removing the race by tapping it out from above.

Here it is. Free at last!


I was so impressed with the welding tip, and facing a lot of small welding projects in my future (seat spacers and mounts, battery box, seat hoop, dash controls, etc. etc.), I broke down and bought myself a welder today! It’s a little 110v Lincoln model 140c that I’ve set up for MIG. I’ve been taking a welding course at a community college, and while I’d prefer a bigger unit or a TIG setup, I think this unit will work fine for sheet metal work/brackets/spacers, and to tack more important stuff together for TIG work (e.g., exposed frame pieces). I went back and forth between this welder and a Hobart model that was about $100 cheaper. I’m sure either would have worked well, but I prefer this Lincoln because I can fine-tune the voltage setting (Hobart has 4 “tapped” settings). Lincoln has a $75 rebate on it too, which will help a lot. I also got a good-sized tank (80cf) since it costs about the same price to fill as a smaller one, and it wasn’t much more to purchase than a tank half that size.

I’m pretty excited about it. I got everything assembled and hooked up. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find my welding gloves, so I’ll have to pick up a new pair tomorrow. I’m hoping to get a little welding done this weekend.


I’ve FINALLY decided on an engine paint scheme. I won’t ruin the suspense (ha!) by posting it here, but my plan is to do a little more painting tomorrow.

[Sport-Touring]

[veefer800canuck]

Good work on the bearing race!

[Gerry Sweetland]

Nice welder Dean.  Good job on the bearing race too.  I'm in the market for a welder, where did you get your whole kit at, welder, cart and bottle.  I assume the welder comes with the gauges and valves, etc.?
Also, while I got your attention    are you pleased w/ your HF blast cabinet and soda blaster?  What are the specs on your compressor?  I would like to get that kit as well but I don't know if my compressor will keep up with it.  Its 5 HP 25 Gal. 125 psi max and 6.9 SCFM @ 40psi/ 5.5 SCFM @ 90psi.
In addition there is a 25% coupon available on the net for this Easter Sunday.  I am going to get a 4X6 metal cutting band-saw with the coupon.
Thanks,
Gerry

[D-Mac]

Nice welder Dean.  Good job on the bearing race too.  I'm in the market for a welder, where did you get your whole kit at, welder, cart and bottle.  I assume the welder comes with the gauges and valves, etc.?
Also, while I got your attention    are you pleased w/ your HF blast cabinet and soda blaster?  What are the specs on your compressor?  I would like to get that kit as well but I don't know if my compressor will keep up with it.  Its 5 HP 25 Gal. 125 psi max and 6.9 SCFM @ 40psi/ 5.5 SCFM @ 90psi.
In addition there is a 25% coupon available on the net for this Easter Sunday.  I am going to get a 4X6 metal cutting band-saw with the coupon.
Thanks,
Gerry

Hey Gerry,

WELDERS:

I looked three highly-rated 110v MIG welders - the Lincoln 140c, the Miller 140, and the Hobart Handler 140. You can buy the Lincoln or Miller at any authorized welding supply store (their websites will give you a list; in Jackson Airgas sells Miller and Lincoln and a place called Miller Welding Supplies [no connection with Miller welders] sells Lincoln). Hobart is available at Tractor Supply. You can also buy Lincoln welders at Lowe's but the 140 version they sell is NOT the same as the one you can get through a welding shop (the Lowe's version has only 4 "tapped" voltage settings whereas the 140c I bought has continuous voltage settings; I've heard that the Lowe's version is also not quite as well built).

All of the welders I looked at come with a regulator, hoses, extra contact tips, nozzles, the gun, and a little wire. There is typically at least one lower-end model from each company, but they generally don't come with the accessories for MIG, so they'd end up being more (and less capable) if you know you want to MIG weld.

The Lincoln I bought is the same price everywhere I looked - $694. There is a $75 rebate available through June (or you can get a free autodarkening helmet if you prefer), which brings the price down to $619 after rebate. Miller Welding also had some well-used "demo" models for sale for only $550 (full warranty included), but I opted for a new one since the rebate deal makes it pretty close.

The Miller 140 is over $700. Too rich for my blood. It doesn't put out quite as much heat as the others either. It has an "autoset" feature, but it's not really needed if you can read the chart on the inside door of the welder.

The Hobart Handler 140 is a great little welder. It's $499. Hobart is now owned by Miller (the gun actually has "Miller" written on it). The only downside for me compared with the other two is that the Hobart has only 4 "tapped" voltage settings (like the cheaper Lincoln from Lowe's). This was a close second choice for me. I'm sure it's fine, but I'd prefer to adjust my welder rather to fine-tune stuff than adjust my welding style to suit the welder.

I bought my setup from Airgas. The 80cf tank was $199 to buy (filled). The cart was $85. Apparently, Harbor Freight has a similar cart for $50 on sale that is about as good if you change out the castors on it. If you go with the Hobart welder, I'd definitely get the tank/cart from somewhere other than Tractor Supply. They want $60 more for a tank and $35 more for a smaller cart than the one any of the welding shops have (all of the welding supply shops had the same prices on tanks/refills/carts).

--------

As for the soda blaster, I like it but my setup is NOT ideal. I bought the larger 40gal one from Harbor Freight and it really works great. My problem is that my HF compressor is just too small for it (it's a lot smaller than yours - only 10 gal and 3.5HP). You set the regulator on the soda blaster to between 60-90 psi for best results. It works ok for me, but I have to shut if off every couple of minutes to let the compressor catch up and the compressor runs constantly. It would be much better with your compressor or a larger one (I think they recommend 6.5 cf/min so you should be ok) . The cabinet is nice, although you will need a good way to suck out the dust as you blast or you won't be able to see much. I have a shop vac hooked to mine, but it's still pretty dusty and hard to see at times. You'll want to put a light inside it. I usually don't run it on full soda/full pressure since you don't need to anyway. If you can see just a little soda coming out the tip it works just as well. To be honest, I'll probably start using it in the yard when the weather improves. It does work great for getting down in nooks and crannies though.

When I get around to finding/building a "real" workshop I'm going to put in a massive compressor first thing and run air taps everywhere. You can never have too much storage/HP. I'd love to be able to use more serious air tools.

[Gerry Sweetland]

Hey Gerry,

WELDERS:

I looked three highly-rated 110v MIG welders - the Lincoln 140c, the Miller 140, and the Hobart Handler 140. You can buy the Lincoln or Miller at any authorized welding supply store (their websites will give you a list; in Jackson Airgas sells Miller and Lincoln and a place called Miller Welding Supplies [no connection with Miller welders] sells Lincoln). Hobart is available at Tractor Supply. You can also buy Lincoln welders at Lowe's but the 140 version they sell is NOT the same as the one you can get through a welding shop (the Lowe's version has only 4 "tapped" voltage settings whereas the 140c I bought has continuous voltage settings; I've heard that the Lowe's version is also not quite as well built).

All of the welders I looked at come with a regulator, hoses, extra contact tips, nozzles, the gun, and a little wire. There is typically at least one lower-end model from each company, but they generally don't come with the accessories for MIG, so they'd end up being more (and less capable) if you know you want to MIG weld.

The Lincoln I bought is the same price everywhere I looked - $694. There is a $75 rebate available through June (or you can get a free autodarkening helmet if you prefer), which brings the price down to $619 after rebate. Miller Welding also had some well-used "demo" models for sale for only $550 (full warranty included), but I opted for a new one since the rebate deal makes it pretty close.

The Miller 140 is over $700. Too rich for my blood. It doesn't put out quite as much heat as the others either. It has an "autoset" feature, but it's not really needed if you can read the chart on the inside door of the welder.

The Hobart Handler 140 is a great little welder. It's $499. Hobart is now owned by Miller (the gun actually has "Miller" written on it). The only downside for me compared with the other two is that the Hobart has only 4 "tapped" voltage settings (like the cheaper Lincoln from Lowe's). This was a close second choice for me. I'm sure it's fine, but I'd prefer to adjust my welder rather to fine-tune stuff than adjust my welding style to suit the welder.

I bought my setup from Airgas. The 80cf tank was $199 to buy (filled). The cart was $85. Apparently, Harbor Freight has a similar cart for $50 on sale that is about as good if you change out the castors on it. If you go with the Hobart welder, I'd definitely get the tank/cart from somewhere other than Tractor Supply. They want $60 more for a tank and $35 more for a smaller cart than the one any of the welding shops have (all of the welding supply shops had the same prices on tanks/refills/carts).

--------

As for the soda blaster, I like it but my setup is NOT ideal. I bought the larger 40gal one from Harbor Freight and it really works great. My problem is that my HF compressor is just too small for it (it's a lot smaller than yours - only 10 gal and 3.5HP). You set the regulator on the soda blaster to between 60-90 psi for best results. It works ok for me, but I have to shut if off every couple of minutes to let the compressor catch up and the compressor runs constantly. It would be much better with your compressor or a larger one (I think they recommend 6.5 cf/min so you should be ok) . The cabinet is nice, although you will need a good way to suck out the dust as you blast or you won't be able to see much. I have a shop vac hooked to mine, but it's still pretty dusty and hard to see at times. You'll want to put a light inside it. I usually don't run it on full soda/full pressure since you don't need to anyway. If you can see just a little soda coming out the tip it works just as well. To be honest, I'll probably start using it in the yard when the weather improves. It does work great for getting down in nooks and crannies though.

When I get around to finding/building a "real" workshop I'm going to put in a massive compressor first thing and run air taps everywhere. You can never have too much storage/HP. I'd love to be able to use more serious air tools.

Thanks much for the complete reply, much appreciated.
I need to check out the welder you bought and the Hobart, I'm not a welder but  have done a little MIG an TIG welding at my previous employer but they were big industrial Millers and I had a real welder close by to help me out and set the welder up.  I wouldn't know what to do with the controls till I had some experience I guess.  Man, 200 bucks for the tank, that's a killer  

I live near (Plainwell) a guy who has a blasting business and he rents his booth and gear at something like $12 and hour.  He is also a blasting media distributor and has all kinds of media.  I have been debating  going the rental rout or buying a setup like yours.  Not sure what I'm gonna do yet.  I need to get my frame blasted first and my rusty chrome rims so maybe I'll try him out and see how smooth it goes.

I have a 1972 Triumph that I am working on and I want to make my own top and bottom fork clamps out of billet aluminum.
I have the assembly modeled in SolidWorks and I have the material.  Just need to do a good check on dimensions before I start making chips on my CNC.
Here is a couple screen caps of the assemblies.
I have two designs depending on if I use original forks or not.



Let me know if you need any thing CNC machined or turned and I'll be glad to do it for just the cost of material.
Would love the experience of making different things.
Thanks again,
Gerry

[D-Mac]

Wow. Generous offer! I might take you up on that offer down the road for a new top triple clamp or rear set brackets. You can use custom clamps to change the geometry a little too (or compensate for other changes you might want to make) by changing the offset between the fork tubes and steering head tube.

I tried out the welder this afternoon. For a small unit it really puts out some heat. Even at about 1/2 voltage it'll easily weld 14-gauge sheet metal and thin-walled tubing with good penetration. It is easy to use and the settings on the inside of the door seem to be accurate.

[Gerry Sweetland]

Just let me know Dean, I want to make my own rear-sets as well.
Glad to help!
Good to hear you are quite happy with the welder.
Your project is looking very nice and we enjoy the reports
Gerry

[D-Mac]

It’s been nearly 10 days since my last update. I do have a little progress to report. Lots of pics, so this will be done in three posts.
First, the paint scheme. I took the valve cover, cleaned it, scraped off the gasket, removed the paint, cleaned it 1000 more times, and then painted it….silver.

Yup. I’m going with a black and silver paint scheme for the engine. Black bottom with polished side covers, black cylinders, silver head, and silver valve cover. In the end, I decided that the two-tone scheme looks a little more “refined” and custom. The silver head will also tie in the chrome exhaust and polished carb bodies a little better.

Masked….


Masked some more….


Primed…..


Top coat! – VHT Universal Aluminum. It’s a little brighter than stock. Unfortunately, I moved it a little early after taking this photo and smudged a large part of the top! I’m going to re-sand and paint that portion again.


On to the next issue. Since I now have a welder, I tackled the rear seat hoop. I placed a long piece of tube inside the frame/rear hoop and drilled holes through the outside tubes about 1.5” on each side of the seam (you can see the drilled holes here with the tube lined up).


Then I welded the plugs and welded the two outer tubes together. It doesn’t look pretty, but when ground down and powder-coated, it’ll look fine I think. It matches well and my practice welds on this material had excellent penetration.

Finished hoop.


After that I sorted out mounting the seat. I want to show off the frame a little and leave as much room for the battery as possible, so I opted to raise the seat about 7/8" off the frame (I tested it with wood shims a few posts back). I started by welding some ¾” square tube to the top of the frame. Not all of the welds look great, and I went a little nuts with the welding, but it’s done.


Then I welded some cross pieces of 1/8” steel across the "new" upper frame. This new “pan" extends all the way along the bottom of the seat from the front to the hump and leaves a little around the sides in case I decide to cover the seat completely later.






More in next post.....

[D-Mac]

PART 2: After getting the seat portion done, I cut and welded some 16-gauge sheet metal on the rear to support the battery and various electrical bits.


A few holes and bolts/nuts later and the seat was mounted! I plan to fab a cushion later.




I decided to line up the seat so that the rear just sits above the hoop (covering my nasty welds of course). The hoop isn’t a perfect match for the seat cowling above it, but I do like the look.




Here’s a look underneath. Notice that I left a lot of room to pass wires though from the rear portion. I might even pass them through the 3/8 square tube to make them totally hidden.


I picked up this brake/tail/license plate light.


If I’ve calculated it right, I should have just enough room to mount a tail light below and behind the seat hoop. So a fabricated a little bracket.






If it doesn’t work with the rear wheel I can always remove the bracket and try something else (it will just bolt to the pan under the seat hump).

More in next post....

[D-Mac]

PART 3: I finally tackled the problem of my front fender. You might recall that my original one had been painted and that it is FULL of dents. It’s heavy and a little ugly too, but the inner fender is thick steel and I’m told that it acts as a much-needed fork brace on the bike. So rather than trying to cut it down and go nuts with Bondo, or get rid of it completely, I opted to drill out the rivets/spot welds that held the fender to the inner brace.

Dead fender…..


Inner brace……




Yup. I’m going to run just the inner brace for now. I think it’ll look pretty good powdercoated. If not, or if I decide I actually want to ride in the rain, I can always fabricate or buy a new fender later and attach it to this piece.

WHAT’S NEXT? Other than maybe trying drill a few holes for mounting various electrical bits under the seat hump and figuring out where to mount turn signals, I think the frame is FINALLY ready for powdercoat! I can’t wait to have a rolling chassis. Once the head and lower end of the engine are painted I can begin to reassemble the engine too. After that it’s a lot of electrical work, dealing with the gas tank, more paint, and a lot of fabrication/installation for various lights, switches, and gauges (ok, it’s a lot more than that). Beginning in mid-May I will have a lot more time to work on this project, so I figure I can have it on the road by July if I can find enough money to finish it.

Oh yeah.....I feel like I'm being watched.....

[coho]

That's continuing to be badass.  



+1 for choosing the paint scheme I voted for.  

[CLAY]

Way cool man- keep it up!  

[Gerry Sweetland]

  looking good Dean.  The seat looks great when  mounted.  Looks like you are putting the welder to good use.
Gerry

[OU812]

Looking forward to more of your posts!
Thanks!

[D-Mac]

There have been some new developments in my "slow and overly-documented" builld...

First, the big news. On Thursday I dropped off my frame, swingarm, kickstand, centerstand, engine mounting brackets, exhaust brackets, front inner fender brace, and headlight housing for POWDERCOATING. I went with plain satin black for everything but the headlight, which will be gloss black. The place I chose is nearly 2 hours away, but they had a lot of bicycles and motorcycles on site and their work looked really good. They were also quite cheap ($155 for the frame, and about the same for everything else together). They assured me that they will not coat the “important” parts (steering head, holes in swingarm, threaded parts, etc) and that they will try and have it done by the end of next week (which is my next chance to drive up there). My prep work was not perfect, but my welds look better than the Suzuki ones and I did spend a couple hours sanding the frame. Powdercoat might be a little overkill for this project, although I’ve been looking for an excuse to try it on a frame and I feel like I’ve come too far now NOT to do it for the minor difference in price.

Centerstand pics. I didn’t grind the brackets for it off the frame because I might end up using it. I’ll probably leave it off to start though. Here’s what it looked life off the bike. There was a good 2”-thick layer of crud on it!


After cleaning.


Unfortunately, I discovered when I got home from the powdercoater that I had forgotten to drop off the rusty rear brake arm! D’oh! I’m just gonna sand and paint it at home and take it along when I pick up the coated parts. If it doesn’t match well, I’ll leave it for coating and ride back later to get it. I’m sure I’ll have other bits to powdercoat later anyway.
As for the rest of the paint, I fixed the mangled spot on my valve cover, and painted the head (of course I managed to chip off a little paint on it too by handling it too early, so now every piece I’ve done has a little flaw on it). Here are a few pics……

Some shots after a ridiculous amount of time spent soda blasting, neutralizing, cleaning, wiping down, and masking.….









Primer. The flash kind of makes it look weird.


Flashback to what it looked like after the initial cleaning (remember, this is off of my parts bike, which was not that dirty).


NOW. Painted, with masking removed!


Now I can reinstall the valves, along with new seals. I still gotta tackle the bottom end paint job and order piston rings before I can start putting the engine back together.

I was leaning toward having the tank repaired professionally and painted along with the seat, but the quote I got from a reputable company was $1100. When I think about it, it’s actually reasonable given that I had requested a quote for repairing dents, fixing leaks, removing the paint and inner coating, re-coating the inside, and painting and pinstriping both the tank and seat cowling. My budget for final paint is far, far lower than this so I’m going to strip the tank, assess the leaks, and them solder them and/or coat the tank with Caswell coating myself. Then I’ll shop around closer to home for a basic paint job. I might use decals instead of painted stripes to cut costs further.

Other stuff:

Yesterday I ordered new tires and tubes (yup, this old bike takes tubes). No sense leaving the old ones on – they are so rotted they aren’t going anywhere. Everything but the rear tire will arrive on Tuesday, so I’m hopeful I can get to a rolling chassis within a couple of weeks.

Then I ordered a headlight bracket, grips, a bar-end mirror, and a couple of electrical bits. Still gotta save my pennies for gauges and fab some sort of bracket for them.

As for the rest of the weekend, I have a few little things planned….gasket removal from the breather cover, prepping the lower and upper trees for paint/polish, cleaning the cam chain tensioner…….that type of thing. For every little thing I write on here, there are always a bunch of things that are so boring I rarely mention them.

[veefer800canuck]

Go man go!

[D-Mac]

Upper triple tree clamp is done. In the end I decided to polish rather than paint it. Looks more “retro” that way.

Originally black (taped up to cut off the risers).


After grinding and sanding.


Now….Just needs a hand polish and a little dremeling in the nooks and crannies.

[D-Mac]

Final update of the weekend. I got the lower tree painted, along with the brake arm that I forgot to drop at the powdercoater.

Hit them with a wire wheels and did a little sanding. Prepped.




Three coats of black caliper paint and two coats of clear later. I’ll cure them later this week.

[D-Mac]

Good week. Lots of pics….multiple postings.

I spent quite a bit of time working on a friend’s old bike (a Yamaha triple), but on Tuesday my front tire arrived along with tubes for the front and rear.

I have access to a tire changing machine where I’m taking motorcycle repair classes. Even with that, the front proved to be a little stubborn to change. The old tire was so hard and dry-rotted that it didn’t want to move. Then there was so much crud on the inside rim I spent 30 minutes just scrubbing it off. Then the tire didn’t want to seat evenly, so I ended up inflating and deflating it several times and leaving it as high as 75 psi for a few minutes so it could work itself into position.

Front done!


I also removed the rear tire and cleaned the rim. It was especially hard to get the old rear to sit down into the dogs on the tire changing machine. The old tire was badly rotted and 3 sizes too big, so it stuck out on the sides a lot. After a lot of wrestling and a bunch of tricks from guys in the shop I managed to get it off.

Dirty!


New rear tire arrived on Friday. I’m planning to spoon it on tomorrow.


On Friday I picked up the frame and some bits from powdercoat. Here ya go…..

Frame (satin finish)








Protected for assembly.


Swingarm (satin finish)


Centerstand (not sure I’m using it so it might be for sale)


[continued in next post]

[D-Mac]

Continued. More powdercoat pics….

Sidestand


Front fender inner brace. Came out nice!


Engine brackets


Headlight (more on this below)


Exhaust brackets


A few other bits came in this week.

Grips.


Bar end mirror


Headlight clamp (I’m ditching the ridiculously heavy, ugly, unadjustable thing Suzuki used, which will allow me to run clip ons).


Some electrical stuff also arrived (not shown)

I finally had a chance to use my thread chaser set. I prefer these chasers to taps where possible since they won’t undercut existing threads or cut new threads. They are designed to clean up old threads and they are good for removing bits of powdercoat, damage, and other crap.


I also bought a cheap metric tap set to clean out the headlight threads (my chaser set doesn’t cover anything below M6 size).


[continued in next post]