steam/diesel punk elite project By dryshave (Read 13,728 times)

[dryshave]

had to bolt the rectifier to the back of the running board, it'll be covered by the rear panel, but still have plenty of airflow. Thinking of starting another thread as this ones getting a little long in the tooth. Steampunk 2013

[dryshave]

WIRING HELL!
I had to completely dismantle the harness in an effort to locate a problem getting power to the starter relay.
Fixed that, then it was the start button, fixed that, then it was the headlight, fixed that, then it was no spark, fixed that, then it was the headlight again, fixed that ... and so it went for the past two weeks.... FINALLY! all the lights work correctly, I had to rewire the starter button, completely stripped and cleaned both handlebar switch assemblies, cleaned the harness connector, and tested all components for continuity and output.
The only problem now has to do with timing (pretty sure I screwed up on the compression stroke - timing mark) think I set it on the exhaust) but at least I don't have to tear the harness apart to fix that.
The parts are at the foundry, just waiting for a call, but pretty sure I should have them back by the weekend.
Hoping to hear the scooter cough or sputter sometime over the weekend.

Got the next 5 days off - so it's back to the bodywork. I'm hoping to have all the bodypanels finished for paint by the end of april or mid may

(noW the brake lights not working AAAAAAARRRRRGH)

[justbuggin2]

hang in there and remenber that it is fun to work on this bike and if you get mad at it walk away for awhile

[dryshave]

just having problem with spark right now - thought I had it yesterday, she coughed a couple times with "quickfire" and now no spark. Back to the manual

[dryshave]

Sorry... haven't posted in awhile, but I had to get nose down and get busy with finishing the bodypanels. I've got them pretty much ready for paint, but I'M STILL WAITING FOR THE BLOODY CAST PIECES!!!! I can only do so much on the panels without having them in place. It's a good thing there's lots of bodywork to be done that doesn't involve the brass pieces. But at least I've finished off the new front fender and everything is sanded to 320 grit.

Haven't solved the electrical either, but I figure that I can pick at that while I'm waiting for the seat to be upholstered.

Believe me... as soon as cast pieces are done... you'll see the pictures first.

[justbuggin2]

looking good how longare they saying it will take for the brass to be done?

[dryshave]

the brass work was dropped off about four weeks ago and supposed to be about five working days.
But, I'd rather have it done right at the quoted price, even if it takes a bit longer. Gives me time to do the final wet sand on the body parts. Set to order a bunch of parts this weekend, we'll see which arrive first.

[dryshave]

AWESOME!
That's my response to the cast brass pieces. There's still some tweaking to do to have them fit 100% but there won't be a lot of adjustments to be done. I am making some changes to the dash, that you won't see in these photos - sorry for the lousy low lite pics, but it's been raining for the past couple of weeks and I just don't want to open up the doors. Talk about heavy metal!!! the tail piece must weigh in close to 30 lbs just by itself, but I will lose roughly 5 lbs of that weight when I have holes for the rear turn signals drilled out (you can just see the outline I've drawn on for the machinist) in one of the pics.

Now I can wrap up the bodywork and it's perfect timing as I have the next week off and we're scheduled for sunny weather. So I should have all the bodywork finished and ready for paint by the middle of June. Paint by end of the month - still on schedule - or was I supposed to be riding by July 1?

Still got the lenses to cast for the front turn signal and getting the front grill in for water jet cutting.

There's still the seat to get recovered and gauges to finish, but once I can write the bodywork off the to do list, the rest should move along quicker than the past month or so.

I look at the nearly finished panels now and look back to the eager anticipation of Page 1 - what was I thinking!

more in a week

[justbuggin2]

that is looking very sweet are you using brass screws to hold the brass pieces?

[dryshave]

I've used just regular pop rivets for now as they are there for position only. I can easily pop them on and off with a sharp chisel. I'm also experimenting with different burnishing techniques for the final finish. My plan was to used copper rivets, but they're pretty hard to find locally and probably too soft. My thought is to use round capped slotted brass bolts and mount with the nuts inside (this is final mounting) then grind off the round cap flush which will leave a flat brass cap @ 1/8" thick, the same with the tail piece. I've also done some dash mods as well, expanding the slot in the middle where the handlebars sit, leaving more space for the cables and wiring to run freely. I've already cut it out and it looks much better. Going to hook up with the machine shop next week and get those rear signal holes cut out. Got the next 10 days off, spending half of them finishing up the bodywork... looks like the weather will co-operate, will get better pics up too! Still undecided on final color, will put up some swatch samples an ask for suggestions. Gauges will be finished over the next week as well. Can't wait to paint.

[justbuggin2]

i still think this is a cool finish for your brass and here is a how-to vid

[dryshave]

justbuggin2- I like it! That's what I was thinking about doing... but for now I think I'll just polish it out. I might have an artist actual etch the pieces sometime down the road. But right now I'm concentrating on fitting and paint.
Had a bit of a setback... after mounting everything up I realized that somewhere along the way that one of the "eyes" had shifted... not sure how it happened but it was 3/4" too high and 1/2" off centre YIKES! That is part due to doing most of the bodywork work on an elevated table... looks good from below, but when it's down on the centre stand and being viewed from above it became clear that something was wonky! Sort of like the Rock giving the brow!
Took a couple days to re-fiberglass and do multiple cross measurements using framing jig and many many many cardboard templates. It's done now, no pics of it yet though. These pics show the details of the dash and how the gauges fit in. The speedo cover will be painted the same color as the bike, so it looks like it is coming up through the bronze dash. The tail piece is finish fitted and ready to be machined out. It took some time to get the brows to match up, but it looks sweet.
Finishing off the gauge faceplates this week and building the vacuum box and hope to start making the lens covers next week. The bodywork will be finished on schedule for the end of the month and paint for the first week in July.... damn!..... forgot to build a rear fender! I'll use the mold from the front fender to get the basic shape, I'll be so glad to finish with sanding / dust / bondo and fiberglass and concentrating on zoom zoom!

[dryshave]

You can see in the last photo where I had to make more fiberglass "corrections" to the dash pods (that's done now) but there's a hole where the glass was thin.

[trailheadmike]

My favorite thread getting better and better. I can't wait to see the finished product. You are a real artist!

[dryshave]

Thanx THM - it's been a long process.

Getting the panels to the finished sanding stage, figure I'm pretty much on schedule for paint by the 6th of July - getting the color narrowed down.
Have sent the grill file to the waterjet company, hope to hear back from them tomorrow, would like to have that done about the same time the seat is being done. The grill will be first cut out of 5/8 plexi then I'll coat the back with brass foil - hard to explain - so will post pics of the process as it gets done.
I've spoken to a jewellery artist who will be creating the funky indicator arms for the gauges - quoted $200 for all three. It's a small thing, but will add detail to the dash. Decided not to add lights to the gas and temp gauges - just the speedo.

Building the vacuum box this weekend... after paint comes - molded lenses, pull the cast on the rear fender (forgot about that one) mounting the gooseneck for the gas tank and tracking down the rubber seal strips for the channel (where the two pieces join) that goes around the front piece. Not using rivets, using brass bolts all around. Got the mount figured out for the front fender and finishing off the headlight bucket.

Will upload one more batch of pics just before I paint. Next sand overall is wet 220 - it's taken a lot of sand paper / fiberglass and bondo to get to this point.... is that a train at the end of the tunnel???