40s F when I got up this morning but now it is 72F and the winds are about 5 MPH so I jumped on the clear coat. It blew around a little but who cares. I put on a thick drippy coat of 2 part clear as I didn't want to wait for a second coat because it was too hot in my double bomb suit and respirator. After the build off I will disassemble it and rub it out and touch up around the masking templates. Good enough for this summer and the BO. My daughter calls our apple tree a Christmas tree when I hang bike parts in it to dry. It is going to get warmer each day Through Thursday so I should be able to start assembly soon. I might make it if everything fits together, but we all know that is wishful thinking
I have the rear fender installed, tires and tubes are mounted and now I am assembling the springer. I am using a C clamp to compress the springs so I don't mess up my fresh paint. The C clamp works well for this.
It's going slowly but coming along. Tomorrow I plan to touch up some of the paint while there is minimal non painted stuff on the frame. View attachment 29511View attachment 29512
Bending, filing, fitting, adjusting. So far it's fitting better than a lot of my bikes but I still have to deal with the cursed chain line. Easy to break a skip tooth chain if it is not lined up right.
Really nice work here man! You are going to sneak up and surprise some in the voting booth, that's for sure! Love the blues....hope your drive train cooperates. Looking forward to seeing this one 'rolling'....
I have one skip tooth chain that is too short and one that is just right. The just right one has a broken link and I am in the process of trying to repair it. I used the Park Tool CT 3.2 chain breaker with the sliding chain guide cage. I move the cage so it is out of the way and use sheet metal and what ever else I have handy to shim the chain into the tool so it doesn't roll when you start to press out the pin. You can see the sheet metal shim under the chain as it has a little blue paint on it. It keeps the chain from rocking down as the opposite side of the chain rests on the rivet that holds the sliding chain guide. The small drill keeps it from chain from rocking forward. This tool is designed for all modern chains but it is a very poor tool. Doesn't work well on any modern chain and this is backed up by reviews on the net. You will have a lot of broken chains with this tool as the sliding gate doesn't hold the plate tight when you install the pin and the plate link bends. It's highest and best use so far is as a jury-rigged skip tooth pin remover.
I rode it around. All that remains is to mount the head badge, stick on the Rollfast repop decals, put on the headlight, mount the battery pack and bolt on the the center stand clip. I also have a little touch up on the paint to do. If laziness doesn't strike I might finish tomorrow?
The old factory safety light used as a headlight and converted to LED looks good tucked between the springer rods. I like the way the old brass 3 cell flashlight converted to a battery pack turned out. I used cloth covered wire from the battery pack to the headlight. The headlight is turned on in the picture. Decals, center stand clip and touch up and it's done. I have been riding it. Getting close.