General Category => Restoration Projects => Topic started by: Ricks on February 13, 2011, 08:56:04 AM
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Hi, name is Rick. I have been restoring and drag racing aircooled VW's for the past 25 years. I decided it was time for a change and have sold most of my VW stuff and bought 2 servi-cycle projects.
1st up: a mostly complete 1953 automatic that will be restored to original.
2nd: A parts 1949 model K that I'm thinking of doing a 3 wheel conversion on.
I'll post pics when I figure out how. Bob, how about a tutorial on posting pictures?
Thanks for the forum!!
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Rick, When you click on reply and the message box comes up you will see a bar just above the message box.The first tab is to insert a flash and the 2nd tab will prompt you to insert a picture. Click that tab and then just under the message bar you will see Additional Options. Click that and you will prompted to browse for your photo. Either off photobucket or from your desktop. If you run into any probs I will either do a video or give more detailed instructions.
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Here we go, the 1953:
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And the 1949 model K parts bike:
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Rick are you going to build that motor yourself or send it off to be done?
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Rick are you going to build that motor yourself or send it off to be done?
I'll build it myself. I removed the bearings today, here is a pic of it in the oven. I heated it for 15 minutes @ 400 degrees to expand the aluminum case, and they came right out.
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Bob, did you notice the color of the fenders? These were originally chromed fenders that someone had painted years ago. I sandblasted and cleaned them up with a flap disc, and you can still see the base copper. I welded the couple of tears in them, and fabbed a piece to repair the botton of the rear fender. Came out pretty decent. A little polyester primer and block sanding and no one will ever know they were rusty and mangled at one time!
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I see that Rick. The one I have in the shop is the same way. Chromed and painted black and now a mixture of chrome, rust and black. The back fender is a write off, but the front is excellent. I'm impressed on the motor. Not many fellows would be able to tackle that. I have been reading about them in an original repair manual and there are a lot of "tricks of the trade" you need to know. If my motor doesn't run properly I will send it to Wayne and let him do his magic on it.
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Wayne was the one who told me to heat the case so as not to crack it. On old VW's, we do the same thing to put the crank distributor gear on the crank, hot gear on a cold crank goes right on.
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What about all the shims for the Simplex crank to have the proper amount of play?
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What about all the shims for the Simplex crank to have the proper amount of play?
Bob, when I disassembled the motor, the only shim is between the motor pulley and the stator bearing. This is the only shim shown in the parts and assembly manual for a Model M. Maybe the earlier motors used shims because they used a tapered bearing? I have a 1950 shop manual coming, so I'll check that when I get it.
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Rick, Here are the two pages dealing with the shims. This is for a 1948 Simplex. I don't know if they would pertain to your model or not. I'm sure Wayne would know.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman1001.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman1001.jpg)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman2001.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman2001.jpg)
This book has a lot of generic information in it. I should copy the darn thing. It shows aluminum leg shields and an aluminum and plex windshield for winter driving and a klaxon horn for $2 and some great looking saddlebags for $15.
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Bob, what book is that, and is it available? The M motors use a different crankshaft setup. There is no separate rotory valve, it is built into the crankshaft. The bearings are also different. I will post up a picture of the bearings tomorrow morning.
I just got another package of parts from Wayne today that I have not had a chance to open. Sucks when work gets in the way!
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Ok, I got the earlier manual, and here are the pictures of the crank assemblies. The early has lot more parts, and the shims you speak of Bob, but the late does not. A picture or two is worth a thousand words!
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This is a manual I bought off Ebay. I know it's dated for 1948 so would think that it is for that year's production. However, there is much in the manual that would be applicable for all the engines. Removing carbon from the engine and exhaust header and how to get it out of the muffler and tailpipe. It's 90 pages and covers everything from the proper removal of the bike from the shipping container down to proper gas/oil mix. I have thought of copying it and making up some booklets, but it would be a ton of work. Anyway, here you go. If there is any particular part of the bike you need info about I would be happy to copy those chapters for you.
]http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman42.jpg[url] (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman42.jpg[url)http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman41.jpg[/url]
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman7.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman7.jpg)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman5.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman5.jpg)
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Dunno why this one didn't work. Let me try it again.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman42.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simman42.jpg)
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Bob, did you buy that manual about 2 weeks ago? If so, you outbid me!
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LOL, thats the one :) When bidding on it I did not realize the amt of info in the darn thing. I've been looking about, but haven't seen another yet.
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Rick, This motor has obviously been running, but the compression plate appears to be on it backwards. I bet it was a bitch to get started and make run smooth.
(http://)
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Bob, I'd bet that motor has another compression plate facing the right way inside if it was running. Did you get it yet?
I knew that manual had some good info. I'm going to try Gary W and see if he has copies of it available.
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No, not yet. I spoke to the delivery company rep last night and they seem to be a kinda laid back group. The fellow I bought the bike from was telling me they have a 1917 Harley Davidson on the truck also. Anyway, they said they will be here sometime toward the end of this week or the first of next. I will get a 48hr and 24hr heads up on the delivery day. I'm really angsting over that bike and dread when something is not shipped crated up. However, bikes are all this company ships so it may turn out well.
If Gary doesn't have this book and you need it, I will put it up on photobucket for you. It would be about 47-49 shots. Might be a good idea to do it and put it up on this site for others to use. It does have tons of useful information about every piece of the bike and proper disassembly, ect.
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I started reassembling the motor for the '53. I put in new bearings and installed the crank and rod.
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It's looking so good Rick. I have finally finished the bike for my nephew, but a bout of double pneumonia has slowed me up some. I hope to get started on my bike by the end of the week.
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Well, I went to install the rod and piston today and found that someone had bored the pin .050 oversized, so I need to have a new bushing installed in the rod. The old piston was a mess, someone had knurled the skirt and fitted the piston with a wrist pin that is twice the thickness of the new one. They didn't even use a snap ring, they used teflon buttons to hold the pin in.
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I finally got around to working on the 53. I put the motor together, new piston, rod, bearings, ect. She spins over nice a smooth!!
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I also rebuilt the automatic transmission. New shoes, primary drive pulley and bearings. The pulley was made by Wayne Mahaffey and is really nice.
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The chassis has been torn down, all the problems rewelded, the crash bars straightened, and the dents removed. It is ready to go to the powder coater, along with all the bolt on parts such as front end, fender braces, seat pan, ect.
While I was at it, I have decided to add a front brake. Wayne also supplied all the parts to make this happen.
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Got my frame and parts back from the powder coater. I started to reassemble the bike, and now I have to get to the bodywork on the tins.
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Wow Rick, looking really nice. What kind of shape are the tins in? Do you have all the parts to complete the build? Keep posting pics of your progress.
Mike
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The tins are not too bad. I need to weld a few holes and tears in the rear fender. I have already hammered the fenders back into shape. The gas tank has one dent I need to remove. I wish I had a stud welder, this would make it easier.
I have most of the parts to finish the build. The rims and hubs are at the powder coater now and should be done friday. I have new stainless steel spokes for them, but I have never laced a wheel before. This should be fun.
I'll keep updating my progress as I go.
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I have a set of Simplex front and rear hubs that I’m thinking about lacing up to Worksman rims. I’d be interested in knowing how that goes for you.
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Well, the rims were not ready yet. He told me by wednesday.
Mike, I was thinking about getting worksman rims for my 3 wheeler project. They look a lot like the wider 2" simplex wheels and are inexpensive. Could you post a picture of one with a tape measure on the width? I'd like to see how wide they really are. Thanks, Rick
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Rick, I have an excellent wheel lacing book on PDF Id be happy to send it to you. Its for bike wheels but I dont suppose its any different.
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Rick, I have an excellent wheel lacing book on PDF Id be happy to send it to you. Its for bike wheels but I dont suppose its any different.
That would be great.
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I welded up the fenders, they look pretty good. I mounted them to get a look and see if they were straight. Looking pretty good so far.
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Got my rims and hubs back from the powder coater. It doesn't look like it in the photo but those are new stainless steel spokes with chrome nipples. Boy, do they shine nice! I think I'm going to bring them to somebody to true them for me.
Went from this to this:
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That bike is looking so good Rick. You are doing a great job on it. I have given up on my Simplex WW11 bike. Chainmaker is buying the frame and Comet clutch from me for a build he is going to do. I am concentrating on recreating some WW11 rifles I wanted to rebuild as BB guns :)
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Thanks Bob, how about that other simplex you bought? Did you get it running?
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The wheels are now trued, or as close as 60 year old wheels will get. Here they are test fitted. Installing the wheel sheave was a bit of a pain. I just need a couple more things and maybe I can fire it up!
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Nice very nice. Hows it coming along Rick?
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I have a set of Simplex front and rear hubs that I’m thinking about lacing up to Worksman rims. I’d be interested in knowing how that goes for you.
Lacing the wheels wasn't too bad. The first one took over a hour, but I had to disassemble half of it, as I made a mistake. I thought it would be easier to install the short spokes first, but the problem with this was I could not install the longer spokes as they hit the short spokes.
The second wheel only took about 25 minutes.
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An update, I received more parts from Wayne and assembled the wheels.
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On the kickstand. Why didn't simplex mount these so the bike stood more upright? I may have to modify this.
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Rick,
Looking good! How much longer before the maiden ride?
Did you get your replacement set of spokes from Wayne? If so how much?
Mike
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coming together nicely !
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Thanks!
Mike, the spokes from Wayne are stainless steel and run $40 a wheel. Not a bad price at all.
I just received a NOS Wico x3040D coil I bought on ebay. I wasn't sure if it would be any good after all these years, but for the price I took a shot. I installed it and put the flywheel on and it has spark on both outputs!
A few more things need done before the first ride. I'm having the exhaust ceramic coated, and I need to paint the tins..
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Thanks for the info on the spokes Rick. Keep us posted on your progress.
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I finally got the tank and fenders painted. They look awesome! I installed the decals and have a guy coming over later in the week to put the pinstripes on.
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Beautiful work...as always Rick :)
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looking nice rick, love that blue.
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Getting closer! The pinstipper was here yesterday and took care of that. The only issue was he damaged one of the tank decals(see pic 2). No biggie, I'll just get a new one.
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Man, that is such a beautiful bike Rick.
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Well, the bike is alive! I fired it up and rode it around the block. I need to make a few small adjustments but overall it is almost finished. The only thing not working yet is the headlight, maybe a wire fell off inside the bucket when I installed it.
The last picture is what the bike looked like when I picked it up!
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Truly beautiful. Stilll got a couple of months to go on mine. Congratulations
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Truly beautiful. Stilll got a couple of months to go on mine. Congratulations
John, send me some pictures of yours and I will post them here for you!!
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You really brought that bad boy to life Rick. Congradulations :)
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You really brought that bad boy to life Rick. Congradulations :)
Thanks Bob! I have the bike running sweet now! It starts in 2 or 3 kicks! I am going to try to get it registered for the street, we will see how that goes.
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Beautiful job Rick. Let me ask you a question regarding the registration. Do you have the title? If not where can you get one? Also, do you think it might be possible to pass one of these off as a Moped?
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Beautiful job Rick. Let me ask you a question regarding the registration. Do you have the title? If not where can you get one? Also, do you think it might be possible to pass one of these off as a Moped?
Bob, I do not have a title. I am trying to contact the previous owner to get a Bill of Sale. In New York, there are no titles on any vehicle built before 1974. Years ago I pulled a car out of a buddy's yard, no paperwork except for a Bill of Sale, restored the car back to roadworthy, new engine, paint, ect and had a transferable registration within 2 months. I only hope this goes as smoothly!
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RickS
Like your pictures of your bike. The picture you posted on Sept. 20, 2011 100-1365 , is this the rear wheel pully that Wayne sells. I might need to buy on . Wayne said that he does not sell the one that is stock on my bike. I going to take mine to a guy and see if he can repair it. I just took my seat appart and a guy from work is sartint to do some leather work and he is going to put a new cover on it, here is what it looks like now.
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That is an original wheel sheave. They used the bolt on sheave for most years and only went to the clip on style late in production. I don't know what Wayne has for sale, but they are interchangeable.
HINT: when installing a bolt on style, one of the holes is offset, to clear the valve stem. Make sure you line it up properly, or you will create an extra hour of work for yourself!
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My seat has a rough textured molded rubber/plastic cover that must have been stretched over the pan when it was new & plyable. I'm glad it's in good condition, as I don't think it could come off now unless I cut it.
Mike Sal
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Rick, just reviewing all the pics here. I must tell you I am quite jealous of that NOS spark coil! My bike runs great but only fires on one plug. And I hate knowing that. Being a machinist my whole life, attention to detail and perfection is a must for me!
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Rick, just reviewing all the pics here. I must tell you I am quite jealous of that NOS spark coil! My bike runs great but only fires on one plug. And I hate knowing that. Being a machinist my whole life, attention to detail and perfection is a must for me!
Truth be told, that coil is sitting back in it's box. I had one of Wayne's single output coils for a cushman that I wanted to try, and I put it in. They both run the same. As I understand it, the last of the simplex automatics have a 1 spark plug head with the plug centered. Simplex must have decided that the second plug wasn't really a help.
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A couple of weeks ago I decided to put a new cylinder on the bike. The one I got with the bike had a large brass insert for the spark plug put in it at some point in it's life. I could never get it to stop leaking. Wayne told me he could weld an aluminum plug in the hole and drill and tap it back to new. I got another cylinder, had it bored .090 and fitted a new oversize piston. While at it, I put in a .030 longer rod that helps raise the compression. What a difference! I think I picked up about 5 miles an hour. Look out for me at Portland next year. lol
The old cylinder is going to Wayne for the repair and will be ready for another project in the future.
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More comp. It will be interesting to see how long it last. I just saw the inside of a simplex motor today, and it was a lot different than what I am youst to seeing. I don't think it would take much comp , but hay, like I said I am new to this
motor. Hope it works out well, I may do it to mine.
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More comp. It will be interesting to see how long it last. I just saw the inside of a simplex motor today, and it was a lot different than what I am youst to seeing. I don't think it would take much comp , but hay, like I said I am new to this
motor. Hope it works out well, I may do it to mine.
The weak link in a simplex motor is the rod. The rod I put in is a billet aluminum rod.
The next time I do a motor, I think I will try to get a rod from Bob Kerr, which has needle bearings in the big end. Here is a picture of his ord.
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That is a nice looking rod. But it looks to me that the weak link is just one main bearing to support the flywheel assembly.
But, I am just learning about these motors.
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All the old timers have told me it is the rod that dooms these motors. I have not seen a problem with the bearings in any of the motors I have disassembled, nor have I heard of any.
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Those rods expensive?
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That is good to know. I was surprised to see a roller bearing on the lower rod.
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Those rods expensive?
I think Bob gets about $100 for one.
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Nice upgrade for sure
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Another option :
IF your connecting rod is in good condition and you think you want to increase compression , deck the case cylinder mating surface by .030" , along with the bottom edge of the cylinder sleeve . Then chamfer the inside lower edge of the sleeve about the same amount .
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Another option :
IF your connecting rod is in good condition and you think you want to increase compression , deck the case cylinder mating surface by .030" , along with the bottom edge of the cylinder sleeve . Then chamfer the inside lower edge of the sleeve about the same amount .
IMHO, this is not a good idea. If you deck the case, you take strength out of the mating flange; same thing if you deck the cylinder. I am dealing with this on a motor now. The guy that built the motor for my sportsman did this, with catastrophic results. The flange on the cylinder broke, leaving it useless. The case was cut so much that the piston head had to be cut to regain clearance!
The stock rod is the weak link, get rid of it. This is easier and cheaper than decking the case or cylinder.
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Another option :
IF your connecting rod is in good condition and you think you want to increase compression , deck the case cylinder mating surface by .030" , along with the bottom edge of the cylinder sleeve . Then chamfer the inside lower edge of the sleeve about the same amount .
IMHO, this is not a good idea. If you deck the case, you take strength out of the mating flange; same thing if you deck the cylinder. I am dealing with this on a motor now. The guy that built the motor for my sportsman did this, with catastrophic results. The flange on the cylinder broke, leaving it useless. The case was cut so much that the piston head had to be cut to regain clearance!
The stock rod is the weak link, get rid of it. This is easier and cheaper than decking the case or cylinder.
:) That's the reasoning I was looking for , Rick .
I'm sure at least a few have considered decking the case , myself included . We have to remember that these motors are 50+ years old and have been subjected to any type of abuse and conditions . That along with the fact that the materials used are not as 'advanced' as they are today .
I do like that 7075 rod .
Pete . :)
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Why the case and case end of cyl? Why can't they deck the top?
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Why the case and case end of cyl? Why can't they deck the top?
Top of what?
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I was looking through old posts when I found this, Rick I am very jealous of your build. Its BEAUTIFUL, it has class and style. When I tear my engine apart for the first time what should I be on the look out for? should I put that conn rod in while I'm in there? Any heads up (since I have no experience with these engines) would be great. (I am a mechanically inclined. I worked as a tech at a dealership for 10 years and now teach auto, but I just found these sweet bikes for the first time and have no experience with their idiosyncrasies.
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Personally, I think the stock parts are ok to use, given the likelihood of these engines being abused in the future is pretty remote. Replacing the bearings & restoring the "gap" for the fuel transfer (if needed) is as far as I'd go on them.
Mike Sal
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Thanks for the compliment! This was my first simplex also, as I came over from the aircooled VW world.
I have one motor running a stock rod and 2 motors running the billet rods. One of the old timers, who is an expert in these motors, strongly suggests replacing the rod. He claims it is the weak part of the simplex engine, and that more engines died from a broken rod than anything else. Cheap insurance in my book. I have done a couple of things to increase performance, such as a longer rod and .090 oversize piston, and cleaned up the port work inside the center of the crank. It definitely picked up speed and power.
BTW, this bike is not a trailer queen. It is registered and insured and I ride it down to the local shops during the nice weather.