General Category => Restoration Projects => Topic started by: Ricks on March 18, 2020, 02:01:06 PM
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I bought a couple of frames and other parts last year. One of the frames I acquired is a 1955, which happens to be the 20th anniversary of Simplex. For that one year, they made a special edition bike, which, as far as Tom and I can determine, existed of an anniversary decal on the front fender and arrowhead decals on both fenders. In Portland 2018, I happened to buy a pair of anniversary fenders. To me, this was the start of a new project.
The new decal shown below was created from a picture taken of the fender below. Tom has a guy near him that cleaned it up and produced that sticker. Tom now has it available in a waterslide decal as original, I believe. He also has the arrowheads for the side of the fenders.
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I didn't take many pictures of this project, but here are a few.
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Didn't have a seat cross bar, so I made one. Not a bad job on the square hole using my new mill.
Made a truing stand, also doubles as a pin striping fixture.
The tools I use to check piston clearance.
After I measured and honed it, I did an oven test. I put the piston, without rings, into the cylinder and heat it. I started taking measurements at 275 degrees, and kept increasing the temperature to 400. The piston grew about .0035. I set my piston clearance to .006 cold, so at 400 degrees cylinder temp, this leaves .0025 running clearance.
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All the parts cooling down. I shot temperature readings as they cooled, just to see the differences between the aluminum rod and piston and the steel sleeved cylinder. As expected, the cylinder took a long time to cool in comparison to the rod and piston.
Think there was something wrong with the motor this compression plate came from? lol
Here is the needle bearing I am using instead of the roller bearing. Ernie turned me on to this bearing, and Bob Kerr does something similar.
The crank is one of Wayne's remanufactured, which he install a new shaft into the original counterweight. It is pressed in and then Tig welded. I cleaned up the back of the weld to ensure clearance with the connecting rod.
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What color are the 'tins' gonna end up being , Rick ?
What you've shown so far looks real good to me . Except that 'branded' compression plate . ;)
Pete . :)
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Looks good Rick. Pete, did that compression plate come out of the bike you had all the problems with.
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Thanks guys. The compression plate had a hole in it that I welded up. It is good now.
Pete, I am thinking I will return it to its original color, which was red.
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Looks good Rick. Pete, did that compression plate come out of the bike you had all the problems with.
My bike still has it's original compression plate . Wish my problems were that easily cured .
And , red should add a little flash to that bike , Rick .
I think that'll look great .
Pete . :)
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Pete, is the virus causing you to change plans about Portland? That is assuming the country is back to normal by then.
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Pete, is the virus causing you to change plans about Portland? That is assuming the country is back to normal by then.
So far , we're doing good and plan on trying to stick with our intended travel plans , which includes our summer reservation . Hopefully everything works out so I can get to Portland this year .
We've been keeping an eye on our campground for any changes . A lot have been closing 'until further notice' .
Pete . :)
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As anyone who has bought a connecting rod from Wayne knows, he does not put a bushing in the small end like a stock Simplex rod. For the amount of time we put on these engines, it probably doesn't mean much, but I wanted to follow Tom's lead and add one. Being that I had 2 rods at home for the current and future project, I decided to do a 2 for 1.
My original plan was to chuck up the rod in the lathe and use a boring bar to open up the inside diameter of the small end. Well, being I have a 9" South Bend lathe, this did not work as the rod is too long. I would need at least a 10" lathe to make this work. So, on to plan B. I decided I would use a boring head in my mill. I really liked the way the 3 jaw chuck in the lathe could hold the rod, so I decided to make an adapter to thread my 3 jaw chuck to my rotary table. Here are a few photos of that.
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Here is the setup and the finished rods. I even polished one of the rods, but as can be seen, the surface finish isn't that great. I was thinking of skinning a few thousands off the rod and sanding it smooth. Does anybody think it's worth the effort?
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Nice work , Rick .
Polishing : It can't hurt .
It's a fact that a finished piece has a much better chance of lasting .
A finer finish generally means longer lasting , all other things being equal .
Any flaws in the material become more apparent .
Along the same line as run time , the amount of RPMs plays a fair role .
Considering these motors are relatively (s)low in that respect , I wouldn't bother polishing too much .
But , then I didn't install a small end bushing , either .
Pete . :)
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I ended mine the same way. Always like to break all of the edges and anywhere that may allow a crack to begin.
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Are you halted any on this project? Powder coating Simplex fenders still 'essential' ?
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Funny you should ask! I have spent the last couple of days working on the tins for this bike. I like doing the metal work, but not the bodywork. Working with body filler is dirty work. I am just about at the point where I need to put on a couple of coats of polyester primer; the problem being it is too cold outside to spray in the garage. I'll have to wait until it warms up a bit, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
Check out the front fender. I tried to get a picture of where it was mashed at the mounting point. I have metal worked it to the point that it doesn't need any filler. I think a couple coats of poly primer, sand it out and it should be good to go.
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Gotta take the biter with the sweet , Rick .
Looks like things are progressing nicely .
How is the poly primer better than ???
Pete . :)
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Gotta take the biter with the sweet , Rick .
Looks like things are progressing nicely .
How is the poly primer better than ???
Pete . :)
Poly primer is like sprayable bondo. I takes a huge noozle in the spray gun. I tried spraying it 1 time out of my good gun with the biggest noozle available, which is a 1.8. No go! I bought a cheap HF gun, about $10 with a coupon, and drilled the nozzle to 2.6mm on my lathe. This worked fantastic. Sprays a nice pattern. I spray on about 3 coats of poly primer and then block it out. This fills all of the pitting we seem to get on this old iron. Using Hi build urethane would take twice as many coats, with blocking every 2 coats.
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Interesting and definitely good to know .
That must be some pretty thick stuff .
You could just about spray roof coating with a 2.6 mm nozzle . LOL
Pete . :)
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Your lack of passion to do tin work isn't evident! Mine on the other hand shows a bit!! Strange how I have the patience to chase around .001" or two for hours but not so willing to put the necessary elbow grease in to prep work for painting. I think painting as you do is really a better outcome from powder coating. For me, powder coating has been very affordable.
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I find that you can not get as good a finish with powder coating as with paint. I don’t think there are many shops that will spend the time to put on multiple coats of powder primer and block sand it out between coats. If you did, the cost would be crazy! I love the powder coat on the frames and wheels though, as it is super durable.
I don’t keep track of how much time I spend sanding on a bike, but I would guess in the neighborhood of 20 hours between primer coats and wet sanding the finish coat. Add another couple of hours to buff it out for that oh so deeeeeep shine!
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Finally got the weather to cooperate, so I put the tins in primer today! Now on to block sanding them smooth. I hope to have the bike in paint by early June and ready for Portland.
I hope everyone is working on their projects as it's only about 10 weeks to the big show!
Bob, did you spot the '39 in the background?
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Great incentive to get crackin' the whip!
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Rick, The 39 looks sad maybe a new home would make it feel better. Hope they still have Portland. I understand their supposed to make a decision sometime in June. Anxiously waiting to see what happens. I'm sure the 55 will look as awesome as the rest of your projects have been. Hope all you northern guys are safe unaffected by the virus and everything is going well. Bob
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My family is all good out here. We have been mostly staying home, as everything is closed. My wife and daughter are both teachers working from home, as they just cancelled the rest of the school year.
I will probably start on the '39 in the fall. I have most of the parts for it, I think!
See you and Mike at Portland!
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After about 6 hours of block sanding, I have everything ready to paint. Now I just need to get paint and have some nice weather to spray it.
Get cracking' boys!
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Finally got a day where the weather was nice enough to paint. After a couple of days of curing, I will wet sand the paint and buff it out.
Anyone else working on any Simplex projects?
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That red is looking pretty deep/rich , Rick .
I'm 'saving' the Simplex for when we get settled for the Summer . After living outdoors every minute since I redid it , it can use another redo . :(
Anyway , we plan on heading North about the end of this month , unless things change again .
Pete . :)
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Rick, That red really pops. Going to be another beautiful restoration. You've already set the bar so high it's what we've come to expect from you. Keep on what your doing. Hope they have Portland where we can see it in person. Bob
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I color sanded all the tins today, and I buffed out the headlight. Looking pretty decent! I will work on the other pieces tomorrow.
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Quality , right there .
Very nice , Rick . ;)
Pete . :)
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Holy Snikes! Could dive into that.
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Got the pin striping done.
Oh, brought home a new toy on thursday. Going to go through a complete teardown and refurbish.
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Rick ,
Nice job on the stripping .
I can't really tell what your new toy is , but , looks like a mill of sorts ?
Pete . :)
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Pete, it is a South Bend 13” lathe. It will eventually replace or cohabitate with my current South Bend 9”. It is about 1600 lbs of American Iron, 1959 vintage. There have been a couple of things I wanted to do but couldn’t on the 9, so, being retired now with plenty of time, I decided to upgrade. I’ve been looking for a 13 for a while now, and one popped up in New Jersey, only about 2 hours away.
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Always good to have tools to get what you want done .
I'm envious of your 'shop' . It's the one thing I really miss about our current lifestyle .
Pete . :)
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Got some more work done on the 55. Wiring is complete and installed the fenders and rack. Slowly coming together, but no rush as it's getting cold here.
I did get the new lathe finished and also made a ER40 collet chuck for it. The smaller collet chuck fits my South Bend 9A.
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Very nice , Rick .
Your shop isn't heated ?
Pete . :)
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Shop is in basement, always nice down there. Too cold to go out riding! Lol. I’m waiting on Tom to get the special anniversary decals finished.
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Shop is in basement, always nice down there. Too cold to go out riding! Lol. I’m waiting on Tom to get the special anniversary decals finished.
Smart move . ;)
Suppose to reach 75° today . Currently 74 .
But , with 20 MPH winds and gusts to 40 MPH , I doubt I'll be riding this afternoon . ;(
Tomorrow is forecast to be much more ride friendly :
Sunny ; 76° w/ 5 MPH winds .
Tom does decals , too ?
Pete . :)
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He’s got a gal that that gets the layout done and can get stickers, then sends them to another guy that can make waterslides.
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A complete unrestored but kind of crusty anniversary bike just came for sale near me if anyone is interested. It is listed for $3200 I’ll try to get pictures posted
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Please post some pictures or a link if it’s online somewhere. I’d like to see the tank and fender decals.
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I sent you a pm about the bike. I’m trying to load a picture but it is to large and I can’t get it small enough to post. Only the fender decal can be seen.
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Here's the pictures, thanks Jeff.
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Maybe a 1954 ?
3200 is pretty high .
Pete . :)
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Maybe a 1954 ?
3200 is pretty high .
Pete . :)
Why do you think a 1954?
It clearly has the anniversary decals on it.
I have bought a bunch of bikes like this for $1200-1500. To restore this bike will take $2000-3000 dollars, assuming the person does most of the work themselves.
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Just the curved edge handlebar anchor/support .
But , that might just be a leftover on an early '55 .
Pete . :)
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She’s alive! I finally got around to installing the fuel line, hooked up the throttle cable and kick it over. Fired right off, then after shutting it down it started leaking gas from the air cleaner. Shut the fuel off and it stopped in a minute. That told me the float was set incorrectly or stuck. I pulled the top off the carb and found the float pivot pin was way too long and was binding up. I took about a 1/16 of an inch off the pin, checked the float height and reinstalled. Running decent now. I need to install the seat so I can ride it and set the carb. When I bent the chock cable to install that, it was so brittle it just snapped. I guess that’s what happens with 65 year old cables.
I need to get a front brake lever and cable from Wayne also.
Tom is working on the anniversary decals, hope we can get them!
See you guys at Portland.