1955 Anniversary Bike

[Ricks]

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.

[Ricks]

I didn't take many pictures of this project, but here are a few.

[Ricks]

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.

[Ricks]

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.

[pd]

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 .

[cotton]

Looks good Rick. Pete, did that compression plate come out of the bike you had all the problems with.

[Ricks]

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.

[pd]

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 .

[Ricks]

Pete, is the virus causing you to change plans about Portland?  That is assuming the country is back to normal by then.

[pd]

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 .

[Ricks]

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.

[Ricks]

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?

[pd]

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 .

[kartjockey]

I ended mine the same way.  Always like to break all of the edges and anywhere that may allow a crack to begin.

[kartjockey]

Are you halted any on this project?  Powder coating  Simplex fenders still 'essential' ?