Projects My GN Cycle Car tribute build

Last gauge installed. Had to tack on a little piece to give it some support. Still need to kid the tach bracket as it is too short. The devil is in all this detail work.

 

Battery strap done. I knew those those toilet hold down bolts would come in handy one day. Lol!

 

Will switch to exhaust as I’m tired of working on the stand.

 

Nice gauge mounting brackets.

 

Thanks. Haha! No one will ever see them again.
Started on the exhaust. Tried to make the small transition piece (first two pics) by making a paper template while still in place, but it didn’t work out. Fiddled a bit more, and still no luck. Had to cut the two pieces off the main collector and now hopefully I can get it correct. Tic tok..

 

So, uh, what’s holding your commode to the floor? Must be exciting times with every sit-down visit.

 

Haha! I swapped out the commode in the girls bathroom downstairs a few months ago, and the hardware that came with it didn’t fit the flange so I just reused the originals.
Finally, I managed to cut the transition pieces so that they fit reasonably well. Even using “exact” paper templates of the pieces I cut last year, they still needed some massaging. For the life of me, I can’t remember how I managed to cut the first two. I don’t recall going through the nightmare I just endured. Maybe I used my metal saw instead of my grinder and the tube coping software I used for the smaller tubes into the collector.



My little Ryobi 6” disc/belt sander is just about done trying to deal with the 4” dia heavy wall tube. Many moons ago, the belt that drove the belt portion snapped, and it was only a month or two ago I purchased some new ones, but ever since, the belt would slip when I used it. Didn’t pay too much attention as I prefer the disc, but yesterday, I tore it down to investigate. Found the gear loose. I’m thinking WTF, then I see why. Not sure what happened, maybe I left something out when I changed the belt, but there was nothing really to secure the gear to the shaft and the gear was wearing into the housing. I’m amazed it worked at all. Why would they have a flat on the shaft but no corresponding flat on the gear, or at least a set screw. The main shaft of the motor had the same flat/ dia, shaft design, but that gear had a corresponding flat.
Also, while fiddling with it, a bunch of metal dust particles fell into the motor. I thought that cannot be good, and sure enough, when I went to start it, the breaker tripped. The motor was very stiff to turn. I’m thinking now I’ve done it. No sander and it’s the long weekend. Somehow, I got it spinning, but it would still lock up occasionally. I figure the metal dust must have bridged the gap between the stator and the rotor. So, after more fiddling and some shop air to clean things out, it seems to be working. It has served me well, but it’s time for a proper (used) one and I’m really getting tired of dealing with all the Chineseium garbage. It seems they just don’t a damn about anything they make. They have to be laughing at us. Rant over.

 

You could drill and tap that pulley for a set screw, since the factory "forgot".

 

Transition pcs welded on DS collector. Started cutting the holes for the flex tube connectors using the grinder, but the hole is a weird shape and the disc was starting to dig into metal outside the mark. Figured I should use my Chinese plasma. Get it all set up and it doesn’t work. Damn. Maybe I shouldn’t have left it in the garage all winter. Another brain fart. I’ll use the hole saw drill bit. Actually worked surprisingly quick. Turned the tip opening down a bit as well as I thought I looked a little better than keeping it parallel with collector. Will tackle the welding tomorrow. Actually checked the chart on the welder. Settings were good, but still cannot see much even welding outdoors. Saw a guy on YT velcro a cheap headlamp to the top of his helmet. Might give that a try.

 

The light on the helmet can help, l ended up buying a better helmet and it made a big difference. It's too bad no one let's you try before you buy.

Phil

 

When I did my exhaust system I turned the welder up over the settings on the chart and used over lapping tacks.

Phil

 

Auto Darkening Helmet's are the best with adjustable Tint and adjustable reaction time. Easier on the neck, and keeps your eyes from getting flash burned which is painful.

 

I have a few helmets. I think I have 2-3 auto darkening, and a couple that are not. The auto ones are at the low end of the spectrum, and I was hesitant to spend a couple hundred on a “quality” helmet, but maybe I just have to bite the bullet. Before I do anymore welding, I’ll play around with the settings and a helmet mounted light. In the past, I’ve positioned work lamps on the piece to be welded which helped a lot IIRC, but it was a pain with the auto darkening always going off before I could get ready to weld.

 

Took a break yesterday and it’s raining on/off all day today. Purchased the Ford oil inlet “restrictor” for when one uses the remote oil filter cannister. It’s a Weatherhead item (P/N WH1512) which is getting harder to find. Most refer to it as a NAPA item, but NAPA here in Canada doesn’t carry it. Found it in Canada at Motion Industries. As we all know prices are just crazy. Found it priced at US$4.12 at one place, but shipping to Canada was over US$25.



https://www.motionindustries.com/products/search;q=1512

 

Also ordered this vintage oil drain petcock for the oil filter housing. Had just right look/patina. Lol!

 

Layed out the external oil plumbing for the engine, and ordered the Fairview fittings from Grainger.

 

If you want the header pipe tapered try clamping it around a tapered table leg.

 

Now that is really nice!
I need to make a cone for the front of the collector. I don’t have a slip roller so I was looking into ways of doing it. I found this vid from Ron Covell where he did something very similar.

 

While working on the gauge panel I noticed the Bosch IGN/Light switch wasn’t working. Figured out that the rotating discs weren’t making contact with the stationary contact points. Tried bending the springs up a bit, but that didn’t work, so added a bit of cardboard where the springs support the rotating contact discs. Now it works. Will see if I can come up with something better than cardboard from a pizza box. Lol!
Will also soak the hardware in some vinegar. May replace with new brass ones as one screw is missing for the side marker terminal. I think this thing is about 100 yrs old. Incredible to be holding something that old which still works!

 

My brass fittings arrived yesterday. Two days. Crazy! The pressure switch also arrived for my compressor, but it turns out that somehow I got different links mixed up and ordered the wrong one. D’oh! Installed it anyways (rated for 3 hp and mine is 5 hp) as it was getting really tiring to switch the compressor off every time it reached the cut-out pressure. Will order the correct one tomorrow. Only had a couple of hrs to do some actual work. More welding, more grinding, more welding. Amazing how much work it takes to blend the joint when the alignment between the two surfaces is off just a hair, but it is slowly getting there.



I also may have found a cheapish solution for the cones needed for the front of the collectors. Lol!



[edit]: I should also mention I cleaned all the lenses on my helmet, and realized I had the shade setting cranked to max. D’oh! Turned it down to 11 and I can see much better. I’m an idiot! Was looking at the Lincoln 3350 helmet, but at CAN$500 plus, it will have to wait.

 

More grinding. More welding. Driving me crazy. I’ll add a few beads to fill in some pits/low spots, grind, and then there are more pits/low spots. Seems I’m just going in circles. Welded in the first tube, and ended up blowing through because I had turned up the power to 3 (out of 4) hoping I would get some better penetration because I could see a slight “crack” in the joint of one of the transition pieces. (I ended up welding the joints on the inside of the transition pieces) because of that. So, I ended up having to fill up the hole, and then blew through again where there was a bit of a gap even on the lower 2nd level power setting. Weld turned out not too bad, but then I started grinding out some of the “booger” bumps, and then just kept grinding it out all around. Then got into the cycle of weld/ grind again. D’oh. Learning lots, but it is taking waaaay to long, and the noise I’m making has to be driving my neighbours crazy. The compressor was working non stop trying to keep up the the die grinder. Lots of water coming out of the die grinder exh port which I’ve never seen before. Even drained one of my water separators. I gotta practice a bit more welding before trying the second tube.

 

Just a personal thing, but ox-acetelyne torch and coat hangar wire has always been my go to choice for headers.

 

Took a road trip to go to the car show in Smiths Falls today, but the show is tomorrow. So, my eldest and I went antiquing in the area, and I found these for the speedster. I already had purchased an oiler can, but I like this one with the thumb pump trigger.

 

Bunch of stuff arrived the last few days.
1. Camshaft button extension that I misplaced.
2. Oil pump gaskets that were not part of Felpro gasket kit.
3. The WH/Danfoss oil restrictor (0.062”) brass fitting.
4. Galv funnels for exhaust collectors. Haha!

Been up to my eyeballs with other priorities.

 

Had a bit of time yesterday after supper to resume on the collector. Was practising some more. Watched more welding YT vids. Bought 0.030” and went to switch it, but then realized I didn’t get any 0.030” tips. Decided to use the 10 lb spool I had of 0.023” wire, but couldn’t find any tips initially, but did manage to find a couple floating around in the bottom of my “welding” box crate. Still not much better. I find it hard to follow the curved contour while standing. I really need a proper welding table so I can sit. Also cannot “stack dimes” if my life depended on it. I feel I have slightly better hand control and can see better with the shade setting turned down, but I believe I’m still getting momentary flash from the helmet’s response time.
Looked at the welds on the original GN JAP collector and they look similar. Lol!, but at some point the original exhaust was replaced and I think the welds were cleaned up. I decided it is what it is for now, and to save lots of time and for my neighbours sake, I decided for at least now to leave the welds as is.

 

Welds on current collector.

 

Looks like there were at least three iterations on the exhaust pipes
Likely started with just straight pipes.


Then a rear exit collector.


And finally the current setup in Petro Shekhter’s 3D model. I believe the current exhaust setup is a really important component of the overall character of the vehicle. I feel it is very important to replicate as closely as possible.

 

Found this link last night - 1/6 th scale model of the GN JAP by Emmanuel Marin. Incredible workmanship! It will be something to behold when it’s completed.

https://www.emarin-regard.fr/gn-jap.html

 

Looking good @Ziggster...

 

Hey Ziggster, this is a portal to a far away world in a far away time.
Kool and Hot. New and Old.
While flunking out of school I always pulled an A in art class for my renderings of race cars.
You have achieved the road to magical glory.