Finished up the brake lines, I almost got them symmetrical even ! Next step will be putting the pushrod back in, which might require removing the seat, really should've put the rod in earlier and I may redo the passenger rear line since it got bent up removing the rear end.
I've been working on the Eelco tank mount, building off of the previous mount I made out of the 18 ft piece of 1/2 inch bar stock the former owner of my humble abode left here. Decided on a little more right angles on the lower to accentuate the curves of the upper
Made a couple uprights, fishmouthed them in and made brackets to slip over the top of the frame for extra support Welded it together and smoothed out the welds Then onto the tank mount braces, put a little arch in the front to visually tie the bottom and top pieces together, again smoothing the welds Messed around with the new blast cabinet on some M/T valve covers I'm putting together, thinking about blasting the tank mount and shooting clear over it, if it turns out looking like anything.
It turns out I had to replace my master cylinder, the rear seal must of dried up or something from sitting for the 9 yrs, it started weeping down the firewall. I really didn't remember what I used before other than something ford, so I ordered a replacement ford part that looked the same, but it wasn't, maybe old was truck and new was definitely car. Anyhow the fittings were different as well as spacing, so I got to make a couple new lines also, man, thought I was done with that. My son is stopping by over the weekend so I'll get him to help bleed the brakes. .
Now it's time to figure out a gas pedal, my hip is way to the right of the foot well area so it's a little tricky coming up with something that'll be somewhat comfortable. Dug out all my gas pedals to get some ideas, spent the afternoon heating and bending a stock pedal to see if I can figure out pivots and what not.
I got the tank bracket back from the powdercoater, turned out nice Got it permanently mounted this afternoon, good to see the tank back up front
Time to figure out the linkage from carb to gas pedal, Enderle linkage at carbs. I had a couple of the Lokar type cable linkage setups but they were ball end connection, they don't make a 10-24 thread ball end to screw into the Enderle arm. I thought about trying to turn a socket head cap screw or a pan head into a ball type thing to make it work. I was digging through my stash of linkage parts and found pieces that would actually screw together to make the ball end parts work with a rod end that was for some fake injector scoop contraption thing. I just needed to sleeve the hole in the bearing so the 10-24 bolt wasn't so sloppy. I grabbed some stainless tube, turned the o.d. down on the belt sander, then drilled out the i.d., cut it to length then used a jewelers file to fine tune the i.d. from the cut. Put some speed holes in the rod end to lighten it up a bit, this all should work once I cut the cable and housing to length.
Engine side is done but not without an "extra" hole in the firewall. Drilled my initial hole straight in line with the linkage, drilled from the engine side, went to the inside of the car to drill the hole larger, but where's the hole ??? The hole was behind the dash, not really an issue because I could just keep drilling from the engine side. The real issue was the recessed firewall is so close to the dash it would only allow about a 1/4 of needed throttle pull before the gas pedal arm would hit the dash ! I studied it for about an hour trying to come up with a work around so I wouldn't have to drill a new hole, finally I gave up and drilled a new hole an inch lower ..... ugh
I took a couple junkyard gas pedals, straightened them out and used both to make one, then flattened the one end with the BFH Then I bought a block of machining nylon off of Amazon to make a couple "bearings" if you will, then made a sort of cage to hold it together and be able to bolt to firewall Everything worked except the ratio was way off, to much pedal travel to pull the 2.5 inches of cable I need for full throttle
So I cut it apart, straightened it again and welded an inch more rod onto the end, put it on the belt sander to clean up the weld Tried a different approach and seems to work, also used the stock junkyard firewall mount this time Tried a few pedals including both Eelco's which both the pedals pushed it back towards the seat to much, didn't like the stock pedal So I cut the spoon end off the old Henry J pedal Welded it on and ended up with a functional wavy pedal assembly, when I straightened out each bend it left the rod thinner at the point, I straightened several spots. I told my son I should just paint it like a snake and it'd look perfect lol, but a coat of black it got and also got the throttle pedal checked off the to do list.
I moved on to front turn signals, previously I had the little rectangles which I never was to excited about but they got the job done. This time I wanted round to match the roundness of the front end, I traded for some motorcycle units, removed the stalks and started the mockup phase. Centerline of tank Down low on frame horn And center of grill opening, which is what I'm leaning towards, will also swap to clear lens so there's not two different colors of orange with the headlights
I like them High up but probably better lower to keep them away from being lost in Headlight beams...This type of stuff really needs to be seen...the bottom one is after to much gas fumes...or its playing Cars with you...
These headlights are naturally kind of dim with their color, they don't overpower anything, especially the road. I live in the city where there's a million street lights and I rarely drove it at night anyway. Sweet as Tupelo honey
Do you know the name of the chrome powder used on the tank mount? It looks really good in the pictures. I had some parts powder coated a couple years ago in a chrome powder, but it looks more like dull aluminum. Thanks.
Prismatic brand called Super Chrome-Plus, https://www.prismaticpowders.com/shop/powder-coating-colors/UMS-10671/super-chrome-plus Same as what was used on my blower footstool I made
In that case the tucked up in look fricken awesome...you might want light them up to further give you the feel you want out of them....
I marked them out for the middle of the grill, I liked that the best when I compared them side by side (right side) in my fake photoshop lol Made the tabs that I'll weld to the radiator support and have it all marked off, tomorrow I'll knock the paint off, weld the tabs on, then repaint.
You did good...Heck look what you've already done...almost at the finish line...What is it the 5000th milestone...maybe more...
I'll figure out the horn location while the paint is drying, then all that's really left is to build exhaust and chase all the new car blues. The next milestone will be it leaving the garage under it's own power, which will be a chore and a half moving stuff to get it out. My plan is to slide the non running 57 pickup over to line up with the garage door and out the door on the driveway apron, after I move all the crap I put behind the truck. Then move all the crap that's in front of the interior garage door where the J is Throw the J on dollies and slide it around the corner to come out that door, move the t-bucket out, then I should be able to cut behind the 41 with the J and out the door the t-bucket came out of. Then put the 41 pickup on the dollies give it a 180 degree spin and move it into the spot where the J used to be in the interior garage. Then bring the 57 back in to where it was, then the J in where the 41 was and the bucket back in last so it's by the exterior garage door. It's going to be a long freaking day of moving the same stuff 2-3 times over, the pitch on the floor is horrible to get anything not running back in.
I want the 41 in before winter really sets in, so the exhaust on the J will wait till spring, I want the 41 done by spring so that's the main winter focus. It's been 4 yrs since I tore it apart for upgrades, it needs to come out to play.
Yesterday I had my annual check for the disease in my eyes, I was dilated, photographed and checked for Sarcoidosis so that and a couple other doctor's appointments shot the day, but I got a couple cool photos of the backs of my eyes. And cleared for another year, which is great news. Today I bolted the turn signals up for a look see, I like it but I'm having a heck of a time find lenses to fit these housings, I've been Googling my ass off to no avail. Also started moving stuff, making headway, that gas pump has all it's guts and is a heavy s.o.b, I might need to buy more furniture dollies to make it mo-bile.
What diameter are the Lenses Swade, your looking for Clear or white? Glad your own tissue lenses are positive... If you get close in diameter perhaps you can turn them to size... What about these...does give dia. though... https://fortnine.ca/en/drag-specialties-turn-signal-lens-clear-20200638
They are 3 inch (77mm) and bolt hole spacing is 2 7/16 (62.5mm) I've kinda narrowed it down to being a 1994-2001 sporster/dyna housing but can't find the flat lense, plenty that look like a cup though. Plenty of 3 1/4 flat lense that fit FL and oddly the part number comes back front rear FL but this housing is smaller and different base than a FL I found these on ebay and they look identical, but when I Googled every year listed they were all the cup style lense. Mine have 3 wires and these have 2, but other than that they look the same.
The Jalopy Journal
