Projects My GN Cycle Car tribute build

Just a few of the many…

 

Another picture perfect day at TROG. Met more amazing folks. I love the rims on #88.1. Asked the driver what they were and he said a Model T aftermarket. One of my favorite rides there. Best pic I could get from one of my vids. Of course, my phone had died when I spoke to him. If anyone knows what they are, or where to get them, please let me know.

 

Made it to Hershey yesterday afternoon. Can’t recall who said it was only an hours drive from Wildwood, but it was almost 4 hrs. lol! Some beautiful countryside through Delaware area.
Saw some 2x2 intakes, but folks are completely off their rockers when it comes to prices. Saw a Fenton 2x2 for US$1,000! An intake (flathead) with a blower for $11K. Holy Hell! The brand new blower kit from CPE is only around $6K - $7K IIRC.

 

Found my 2 x 2 intake!

 

Looks like cowl steering…Haha!

 

Created this thread on the Reichenbach Bros steering box.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/info-on-reichenbach-bros-cowl-steering.1342079/

 

Also picked up another Holley 94 carb, as well as this “saddle bag”. Might use it if it fits over the front cowl. Was a 9 hr drive back home from Hershey. Drove a total of 24 hrs since Sat morning.

 

Picked the “other” carb in Montreal yesterday. Probably didn’t need it after getting the one in Hershey, but told the seller I would buy it before going to Hershey. Will rebuild it and the two other ones I have over the winter.



Now that my youngest is home for a week, we’ll get back on getting the speedster started again to finish off breaking in the cam . Still not 100% sure what is going on with the coolant and overheating. I think I’ll pull the thermostats out so I’ll have a better idea of coolant flow before engine gets hot.

 

Spoke to the machine shop owner this morning. The machinist who worked on my flathead was off sick. Asked him what he thought of the coolant issue. Said to remove the thermostats and fill engine as much as possible with coolant/water. Re-install thermostats, top up radiator, and watch for flow. Will remove both thermostats, fill and then start to see if there is actual flow through the rad. If there is, I think I’ll leave it like that and start it.
Will get working on it shortly.

 

She started up again with no issues. Likes lots of fuel though to start. This time around radiator core was getting hot. No thermostats installed. Removed rad cap to check flow, but was difficult as whole ch***is was shaking from the engine even at 2,000 plus rpm. Eventually coolant was starting to overflow from rad so put cap back on. Coolant temp was reaching about 190, but rad fan still hadn’t come on. At about 6 mins of running at around 2,200 rpm, she ran out of fuel! Geeze! Will let cool down and redo. Still need to run another 10 mins at 2,000 rpm to break in cam. Good oil pressure.

 

Links to a couple vids from today.

https://youtube.com/shorts/upzCS6N6CQo?si=HLKkP1pLRAdbpdoF

https://youtube.com/shorts/fY2J3zZvgtM?si=HODL0n7he6UtIKsy

 

Added another gal of fuel. Had cooled down to about 170. Ran again for about 6 min before temp hit 200F. Fan does not come on until about 200F according to temp sensor, but is supposed to come on at 180F. I suspect temp gauge is not accurate. Shut it down again once it hit around 200F. Going to fab up a shroud out of cardboard or something and keep fan going the whole time for the next run. The smoke out of both exhausts has now disappeared. Seems to be running rough. Not sure if it is missing. Also, it does not want to idle with the throttle setup I have. Will look into all that in the next few days. I got to bring my kiddo back to Montreal tomorrow morning.
The paint/epoxy is bubbling in a few places, but if it stays like that, I’m happy as it’s hardly noticeable.








Put this air filter on it during the run today because of all the falling leaves. Made no noticeable difference in engine speed.



Put the dual carb intake on my other flathead. lol!

 

Link to another vid.

https://youtube.com/shorts/JnSXUbfLPKo?si=EpJqa23h8shVlRCu

 

Will start today with the layout of the radiator fan shroud. Had to dig out my old textbook from my engineering school days. lol!

 

Watched a few YT last night on laying out transition pieces from square to round. Text book is not much help as it refers to other sections. Just clearing the old drafting table off, and noticed how many sketches/layouts I had made on trying to get the right/shape of the body around the ****pit area. I think I will only truly know what shape is best when it comes to a full-size mock up. Things can go sideways quickly with these things.

 

Not sure as to exactly what I’m doing, but know I will run out of paper. Will need to shift the layout over to the left, and add some for the flat development. A bit tough doing this full-scale without the proper drafting tools. Following this guy’s vid, but then it abruptly ended. Geeze!

 

Got the first quadrant layed out. Decided to divide the “circle” into 24 quadrants due to the shallow depth of the shroud. Figured better to have more “bends/transistions” due to the shallow depth which is only 38 mm (1.5”).
Had issues with the plumbing last night/this morning. Pressure downstream would drop quickly to zero when shutting off main line. Couldn’t find anything obvious last night, so shut off well pump and hot water tank heater overnight. Checked this morning again expecting to find a leak in crawlspace, but nothing. Isolated hot water tank and one toilet upstairs which seemed to fill up too slow. Pressure remained high (50 psi) after shutting off main valve. Now suspect that toilet was leaking water past the tank valve. Seems to be working now after futzing with those awful floppy rubber valves.
Will continue with second quadrant layout after lunch. Will only layout half as the other side is symmetrical.
Kiddo who “moved” out west is coming back home. Apparently her boss was a huge a-hole. Unbelievable! That’s a whole other story…

 

Getting ahead of myself as per usual. Contacted seller, but haven’t heard back yet. Haha!

 

Hey, that's a great way to protect your extra tires!

 

Haha! Still waiting to hear back. Said he was away this weekend.

 

Finished layout of shroud, but I’m off by 3 degrees. I think it should end up with 90 degrees at each corner. I “forced” a 90 degree bend at first corner as the layout was a bit off there as well. Kind of hard to do without a large enough comp***. The circular pattern in the middle looks off as well. Going to redo from fresh.

 

The Engine looks and sounds great...

I'm surprised you can't get it to idle...there's a couple adjustments for that I believe...choke is wide open? Could it be the throttle shaft to linkage in wrong position not allowing ****erflies to back off?

 

Thanks! You should drop by before the snow flies. Haha!

Yeah, at lowest throttle position, I would guess idle was around 800 rpm, and I think it should be likely around 500 - 600 rpm. It just sounded too high. Not sure if my manual choke cable is ******ing up the movement of the choke plate movement based on throttle position. I think probably, I really have no idea how these linkages should work in the “real world”. Throttle linkage for the accelerator pump pushrod is in the “middle” hole position.

 

Could you unhook your linkage to the main shaft for the two ****erflies. Perhaps it is not allowing them get to idle position...

You are right, there is a fast idle that kicks down perhaps by the choke opening...

 

My throttle linkage is on the driver side. Choke is on the right...what side is yours on? If you have a throttle linkage it may need adjusting by removed and reinstalling.

 

Throttle and choke linkages are on the same side on my 94. I think you can add a hand throttle cable to the other side of the throttle shaft. Does not appear to be any “linkage” between throttle and choke, so now a bit curious. I just noticed that the adjustable stop attached to the vertical link that is supposed to contact the throttle “cam” link is not touching it. Damn! Rebuilt the carb, but have no idea about how it’s supposed to function. lol!

 

Interesting vid on ballast resistor. I byp***ed mine for the cam break-in because of low voltage to the coil. Vid explains that ignition switch would byp*** the ballast resistor during start-up. Interesting. Never heard anyone mention that before.

 

Seems like one step forward and two steps back. Layout seems worse in terms of accuracy even though I made the fan centered in the rad core top to bottom where previously it was biased 7 mm more towards the bottom of the radiator. Played with “correcting”the layout (red line), and it just made it worse. Going to cut this out, fold it and see if it is even being close to correct.

 

Traced out the layout, and transferred it to some Bristol board, cut it out, and folded it. I think I’m close enough. The one issue is that there are two flat spots along the cir***ference of the fan. I used the inside diameter of the housing opening, but likely cutting it too close. I hate to try it on the galv sheet metal piece I bought for the shroud. It would be nice to first try it out on a piece of s**** metal.
BTW, my “office” is now in the kids bedroom when they were young, hence the purple paint. Haha! Of course, my kiddo’s cat had to show up. lol!

 

That's one clean cat!
I'm curious now about the thing she's looking at, is it an old drafting lamp base?