post number 26

My intake towers were really pitted up, so I spent some time sanding them down before I send them off to get nickle plated. They turned out pretty good, there are some little nooks and crannies that I still have to get in, but the Pat can handle that.


HEre is my float bowl, it had three holes rotted in it. I brazed it up and metal finished it back down. It still has to be plated.

post number 25

UH OH! my front cylinder has issues. I do not want to ride across the country wondering when this cylinder is going to let loose. Does anybody have a spare 1914 front spacke cylinder laying around? HELP!


Here is the cam set up on my sears. It is really neat. I will have to shoot a video of it in action.

post number 24

This is Tim Petereson, he pinstriped the wheels for my sears and the rims for a 45 bobber that I am working on this weekend. I have known tim since I was 5 years old. I am very happy to have him be a part of this project.


Here is a close up of his work. It is perfect!


This is the rim for the 45

post number 23

I got my motor from fed ex today. It turns over and is in pretty good shape. I think that it is pretty worn out.


HEre it is with the frame, fork, handlebars, and motor installed.



This will be my view for two weeks next september as I race across the continent.

post number 22

Here is the material for the toolbox. I ran into a little snag with a little later on. The pieces that I sheared out were to short.


Here are the strips laid out for folding over. I had to pie cut the corners for clearance.



This is how I got set up for bending the lip over. It took a long time.

In this pic both sides are folded over. The long sections took a while to do, I had to do three or four set ups for some. I am sure there is an easier way to do this, but it worked pretty well for my first time.

post number 21

I rolled the toolbox over this chunk of big aluminum to get the radius.


Here is the radius on top of the out line.



Roger and I made a miscalculation when we were shearing out the material for the toolbox this morning. I had to make a piece and weld it in. It turned out pretty good, and will be undetectable once the piece is painted. I learned a lot with this project and had fun at the same time.




Here is the finished product. I have to stop by the welding shop tomorrow to pick up some material for the left side. I am not sure how I am going to do the right side yet, but we will figure something out.

post number 20

I got the rest of my front end pieces in the mail today. They are for an indian, which is a lot like an excelsior, which is a lot like a sears. Hopefully I can modify them to work on my project with out a lot of work. It will take some "doing" but it is easier than making them from scratch or trying to find old rusty originals.

Well, i finished up the fender mounts for my sears today. Here is a pic of them getting cut out. I drilled a hole in the valley where the arrow is. This worked well and made cutting them out easier.


Here are the finished pieces, I scrapped one piece. I surface ground them to make them easier to nickel plate.



Here they are mounted on the frame. I made the bolts today too. They are really nice.

post number 18

Here is the steel that I started with for the primary cover for my sears. I don't have much experience with this type of work, so I figured that I might scrap 2 of them trying to make 1. i only scrapped 1, so that is a good deal!


here they are cut out and ready for some mill work. I used tin snips to cut up the blanks, it took forever.



Here is a pic of cutting the big hole on the rotary table.




And the little hole!





This is the one that I scrapped, I tried to bend the edges over on the buck with out cutting slits in the radius sections. The metal needs a place to go. I guess it is all part of learning. Check out below to see the rest of the steps!

post number 17

I had to cut wedges all along both radiuses to allow for shrinking. I cut the slots to outside diameter of the scribed line, and they ended up being to short.


Here is a pic of the front after the slots are all welded up and filed smooth. This is a really good job.



Here is the cover on the buck. I have no previous experience with this type of work, and I am very happy with how my first attempt turned out.




Check it out! I have to weld a strip all along the edge to get the proper height. I am going to do the tool box for my next sheet metal project! Wish me luck!

post number 16

Here is an out of focus pic of a steel plate


Here is a pic of the fender brackets that I am working on today. I actually changed focus and started working on primary covers, hopefully they turn out well.

post number 15

I got a package in the mail yesterday from Steve huntzinger. Steve sent me a ton of parts to use as patterns and he also sold me a set of handlebars. They are really straight! They are a little beat up on the bottom where somebody tried to beat them out of the rear fork leg. He practically gave them to me, which is really neat.


Here are the handlebars in my rear fork. They were made by a real craftsman almost a 100 years ago! The top clamp is finished in this pic, I had to make a cap to cover the fork stem.

post number 14

This week I got some neck cups and races in the mail from competition distributing in sturgis. They fit a 15 and later hd. They fit perfectly in my frame neck.


Here is a pic of the upper race and head cone nut. They measure out to 1 1/8 24, which is the same as my fork stem, but they don't quite line up. I am going to try and strip the nickel off of them and see if that loosens them up. If it doesn't I will just make my own and use these as a pattern.



Here is a pic of the neck cups installed.

post number 13

Things have been happening at light speed with the sears project, unfortunately I have been really busy with my daytime job and not been able to work on updating the site. I found a set of o.g. handlebars which is amazing. I found a set of fenders, front hub and exhaust system as well. I have a ton of parts being shipped to the shop in the next couple of weeks that I am either buying or using as patterns to copy.