Cool Sprocket Cover!

I took the sprocket cover off a while ago and have been trying to decide what to do with it as far as cool vents. After a light bulb type idea went off in my head I came up with this...

First I found the relative center line with a pair of dial calipers and marked it. Then I used a compass to draw the lines moving outward. I measured with the calipers and marked equally spaced lines to set the compass.

I decided to use a .250 endmill to drill the holes and wanted the distance between the holes to be at least half the diameter of the hole. So I measured out .125, set my compass and marked all the lines where the holes should go.

I set it up in the Bridgeport and away we go!


Since it has a very small tip I used a starter drill to pinpoint where I was going to drill. That's all I did with it, since I was using an endmill I didn't have to have a pilot hole.
Milling...

After all the holes were drilled


Then it was off to the buffing wheel!
The polishing didn't come out as well as it could but I used red ScotchBrite, then 600 grit, then 1000, then the buffing wheel.

Bug's First Cruise In!!

A couple of weeks ago my brother in law Wesley came to visit Molly and I. While he was here we took Molly's Beetle up to Kannapolis for a cruise in at their town center. I was surprised how many cars showed up but with the slightly cooler temps and all the car folks in this area I guess I shouldn't have been...

Here she is!!

A pink Rambler Wagon!

A very cool Volvo Truck. I'm told by my Volvo guru that these are pretty rare little trucks.

Oh how I love Fairlanes, one of my favorite years.

This is looking down one side of one street, there were cars on the other side as well as both sides of the other one way street

Another nicely done Beettle, but I think Molly's was the nicest VW there with this one being the closest competition.

'57 shoe box

We are hoping to go to a few more cruise in's and car shows as the weather gets nicer.

After More than 30 Years...This Happened!!

I put the carbs back on the CB450 the other day and made a gas tank out of a 20oz water bottle and fuel line and I couldn't get it to run except for about 3 or 4 seconds with a shot of starter fluid. So, I had air and spark but obviously no fuel... I took the carbs back apart and and found that one of the previous owners had no idea how to set the fuel float level. After a quick adjustment and re assembly I put them back on the bike. Now I'm sure that the motor has been cranked and started since the last time this bike was inspected/registered but it had not been inspected/registered since 1978!! After I put the carbs back on it took about two turns of the engine and this happened!!!

WOOHOO!!!
I love when stuff goes right and works like it should! I still have other adjustments to make i.e. check timing points and fine tune idle screw and throttle cable but so far its off to a great start!

Tail of the Dragon!!

A few weeks ago Molly and I headed to Robinsville, NC for our friends wedding. (Ben & Stef) For a long time now I've wanted to drive/ride Hwy 129 in western North Carolina affectionately known as "The Tail of the Dragon". This short stretch of highway starts in NC but soon crosses over into TN and attracts thousands of motorcycle and car enthusiast from all across the US. The reason for all this interest is that on 11 miles of this highway there are no intersecting roads, driveways or turnarounds. Oh, and there are 318 curves in that short 11 mile run! We drove the mustang to the wedding that weekend and I couldn't convince myself not to go since I was so close. So on Saturday morning at 10 till 6am I set out...

I obviously did not take any pictures once I was on the dragon's tail but these are leading up to it headed North.

At the south end there is a little motel with lots of motorcycle parking where motorcycle/car clubs many times meet up or stay the night before their run. They have a tree of shame outside to remind riders of just how dangerous this road can be especially if you ride unsafely or beyond your limits. There has been 25 deaths along this 11 mile stretch since 2000.

I'm not sure who put the child's tricycle up there.

The Fugitive Dam

I gotta say that it was a blast driving this beautiful Hwy, if you're ever in the area head on up, just make sure you're there early. It gets pretty packed during the day. I was lucky enough to only see a handful of cars and several of those were state troopers, so drive safe!!!

PUNK KIDS!

My youngest brother-in-law Timothy painted and pinstriped this mail box for us as our Christmas present last year. (the one we had was really ugly) He did a great job!

This morning as I was getting ready for church I looked out our bathroom window and saw this! It was laying all the way over and I propped it back up.

I must confess that since then I've been thinking of ways to make a new mail box "really hard on the hands" if you try to smack it with a bat... I've got a few ideas.

Finally Finished the Seat

So of you may have seen a previous post of mine in which I started working on Molly's CB450 seat. Well it took me a while but I've finished it and I pretty happy with it. If I had to do it over again I would do a few things differently but all in all I'm pretty pleased.

This is the original seat how it came off the bike.

You may remember the mice that made a nice home inside!

All foam removed and seat pan sandblasted. After looking around at other people's seat projects I realized just how good a shape this pan was in! most others that I saw were rusting around all the holes and the sides were very often almost gone!

The foam and glue that I bought to make the seat shape

This is the original rough shape I came up with. Also notice the narrowed front nose so she can stand up and touch the ground a little easier.

This is the final shape I ended up with. I had to slope the hump in the rear because the drastic 90 degree angle would have been very hard to cover without making several panels, and after I did I think I like it a lot more.

A closer look at the rear hump. I used an electric knife to get my basic shape and a palm sander with 80 and 120 grit sandpaper to smooth it all out.

This small little shop is only about a mile down the road from the house and Wayne was very helpful in giving me pointers and helping me pull the final vinyl cover on.

I bought this thin foam material and the vinyl from Wilgrove's. The thin foam helps to smooth out any imperfections and makes the holes in the sides of the seat pan a little less noticeable.

The bottom of the finished seat! Vinyl pulled and trimmed and pan painted. Since the original hold down tabs were removed from the front when I narrowed the pan I used aluminum rivets to help the glue hold the vinyl in place. You can see one on the upper side to the left of the rubber mount and along the bottom.

The top side. I had the vinyl folded and sitting in the spare room for a few days until I was ready for it, DON'T DO THAT! That is one of the things I would have done differently. You can see the small crease on the slope because of the folding.

One other thing I would have change is the nose. I thought I had a decent amount of foam built up at the far end of the nose but once you pull the vinyl down tight it slopes it downward quite a bit. So next time I know to put a lot more foam at the front for a proper nose.

Well there it is. Like I said, I'd change a few things if I had it to do over again but nonetheless I'm still happy with my first shot at upholsery and trim since I finished school.

Down the New

Molly and I drove up to West Jefferson N.C. a couple of weekends ago to paddle down the New River. We had planned to kayak but they were booked up for kayaks so we paddled a canoe instead. The weather was very nice and not too hot, the scenery was fantastic as usual and the only down side to the whole trip was some sore shoulders and backs after our 10 miles of river. Afterward we headed just down the road to West Jefferson and had an ice cream cone, then it was back to Charlotte. If you're ever in the mood to paddle anything between 5 miles and a several day 40 mile trip give the people at Zaloo's Canoes a call.