Here’s a weekend update i laced up the front wheel with some help it’s a pain compared to the rear wheels. It trued out about the same as the front wheel I did on my 66.
Hindsight I would have installed the bearing seal retainers before lacing the wheel the left retainer cotter pin hole does not line up not a big issue since I’ve installed new sealed bearings in the hub surprisingly there was no seal on this from hub to begin with the original bearings from my 66 still had them installed I guess it’s just another thing found wrong on this basket case of a bike.
These quick release style hubs have a grease zerk I’m going to hand grease the axle shaft and hub center since I’ve installed sealed bearings I don’t see a need to go crazy on greasing the zerk fitting I will pull both my 66 and this 67 front and rear wheels after putting some miles down to go over the spokes and check general condition. The few miles I rode this last summer the hubs did seem warm I think the new bearings should have that resolved both front and rear bearings where in poor condition.
Here’s a few pics the wheel on the stand is for this bike and the other pics is of my wheel showing how the cotter pins are installed. I did try to drill a new hole in the hub for the left side bearing seal retainer but after breaking a few drill bits in this hard ass steel I said screw it put some blue thread locker on the hub threads and tightened the retainer trust me it is not going anywhere neither seal retainers or cotter pins where installed when I took it apart. The new bearings are also a press fit and the removal of the bearings takes some heat much tighter than the CR500 hubs I’ve messed with in the past.
Also my fork oil finally arrived so I’ll hopefully get too reassembling the forks this week.
I got some more done this week before heading in to work. The new fork bushings installed , new fork seals and new fork boots. The first fork took longer to reassemble had to go back to the book kinda forgot the order of assembly second one was done in a few minutes. These forks are different than the newer cartridge style forks most modern bikes have these are the damping rod style forks.
The book also calls for wrapping the grove with twine where the seal retainer screws to the lower fork tube to create a seal not sure why a o-ring was not used but ok.Here’s a few pics of that from yesterday.
I installed the forks yesterday and ran out time to add the fork oil. I added the fork oil today and had trouble reconnecting the left side damping rod to the top fork cap I fished the right side rod out like a did on my 66 this past summer but no luck on the left side the book has a tool listed pn 61-3765 but it’s $50 and out of stock so I made one with a nut I scrounged from my Brit hardware coffee can and welded it to a rod. I’ll try my new booty fab tool tomorrow morning before heading to work.
Here’s a few pics of the forks installed and the tool used to pull them into the fork trees. The book also says to grease the springs liberally so I slathered some expired aeroshell 5 on them it’s what I had in a small tub should be good to go.
I got some more done on the bike this weekend. I came across a good write up on lacing rims so I revisited that and I’m much happier with my front wheel I’ll go back and redo the front rim in my 66 I still haven’t mounted that tire yet.
I cleaned up both front brake drums for this bike and my 66 both now have new shoes.The front wheel for this bike balanced out just needed one spoke weight.I installed the front wheel but it will be coming back off I ordered new fork boot clamps I struggled with one then took one from my bike but decided today to order new ones I might also replace mine with the same after these come in.
I pulled the exhaust off this bike and will use the pipes from the auction bike we bought for parts . The high pipes on here have caused a few problems and I’ve never cared for them myself. The left pipe has a two holes in it one I believe is a drain the other just melts wires the right side pipe has cooked the oil tank side cover paint. I also received a 20% discount from Low Brow Customs so I ordered up two new cocktail shaker mufflers came out to $130 shipped not a bad deal.
I’ve finally got around to pulling parts from the thunderbolt I decided to use the rear fender hardware on this bike since l’ve already swapped the front fenders around. I had used some stainless I had left over from some dirt bike hardware kits on the rear fender it was better than the hardware store stuff that was installed from the previous build. The original rear fender hardware from the thunderbolt bolt cleaned up pretty good and I put the metric stuff on that bike just to keep it complete I’ll also throw the high pipes on it after I weld the drilled hole.
This weekend seemed like not much getting done but figuring out what direction I’m heading with this bike should have the pipes cleaned up this week and waiting on parts heres a few pics.
Here’s a weekend update I got the pipes from the auction bike installed and new mufflers from Lowbrow Customs. I also retrued my front wheel for my 66 lightning here’s a link I used it was better than others I read or watched Dan's Motorcycle "Lacing up a Wire Spoke Wheel"
It’s been a few weeks since I worked in this bike I got sidetracked messing with a old sled engine and been getting ready for a ride up north. Anyhow I didn’t get much done this weekend I had planned on getting the steering adjusted which didn’t happen.
I did get a few small things checked off the list fist I took the bike off the lift to see how the steering felt it seems decent the book has a procedure to follow but that’s for the old style drop in balls and cups I’ve upgraded to the new caged roller bearings so I’m thinking just a light pressure on them unless I find something that says otherwise.
I pulled the center stand from the parts bike we got at auction a few months ago to put on this bike don’t know where the one for this disappeared to but it has one now. I did have to recruit the wife for some assistance that spring for the center stand is pretty taunt so as I wrestled the stand in she drove the pin thru.
Once that struggle was over I put the bike back on the lift after removing the wheel holder from the lift now I can turn the front end freely to adjust the headset bearings and check the forks for play with the bike strapped down. It also helped for adjusting the front brake so basically got the front brake adjusted and center stand installed. I’ll get the steering done next week and start or maybe finish the kill switch install slowly but finishing this bike up.
Also anyone seen powder coating that has not held up there’s some spots where it’s coming off one area is from where my better half hit the frame driving the pin thru the other spot maybe from the sizzor but on the forks it was just from me handling them. My dirt bike and atv have been powder coat over 20 years ago and still good I’m assuming this had bad prep or not applied correctly.
I was kinda thinking bad prep myself from what I remember the guy doing the coating wanted a ruff surface. The last frame I took in a few years age they did it all mine was done 20 yrs back and still in good shape
I’m getting this bike wrapped up worked on it over the weekend and a little this week. I’ve got the steering adjusted and steering damper installed. It took longer than i expected installing a kill switch I put the relay on the frame then decided to move it behind the head lights it’s a much cleaner install and easier to get to if there’s any issues and I need to bypass it also less vibration and away from the engine heat.
I’ve been wanting to hear the new exhaust setup so I temp installed the tank and fired it up took a few kicks and the idle may be a little high I’ll see how it is once winter is over here hopefully next month take a few rides into town.My dad had the damage side cover painted still need to get that from him also have a new battery to install I’ll be using this battery in the auction bike I’m trying to get up and running.
It’s good to be getting this finished up unfortunately the original engine we dropped off to get rebuilt a few years ago didn’t happen i went and picked up this bikes engine and also the engine for my 66 as it’s ready to get reassembled just need to clean up the frame and rear fender. Both engines where in the same spot I had them at the shop and hadn’t been touched I pretty much ran outa patience and time to go a different direction.
Here’s a few pics of the kill switch I put it between the gages I didn’t want to clutter up the bars the factory key is on the left side of the frame under the tank kinda strange place but that’s where they put it. I also added a hour meter still need to mount the mirrors , change the oil , and mount the tank.
Well let’s see if this video of it running the with new exhaust will attach definitely has me wanting to get the 69 thunderbolt running has no spark as of now.
Thread update I picked up a repo seat awhile back they are not in stock very often. Well this week before heading into work I road the struggle bus with installing the seat two days in a row. This bike has been difficult to install seats on three different seats to be exact. I have questioned my dad a few times about the bike being laid down his reply ask your uncle none of them can remember.
Anyhow after dicking up the cheesy nut serts they used having to pencil grinder with the cut off disk on a problem bolt to remove the seat . I installed some rivnuts 6mm 1.00 and of course that problem bolt gave me trouble on morning # 2 of simple seat install. It was a poor choice on the hardware button head Allen screw it stripped tge hex rather easy once I hit a tight spots my bad also should have backed it out . So back to the grinder and replaced the rivnut and got better bolts Allen cap screw with better bite.
The seat isn’t terrible but quality is lacking on the materials the crappy nut sert , thin cover , and pan seems thin . It does look good and should be more comfortable than the custom seat that originally came with the bike and I got my seat back for my 66 that is going together slowly.
