De-stinking Penelope

[rustybronco]

I'll try my best.

Cleaning up and stripping the engine cases along with welding up the clutch basket are on the agenda for this weekend. Maybe I'll even get a chance to do a wee bit of work on the fuel tank if life doesn't get in the way.

[rustybronco]

Tried running some Crown E309L-16 electrode tonight. It gave me fits. I tried holding a short arc, long arcing it, different amprages between 55 and 110 amps, different rod angles but all the arc wanted to do was extinguish because of the slag. I could run a series of tack welds that looked acceptable but couldn't get acceptable penetration. The weld just crowned to much. Tomorrow I'll see if someone else has some Excaliber electrode which supposedly has considerably less slag than this Crown does. Then maybe the old buzz box will maintain an arc and make me feel a bit more confident at welding up the clutch basket.

Not too pretty...



I've got some Cronatron 333 that works with dissimilar metals. Might use that instead if the rod isn't larger than an 1/8".

[rustybronco]

At the point of no return...

[Nessism]

Drum roll.......
(waiting on photos)

[rustybronco]

Not the best work I've ever done, but considering I'm using a 35 year old cheap A.C. buzz box and not a professional welder, I'm pleased with the way it came out. I did have to knock down a little excess weld in order to try to maintain balance.

[rustybronco]

Time to remove the gunk and corrosion from the cases.
It's going to take a while.

[chuck hahn]

Thats a few hrs worth in a good blasting cabinet...and youll love the way the surface is left prepped too.

[Nessism]

Basket looks great Dale. In my experience the clutch action with the upgraded hub is well worth the effort.

How you going about preping the engine cases? Going to leave the lower crankcase half raw aluminum like the factory did?

[chuck hahn]

Once I blast the cases I wipe them down well with lots of Acetone to assure a very clean painting surface.

[rustybronco]

Basket looks great Dale. In my experience the clutch action with the upgraded hub is well worth the effort.

How you going about preping the engine cases? Going to leave the lower crankcase half raw aluminum like the factory did?

The plan at the moment is to chuck a wire wheel in the end of my electric drill to remove most of the corrosion followed up with red scotch brites.

I'm going to paint both case halves. I know that is not originally how the were done, but I rather not deal with the lower case half corroding down the road.

Once I blast the cases I wipe them down well with lots of Acetone to assure a very clean painting surface.

I had planned on using that to remove the heavy crap left on the inside and outside of the cases. I'll probably use purple power to prep the cases and as an etchant then do a final wipe down with wax and grease remover just before painting. I'll play out all the details as I go along. They will be clean I assure you.

[chuck hahn]

I paint both halves also Dale...for the exact same reason your thinking!!! I am lucky to have access to a big cabinet at the local shop here in Norman. Heads, jugs, cases, inside of some nasty carbs bowls with that hardened on white chalk stuff too just over 3 hrs to do.

But the end results are absolutely beautiful.

[rustybronco]

Four hours into it and maybe two more hours left before it's finished.

[rustybronco]

I challenge anyone to restore a bike in similar condition.

Yep, they cracked the case.

[chuck hahn]

WHAT THE $%^&*....Well at least its an easy repair with the halves split.

[chuck hahn]

Gonna scrub it up and seal from the inside??