Let The Fun Begin!

[morris]

Got the plunger's frame back from the painters today...
Hinted the wife that she won't be seeing much of me the forthcoming weeks. Tried to persuade her to bring the food to the shed, but she responded with "what do you like, peanuts or bananas?"... What the hell does she mean by that?

[morris]

Update on the progress. Still loads of fun to come....
Been to a bikejumble today. Picked up loads of spares. Means more time spent in the shed. Hurray!

[Greybeard]

Ooh, that picture brings back happy memories of my own plunger rebuild; everything lovely and new!

[duTch]

 Peanuts and  bananas go well together....

[Greybeard]

 Peanuts and  bananas go well together....

Eh?

[Daniel Toro (DT)]

Great. I'll probably start to reassembly my engine this week.
Could not work, but I think is easier export the whole bike. lol.

Have fun and keep updating.

[morris]

Update;
Forks are on with new stanchions, bushes etc.
Maggy rebuilt by Brightspark. Back on the bike
Rebuilt the plunger springs, then had to take 'em apart again because both wheel brackets where bent to the left. No way of getting the wheel shaft through the brake/chainwheel unit. This explains why I found a spacer under the right unit's spring when I dismantled them. PO probably tried to lower one side by adding a spacer in order to get the wheel shaft through, hence running the bike with the wheel tilted Might be explained by the fact that the bike spent some time of it's life pulling a side car?
Mounted the light unit and speedo (what a bugga to get the speedo in the rubber... )
Tried the new wiring loom (needs to be modified a bit to fit)
Still to do;
Rebuild the wheels, bolt saddle and all the tinware on (some smaller parts still need to be sprayed) and then it's...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y_wUu99E7M&gl=BE

[Greybeard]

Mounted the light unit and speedo (what a bugga to get the speedo in the rubber... )

When I rebuilt my '55 plunger machine, (with the cowpat style headlamp cowl) I damaged my new speedo rubber while struggling to get the speedo in. Someone here wrote up the best way to do this and I've recently renewed the rubber following their advice and found it quite easy. I lubricated the rubber with a suitable grease, (bought from a bicycle shop), put the rubber in the headlamp cowl and then pushed the speedo into the rubber up to the bezel. I made a tool by grinding the sharpness off the tip of a small screwdriver and bent the last 1/4" to 90° so the flat part is horizontal, when the tool is vertical. Lightly press the speedo down against the rubber and using the 'L' shaped tool carefully work around the rubber easing it up over the bezel lip.
If you've greased the rubber you can rotate the speedo if it's not quite straight. I hope this makes sense.

[morris]

When I rebuilt my '55 plunger machine, (with the cowpat style headlamp cowl) I damaged my new speedo rubber while struggling to get the speedo in.

Been there to Graybeard. I also knackered a rubber before understanding that there is only one way to get the speedo in and that's the way you explain.

[Pim]

Wow, every thing looks so clean an neat!
I'm drooling all over the place here!

Keep the updates coming!

[duTch]

 

This explains why I found a spacer under the right unit's spring when I dismantled them.

 There 'should' be a spacer in each side about ~1/4" thick...- not sure what it does or any advantage, maybe depending if they're under the load or the rebound springs to change the ride height or either spring preload....?

[morris]

There 'should' be a spacer in each side about ~1/4" thick...

I should have been more precise duTch. There was an "extra" spacer on the right side which wasn't in the parts book and which looked like being filed out of a thick washer or something. I couldn't see why it was there as both springs where exactly the same length, and after reassembling leaving the extra spacer out, I measured everything I could possibly measure and all was exactly the same both sides until I tried to pass the wheel shaft...
The brackets where only slightly bent but just enough to make the shaft point about 5° upwards, and the chainwheel/brake assembly about 5° downwards

[morris]

Latest update;
Plunger springs on and wheel brackets are straight now. Wheel shaft goes in and out with one hand
Rear brake, pedal and rod installed. Modified the pedal a bit so it rests against the footrest, swingarm style.
Installed the wiring loom.
Battery carrier and oil tank on
Wheel hubs to the painters and back, waiting for a set of rims and spokes from CWC (yes, going to try the black art of wheel building. Fingers crossed...)
Tomorrow morning there's a bikejumble nearby. Going to get myself some early Christmas presents...

[RichardL]

Wozza,

Looking great!

As I said earlier today, I have to screw up everything at least once to learn it. I can't say with complete honesty that I learned wheel building to a trustable level, but I can offer a small warning for your work, in advance. When I tried to do my wheels with QD hubs, my tendency was to do too much adjustment by tightening and not enough by balancing loosening  with tightening. Before I knew it I had splayed out the crinkles to a noticeable extent. After disassembly, I managed to set the crinkles back in position, but the appearance of the just-chromed hub was not too good after that. A new hub only cost about $20 (in 2005), but I had to pay for chrome a second time.

Richard L.

[WozzA]

   dont blame me....  I didn't do it...