1971 Single sided swingarm fastback (2011)

motoalchemist · Nov 17, 2012

Heres another shot of the crank and Rod

1971 Single sided swingarm fastback (2011)

motoalchemist · Nov 17, 2012

More good news, my painted chassis parts and Zinc plated hardware are back also

The front iso, gearbox support and battery tray I decided to paint poly black....as opposed to powdercoating. Powdercoating is
great but on these parts its too thick and causes trouble with getting parts to all fit together smoothly. I have actually already started some assembly work on the gearbox support...youcan see clearly the "extra" iso on bottom of gearbox support

Note, the frame is being powdercoated

the head steady is zinc plated so to avoid paint all together, partly for looks but also clearance issues. I will assemble that later today and post a pic of it.

motoalchemist · Nov 17, 2012

This is the modified battery tray, the grommeted hole in the forfront is where the bottom of the oil tank will sit.

motoalchemist · Nov 17, 2012

Here is the critical link for this project, Ill be working on the swingarm and gearbox connection this weekend. hopefully this will be the last time i have to do this, ha ha
Once connected Ill slide this assembly into the frame once it returns from the powdercoaters.....the company doing this for me takes the whole week of thanksgiving off so i wont see it til the end of the month

Snorton74 · Nov 17, 2012

motoalchemist said:
J.A.W. said:

Exellent thread, M.A. -thanks for sharing, even if you draw flak, like the chopper boys do..Go for it.

Click to expand...

Thanks J.A.W. i will...Im too excited about this decade old project finally/seemingly in its home strech[/quote

Ditto on J.A.W's comments. Very cool, and unique project!

pete.v · Nov 17, 2012

Lessen yer gonna stick in yer mantel, it's Kinda like braiding yer taint hairs, ain't it?

motoalchemist said:
Heres another shot of the crank and Rod

J.A.W. · Nov 17, 2012

'A shame you will never see it again' -perhaps , but it would be more of a shame - if it comes out to see you...unexpectedly, nah - all the best.

RennieK · Nov 17, 2012

Thanks for posting the new crank photo. It looks similar to the one in my avatar bike (and I haven't seen it in 40 years) I still remember how nice it looked and was to handle during install. Back in the early 70's there wasn't the choices of custom cranks around like you see today. The extra weir on the inside of the cases in 72 were thought to pool a little extra oil in the cases so a lot of crank balancers polished the cranks for the aerodynamics inside the cases and to remove stress risers. The tiniest nick will show up on a polished surface. With races being won by fractions of a second it's up to the individual how far they want to go with each component.

motoalchemist · Nov 18, 2012

the offset head steady assembled

motoalchemist · Nov 18, 2012

I connected the swingarm and gearbox support today.....

getting exciting! cant wait for frame to get back

motoalchemist · Nov 21, 2012

This morning I was suprised to get a message from the powdercoater that my frame is ready. couldnt get there fast enough to pick it up. Frame is home now, and i am ready to do some serious assembly work. wasnt suppose to be ready for another week or two

grandpaul · Nov 21, 2012

I do believe you'll have to pull that swingarm spindle and separate it from the tranny cradle to get it installed, but that's not 2 minutes' work.

Very cool project.

bwolfie · Nov 21, 2012

I believe the frame has been widened now, so it would fit right in.

willy mac · Nov 21, 2012

motoalchemist said:
This is the modified battery tray, the grommeted hole in the forfront is where the bottom of the oil tank will sit.

Not sure if you've seen the thread on fractured oil tanks around the bottom mount! Seems like it's a common problem once that wee grommet starts to go hard, the 2 flexible mounts used at the top continue to be flexible and the bottom one doesn't so the tank flexes around the bottom mount then eventually starts to crack. It might be something you want to address while your at the stage your at just now.
I wouldn't want to put that crank into my engine I'd mount it somewhere and just look at it, "A thing of Beauty"!

motoalchemist · Nov 22, 2012

Quick shot of the bodywork. Its been primed but I havent completly settled on the paint color ...so in the locker it goes til later.

motoalchemist · Nov 22, 2012

grandpaul said:
I do believe you'll have to pull that swingarm spindle and separate it from the tranny cradle to get it installed, but that's not 2 minutes' work.

Very cool project.

Thanks Grandpaul, but yes Bwolfie is right, the frame is slightly wider and the Hondas swingarm overall width is slightly narrower than the norton.

motoalchemist · Nov 22, 2012

willy mac said:
motoalchemist said:

This is the modified battery tray, the grommeted hole in the forfront is where the bottom of the oil tank will sit.

Click to expand...

Not sure if you've seen the thread on fractured oil tanks around the bottom mount! Seems like it's a common problem once that wee grommet starts to go hard, the 2 flexible mounts used at the top continue to be flexible and the bottom one doesn't so the tank flexes around the bottom mount then eventually starts to crack. It might be something you want to address while your at the stage your at just now.
I wouldn't want to put that crank into my engine I'd mount it somewhere and just look at it, "A thing of Beauty"!

Yes I keep looking at the crank, thinking if there is a way to make clear cases, lol

regarding the Oil tank, Ive re-brazed the bottom mount, and its just going to hopefully "float" in the grommet. I will still be using the standart oil tank isolators (2ea) at top........ But yes i am familiar with the cracking lower mounts

grandpaul · Nov 22, 2012

motoalchemist said:
... Bwolfie is right, the frame is slightly wider and the Hondas swingarm overall width is slightly narrower than the norton.

Ah, so.

motoalchemist · Nov 22, 2012

First...Happy Thanksgiving AN folks, hope you all had a great day.

After making a pig of myself at dinner (which we traditionally eat a 1 pm) everybody else was in a food coma, So i went out to a garage and did some work on the norton, Here are some pics of some final assembly, this is getting real exciting...Ive been doing my mad / evil scientist laugh all night as I moved forward.

First large component I attached was the shock, Its a rebuilt and modified Showa, heavy spring for my fat ass

This angle you can see the custom made clamps for the shock resivoure

Seat Clamps.....no longer are these the upper shock mounts

The front motor iso, just fitted temporary, to make sure alignment and clearances still good after powdercoating

And then in goes the swingarm and carrier assembly

Snorton74 · Nov 23, 2012

And still so much wknd left! Lookin frwd to engine build pics.