Fending hit or miss, faith & fate fitting

On final full Peel mock up finding miss fits or missing fittings with pensive handling around her bleached bone fragile rattle can paint. I've got foam tube protectors on hand but just too lazy to use them so far so thrusting my faith stumbling on underlying living room clutter to fit and remove cradle an big heavy TTI tranny and not touch frame to mar it. All sorts of tight reaches to fasteners of non Norton stuff I'm forced into self aware state not to screw up what took a month of retouches d/t handling slips or masking tape lift offs. I'm most pensive on inserting engine so would like to see how other armor frame or left tattle tails behind.

My preferred method is to lay the engine and cradle on it's side using some wood blocks to raise it off the floor. Then carefully work the frame (only 26 lbs!) around this assembly until you can insert the motor mount studs. Then you can upright the frame and motor.

Protecting the paint with tubing insulation is a good idea, but working on a blanket or piece of carpet and taking it slow you can do it without.

Moving company furniture quilts, old bath towels & and muscles......however the older I get the harder it is for me to find the latter

Ron your calm confident description makes me want to follow your advice as prior afraid/lazy to attempt dozen times. Hm I know Peel will need lots of checking in deep so ya inspired me to make a jig to hold power unit and guide frame over it with jig pads not on frame which will still have loom and hoses mostly in place. So far cradle in/out 3x's w/o touching paint. Had to lift front to insert then lower whole cradle aligning rear mounts frist while front held off down tube then self centers to ease into front mounts. So right now can't quiite concieve how frame lower method works unless some frame turning as lowered. Yet your noting only 20's lbs handling vs engine is hard to ignore. A shipping blanket makes great surface to work on and absorb fluids but so are big disposable carpet scraps and more stable.

Hi Steve,

Powder coat the frame and quit worrying about it. Either that or nickel plating. Other than you, who is going to be looking at the frame under the engine ? Two big guys can set the engine with minimal fuss.

Greg

Hi Hobot, if you'r a lightweight like me, try fitting the engine without the head. Its smaller and lighter. I fitted the g.box and cradle first, then the engine after I powder coated the frame. Remember to use water pump grease to hold the pushrods into the rockers and you should have no problems . Before you rebuild it though, why don't you blueprint the frames. [ then you will have the second straightest commando.]
Dereck
ps, try to figure a way of rigidly holding the thrust pads to the engine/ g/box isolastic tubes because these are the areas of greatest wear on the commando frame. Just think, if they cant fog around on the tubes they wont wear. remember the wear marks on the original shims ] I noted this problem about 38 years ago, and jammed brass shim between the tube and the inner edge of the cap. It helped but was a real bastard to adjust. In my recent rebuild, I used hard white plastic bush material for my thrust pads, so don't expect to have to adjust them very often [ I hope ]

I did the lay the motor down and drop frame over motor method. Worked well.

greg at times Peel will be Mt climber frame exposed so blems and moles will show.



1st powder coat is a saga of it own with cycle momma coater ball ping hammering her cycle swing arm as part of her sale pitch I swallowed. I tried that on Peel successfully too but then found the plastic can take much and edge contact to record forever. Peel mass matters and a couple lb shed now w/o it. Wonder stuff I love to see otherwise.


Dereck I'm Ichabod lanky 155-60lb but routinely toss 3 ft sections of the logs seen to save propane for more parts. I've always done it like you do but keep hearing so many others lain over method I ain't fully steeped in Norton ritual till I try it. Peel has 4 big cushions in rear plus rod links and race class indexed cradle and isolastics. She is kind of hard to assemble til just right thing slip in or just fall in place suddenly no effort. There's measurable crash bar injury to down tubes but such hassle to create frame leaks repair and worked great prior and snickering conversation point decided if ain't broke.... to check frame I ran rod though rear and front mounts to get them level then ran tube though stem to find it vertical level & square to mount plane so verified the holes are all at spec locations and axles and stem square so always being 2nd best to late Kenny Augustine WSC is enough. We communed and wanted to show off for him + dozen more now gone.

ctl/+ image arrow around if nosy to see my covering up shade tree shame