Refurbished Bolts and Nuts

Hi

This weekend I have also managed to finish refurbishing a number of nuts and bolts:

Re-assembling the Jiffy Stand

Hi

I have also re-assembled the jiffy stand.  Interestingly, Bruce Palmer says on Page 138 of his book "How To Restore Your Harley-Davidson" that the Harley-Davidson's that were supplied to the Union Defence Force from about the middle of 1941 had a longer than normal jiffy stand.  But my Harley-Davidson was manufactured early to mid 1941 and have been fitted with the shorter jiffy stand.

Bruce Palmer on the UDF WL Jiffy Stand

The Jiffy Stand of my Early 1941 WL seems to be the short stand.

Re-assembling the Footboard and Foot Clutch Assembly

Hi

This weekend was very productive.  I have, among others, assembled the foot clutch assembly.

The Foot Clutch Assembly of a Harley-Davidson WL (circa 1940;s)

Here are some photographs of the foot clutch assembly:

The Foot Clutch Assembly, as you would see it on the left hand side of the motorcycle

The Foot Clutch Assembly, from the back - note the 2 @ spring star washers

Just out of interest sake - I have looked at what Palmer wrote about the foot clutch assemblies in his book "How to Restore your Harley-Davidson" (see picture below).  The foot clutch lever on the above assembly is like the one on the left.  Again, circa 1940's.

I then fitted the left footboard with a rubber Harley-Davidson Oval mat.  Bruce Palmer, in his book "How to Restore Your Harley Davidson" states on Page 149 that the Harley-Davidson factory introduced the steel footboard mats in 1943 due to a rubber shortage.  My Harley-Davidson was manufactured in 1941 and the bike would have been supplied to the Union Defence Force of South Africa with rubber mats.  Which is the reason why I fitted the rubber footboard.

Bruce Palmer states that the steel mats were introduced in 1943.

 
After fitting the footboard mat, I completed the left footboard and foot clutch assembly.

The Footboard Mat Fitted

The Entire Left Footboard and Foot Clutch Assembly (with clutch cable) - inside view

The Entire Left Footboard and Foot Clutch Assembly (with clutch cable) - outside view

Front Fork was also Manufactured in 1941

Hi 

I have finished spray painting the front fork and was reading about the front forks in Bruce Palmer's book "How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson". 

On page 102 of the book, he has a table (see picture below) of the forging numbers of the spring fork bracket. From the table it is clear that forks manufactured in 1941 had either a 5, 6, or 7 on the forging. 

Table on Page 102 of Bruce Palmer's Book

I took a picture of the forging and the forging die number of my H-D WL is TC-20TF 6 (see picture below). Which means that the front fork was manufactured in the middle of 1941.  This corresponds to the time when the frame of my H-D WL was manufactured - see post "The Frame of my Harley-Davidson WL was Manufactured in 1941"!

  

 

Picture of my H-D WL Springer Fork

Re-assembling the Rear Brake Light

Once the spray-painting of the rear light was completed, I re-assembled the rear brake light:

• The copper light fitting was really rusted and I sand-blasted that and then spray painted it in a brilliant white - mainly to improve the reflection from the bulb;
• I then re-fitted the wiring into the fitting;
• Fitted the original red glass into the housing;
• Fitted a replacement see-through glass for the number plate light;
• Completed the assembly.
  

The 1941 original red glass lense and the original retaining wire fitted

The flip side - note the Harley-Davidson stamped on the top of the 1941 original steel cover

The re-assembled brake light housing (the stamping is more visible on this photo)

More Parts Spray Painted

Hi There! 

I've been very busy this weekend and have sand blasted and sanded a lot of parts and have started to spray paint the parts:

• Matt Desert Khaki:  I have finished spray painting:

• The rear light;
• The battery box and lid;
• The dash board cover;
• The gearbox level mount against the gas tank;
• The tank insert;
• The throttle spiral;
• Both caps;
• The chain guard;
• The air cleaner cover;
• etc.
• Matt Black:  The following parts have been spray painted (but I smudged some items and will just have to sand and spray these parts next weekend):

• The seat;
• The seat T-bar;
• The entire brake assembly;
• The air cleaner mount against the carburetor;
• The bars on the springer fork;
• The coil mount and bolts;
• The U-bolt mounts and bolts for the crash bars;
• A variety of nuts and bolts.
  

First Parts Spray Painted

Hi There

On Saturday I have managed to spray-paint the first batch of parts.

I have bought 1 liter of Celimix Matt Black to paint the parts that came out of the factory as black with.  The slight gloss on the photo's is because the paint is still a bit wet.  The parts that I have sprayed this week are:

• The kick start arm (far left);
• The side stand with washer, bolt and nut;
• The right and left footboard arms;
• The kick starter;
• The clutch arm with nuts.

I have also bought 3 liters of Celimix Matt Desert Khaki and the parts that I have sprayed so far are:

• The rear brake drum;
• The front headlight ring;
• The headlight mounting bracket;
• The toolbox, including the hinge pin (just below the front number plate);  
• The battery box lid;
• The headlight;
• The front number plate;
• The springer fork; 
• The rear crash guard (hanging on the ladder);
• And the skid plate (also hanging on the ladder).

More Parts have arrived

Hi

The parts that I have ordered in July arrived last week.  I went to fetch the parts on Saturday.  As I disassemble the components there are still some small items that are required, but overall I really hope that I have bought the bulk of the parts that I will require for the restoration.

Prepping parts for painting

Hi

On Saturday I sand-blasted some more of the parts for painting and I then hand sanded the parts to prepare them for painting:

• the headlight
• the headlight mounting bracket 
• the seat
• the battery box
• the battery box lid
• the skid plate.

I have also set up a makeshift paint booth in the garage.  I strung some cables from the one garage wall to the other and then hung shower curtains on the cables.  This allows me to close off the two end-sections of the garage.

I really would like to get this spray painted this Saturday.

My second parkerizing attempt

Hi there!

I was home relatively early on Friday afternoon and decided that I want to see if I can parkerize the parts that failed to parkerize last week.

Here is the set-up for the second attempt.

On the left (you can just see the Pyrex dish) is the pickling acid.  I then had some water on a gas stove in which to pre-heat the parts, next is the pot containing motor oil (for dropping the parkerized parts into) and the pan containing the parkerizing solution.

After cleaning the parts from the oil that I have dipped them into last week (I used thinners to clean the oil off), the parts went back into the pickling acid, then into the boiling water, then into the parkerizing solution for about 20 minutes, after which they were dropped into the hot motor oil.

Did it work this time?  The answer is partly.  The smaller parts came out nice and black, but the large parts were just a grey colour.  And one can see that the large parts were very thinly coated with gun black.

One of the smaller parts that turned black nicely

After reading some more about it, I am convinced that the large parts were not hot enough when they went into the parkerizing solution.  What I will do next week is to pre-heat them in the oven to about 140 degrees Celsius before I drop them into the parkerizing solution.  Hopefully that will work.

My first parkerizing attempt an epic fail

Hi. 

I spent a lot of time on Saturday to clean all of the foot board nuts and bolts, as I wanted to parkerize the foot boards and all of the related nuts and bolts. Last Saturday and Monday I have sandblasted most of the large parts. The small parts I cleaned with a wire wheel on my bench grinder.

The foot board parts, nicely cleaned from rust and paint

I then poured the pickling acid into a container and put the parts into the pickling acid for a couple of minutes to ensure that all oil, rust and other junk are cleaned off. The pickling acid really cleaned the rust from the grooves in the bolts and the pit marks on the foot boards - you can see the reaction between the rust in the pit marks and the acid (the green tint in the pit marks).

This really worked very well.  But one has to be very cautious in handling the parts to make sure that the acid does not splatter anywhere, as it is a very strong acid!

The parts in the pickling acid solution

The parts then were rinsed and put into the parkerizing Solution container.  I started off with about a litre of tap water in a container.  I then weighed the correct amount of black oxide crystals for a litre of parkerizing solution and poured that into the container (carefully, as it is very caustic) on top of the parts.

About 1l of water in a container

The black oxide crystals being measured to make up 1 litre of parkerizing solution

Next, I heated the solution to the required 120 degrees Celsius and waited 20 minutes.  Nothing happened.

So.  Back to the books to see what I did wrong.  It seems:

• that the chemicals in potable water could hinder the reaction from taking place and that one should use distilled water if the water is highly chlorinated.
• it also appears as if the water have to be heated to 120 degrees Celsius before the black oxide crystals are put into the water.
• and it seems that the parts should be heated by boiling them in water before putting the parts in the parkerizing solution.

I'll try again next weekend with distilled water and make sure that I follow the recipe to a T.

Will keep you posted.

Parkerizing Solution has Arrived

Hi. 

Last night when I got home, a package with the pickling acid (to clean the raw metal from rust, oil,  sweat, etc.) and the parkerizing solution was waiting for me. 

This means that I can now forge ahead and sandblast all of the parts that have to be parkerized and then I can parkerize the cleaned parts. 

I am thinking that I will do this in drips and drabs, rather than all at once. The reason being that I don't want the cleaned / sandblasted parts to sit on a shelf for some time, as they will rust. 

Practically this means that I will sandblast motorcycle parts on a Saturday morning and then parkerize those parts either in the afternoon or the next day. 

But I also want to work on specific areas of the motorcycle. For example the rear brake. Once I have completed both the painting and the parkerizing of all of the parts of the rear brake assembly, I would then like to assemble the parts and shelve the assembly for final fitment.

It's been a productive weekend

Hi

I have had a very productive long-weekend (Monday was a public holiday in South Africa)!

I have managed to:

• set up the compressor and sand blasting cabinet, 
• buy a desert khaki colour,
• we have fixed most of the bent parts on the motorbike (took us most of Saturday),
• I have managed to sand blast:
• the battery box (we had to do some welding on the battery box and the base coat of paint caught fire)
• the battery box lid
• the foot boards with the foot board hinges
• the headlight
• the rear axle rod
• the rear drum 
• the tool box
• the tool box mounting bracket.

I'll more than likely paint these parts this coming Saturday.

Panel Beating and Prepping for Painting / Parkerizing

Hi

A very good friend of mine and I have spent most of Saturday panel beating the bent parts of the Harley-Davidson.  Some of the body panels needed a little bit of work to fit nicely, while the odd part needed some more straightening.

The front fender, rear fender, front stand, rear stand, battery box, etc., now fits beautifully. I can now start with the preparation for painting / parkerizing and the painting / parkerizing.

The front stand now fits really nicely!

And so do the rear stand!

Talking about painting - I have come across a 2nd World War steel helmet used by the Union Defence Force of South Africa on Bid or Buy.  I have bought the steel helmet, as I want to use it when I drive with the bike (once it has been restored).  This helmet was painted a Desert Khaki.

A World War 2 UDF SA steel helmet

The inside of the helmet

I have used the helmet to mix the Desert Khaki colour that I want to paint the bike with.

I have also started with sand blasting the first parts that I want to paint or parkerize.

The Sand Blasting Cabinet that I am using

The Rear Axle, nicely sand-blasted.  Ready to be Parkerized!

The Frame of my Harley-Davidson WL was Manufactured in 1941

Hi

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I am down to the frame with the disassembly.  Bruce Palmer has an amazing amount of information in his book on "How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson".  In one of the Chapters in the book he explains the differences between the frames from year to year.

Scanned Image from Bruce Palmer's "How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson" showing what the early to mid 1941 frames for the 45's looks like.

This Photo shows the Clutch Cable Housing Frame Bracket on my 45

Scanned Image from Bruce Palmer's "How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson" showing what the 1931 to mid 1941 Upper Seat Post Forging looks like.

This Photo shows the Upper Seat Post Forging on my 45

Would you agree with me that is exactly the same forging as that shown in the book of Bruce Palmer?  This means that the frame of my Harley-Davidson was manufactured somewhere between January 1941 to June or July 1941!

Scanned Image from Bruce Palmer's "How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson" showing what the early to mid 1941 Steering Head Forging looks like.

This Photo shows the Steering Head Forging on my 45

 This forging was used between January 1941 to June or July 194, which confirms that the frame of my Harley-Davidson was manufactured somewhere between January 1941 to June or July 1941!

Scanned Image from Bruce Palmer's "How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson" showing the details of the UDF (SA) Military U Model's Rear Stand.

This Photo shows the Rear Stand on my 45, clearly showing the sand pads on the rear stand.

I am fairly convinced that I am the fortunate owner of an early to mid 1941 Harley-Davidson 45 cubic inch U-model frame that was supplied to the South African Union Defence Force.

And yes, there is a lot of work ahead to get it back into its original condition, but that is what I would like to do.

Trip to Re-Enact some of the WW2 Battles in which the UDF (SA) Harley-Davidson's were used

Hi There!

I would love to do a trip to re-enact one of the battles in which the UDF's Harley-Davidson's were used.  For example:

• Option 1 - East Africa Campaign: My thinking is that if we can get a group of guys that own UDF Harley-Davidson's interested in such a trip, we can get together at Durban, South Africa, from where we can take a ship to Mombasa.  From Mombasa we can then drive to Gilgal in Kenya, drive to the border of Ethiopia and follow the route that 1 South African Division followed to the Capital of Ethiopia (now Addis Ababa).  We can then drive to the nearest port and ship back to Durban, from where each one can go his own way.
• Option 2 - Madagascar Campaign:  Again, we can meet in Durban and then take a ship to the northern tip of Madagascar (then Diego Suarez, now Antsiranana).  From there we can follow the route to the Capital of Madagascar (now Antananarivo).  We can then drive to the nearest Port and take a ship back to Durban.
• Option 3 - North Africa Campaign:  Due to the total chaos in Libya (since the NATO bombing of Libya the country has fallen into total chaos, as various War Lords are now fighting among themselves for territory) this one is not an option.

Photo from Harley-Davidson Tours in Africa

It will have to be in the winter months (African winters are very mild and dry - no tropical cyclones and no mosquitoes).  There is a lot of logistical arrangements to be made, so I would suggest that the time frame should be June and July.

I still have to restore my Harley-Davidson, but I could just make June 2016.  I will need some help with the logistical planning if we make it June 2016, as arranging such a trip and restoring a motorcycle on top of a rather hectic job would be too much.  Else I can arrange it for June 2017.

Are there any takers out there?   If you have any suggestions, or are interested, please post a reply.

Down to the Frame

Hi

I have stripped most of the parts off the bike and the frame is nearly bare.   But I have kept the wheels, the motor and the gearbox on.  The reason for not taking the motor and gearbox off yet is that I intend to take the bike to a friend of mine for a restoration assessment. He has restored around 100 Harley-Davidson's out of the 1940's.

He will assess the condition of the frame (to ensure that it is straight and true) and the condition of all of the bushes on the frame and wheels. If any of the brass bushes are worn (such as the seat post bush) he will replace it. He will then take out the engine and gearbox for a complete rebuild. The frame with the wheels will then come back to me for stripping and painting. 

I have already ordered a complete engine and gearbox gasket set (the engine gasket set with the copper head gaskets).  If he needs any engine or gearbox parts I will order that in. 

This means that I will do most of the painting while he is rebuilding the motor and gearbox. The rebuild of the motor and gearbox could take several months - especially if we need parts, as the parts have to come out of Europe and it normally takes several weeks to get to Cape Town. 

It will also take me a while to strip and paint the frame and the bike parts and to parkerize the nuts and bolts. The approach that I want to follow will be to get a rolling chassis assembled (obviously once I have painted the frame and wheel parts). We can then fit the motor and gearbox and get the bike to start. After that I will complete the fitment. 

My Garage with the 1941 WL on the left and my 1998 1200 Sportster 95th Commemorative Edition on the right

More Parts Arrived

Hi. 

This week I have received both Volumes of Bruce Palmer III's "How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson", Second Edition. 1,020 pages of reading to do. 

I have also received some parts from the Netherlands. 

The bottom skid plate with attachment brackets.

The front stand with the necessary hardware to mount it in place.