An Overview

Hi

This is how she looks at the moment.

Revised To-Do List

Hi

The To-Do list is getting shorter and shorter - from an earlier post titled "Outstanding Work":
•    Complete the spray-painting of the front fender and fit it;

•    Complete the dash board rebuild;
•    Complete the re-wiring of the motor-cycle;
•    Assemble the rear rim and put a tyre on;
•    Complete the front rim and spokes and assemble the rim and put on a tyre;
•    Refurbish the handlebars and fit them, with the control cables;
•    The heads still have to be torqued;
•    The seat must be covered and fitted; 

•    Fit the fuel and the oil tanks and connect the various hoses;
•    Fill the battery with battery acid.
•    There is a small adjustment that I have to make to the exhaust to ensure that it fits properly;
•    And I have to fit the horn.

If I want to take the Harley WL to Doepie for a final check on the 27th August 2016, I have to finish the above in the next couple of weeks.

We have a public holiday tomorrow and I would like to do the following:
•    Mount the front brake assembly and fit the front brake cable;
•    Run an earth wire from the dash board to the front light, as the WL has a 3-wire front light unit that requires an earth;
•   Connect the rear light;
•   Clean up the wiring;
•   If I have the time, I would like to finish off the front fender;
•   Spraypaint the front spokes, the front rim and possibly the front fender.

I can then have the front wheel re-spoked during the rest of the week.

Which means that I can have the tyres fitted this coming Saturday (the 13th August).

That leaves the rest of the To-Do list to do on the 20th August.

Wish me luck!

Fitting the Front Brake Handle

Hi. 

I'm on a roll. I have also fitted the front brake handle and the cable clamp. I'll fit the cable during the week. 

Re-assembling the Headlight Toggle Switch

Hi. 

I'm busy with the headlight toggle switch.

The Headlight Toggle Switch in an Exploded View

I've soldered the three wires (an earth in the centre and two positive wires on either side). 

Re-assembling the Horn Button

Afternoon. 

I'm busy with the horn button.

The Horn Button in an Expolded View

I have already soldered the horn wire to the button. And spray painted the button a matt black. Here are some photos:

Prepping for Paint

Evening. 

I'm bushed. Been working on the vintage Harley all day:

1. I cleaned all of the loose chrome off the steering damper with the Dremel and a small grinding stone. Then sandblasted all of the parts of the steering damper. This will be painted black. 

2. I also took apart both the horn switch and the headlight dim / bright switch. I lightly sandblasted the copper parts of the switches, to ensure that they make good contact. I also sandblasted the outer covers - this will be painted black. 

3. I soldered the horn wire to the horn switch. Tomorrow I will solder the headlight switch wires to the switch. 

4. The front rim has been prepped for painting - the matt desert khaki colour. 

5. I also prepped the rear wheel to have the tyre fitted. 

6. And I have fitted the seat.

It has been a very busy day.

Preparing the Rear Rim for the Tyre

Hi. 

I have touched up some of the small marks that were made when the spokes were fitted and have taped the spoke well with black tape to prevent the inner tube from chaffing. 

I have managed to get two inner tubes with the thick rubber valve to fit the vintage rim.

I'll have the tyre fitted and balanced this coming week. 

Here is a photo or two. 

Fitting the Seat

Morning 

The seat has been covered and is ready for fitment. This is the original seat that was on the motorcycle that I have sandblasted and resprayed almost a year ago.

Step 1 is to fit the bolts

Canvas Saddle Bags Fitted

Afternoon. 

I have collected the WW2 canvas saddle bags from Faik (one of the bags have a name and a 1942 date written on the bag). He has done a fantastic job on the bags. 

I could not wait to fit the bags on the vintage Harley. Here are some photos. 

The reason for the smaller bag on the left hand side is that I still have to fit the brass fire extinguisher on the left hand frame. A big bag (like the one the right) would have been too big. 

Fitting the Rear Light Harness

Morning. 

Today I want to finish the wiring. One of the outstanding wiring elements is the rear light harness. I have to pull the harness through the channel in the rear fender. 

H-D WL Seat Covered

Morning

Faik - he must be around 70 years of age - has completed the covering of the seat. He does not have a machine in his workshop at home - all his leather work is done by hand stitching.  He has also done some repair work on the WW2 SANDF helmet that I have bought on Bid or Buy.  Here are some photo's of the saddle and the helmet.

I will collect the above items from him this afternoon and can fit the seat during the coming week.

Home Stretch!

Hi. 

I have completed most of the wiring this weekend. I only have to pull the two rear brake light wires through the channel in the rear fender and connect the wires, as well as, the horn harness. But before I can do the horn harness, I have to finish painting the front fender.

I only have a small amount of painting to do: the spokes for the front wheel, the front fender, the front rim, the front brake handle and the two handlebar switch covers. O. I forgot about the steering control.

Once that is finished, I can fit the painted parts and finish off the wiring. I also have to respoke the front wheel and fit the two tyres.

Hence the title of this post - I am in the home stretch! I really hope that I can have this all completed by the end of August. We can then start the Harley end of August or early in September. I intend to capture the first start on video and will post the video online.

It has been a very interesting year - actually more than a year - and I have enjoyed the restoration work tremendously!

At the moment I am busy looking for the next project to do. I'm considering doing a 1946 flathead (a 74 cubic inch motor) custom bike.  Something like this :

Connecting the Headlight Wires

Hi. 

I have also connected the headlight wires. I had a couple of extra pieces of asphalt loom available and I have slipped the four handlebar wires through a 5/15 inch asphalt loom and then split the loom into two 3/16 inch parts - one for the two headlight wires and the other for the two wires going to the horn terminal. The wire loom will prevent the individual wires from getting caught in the fork springs. 

Here are some photos. 

Connecting the Dashboard Wires

Morning. 

Yesterday I started connecting the dashboard wires, as per the 1941 WL wiring diagram - my WL only has a 5 point dash switch. I also have read what Palmer has to say about the connections. This is what it looks like. 

Firstly notice that the coil harness has been installed using the lower left hole (hole A in the diagram), the generator harness through the top left hole (hole C in the diagram), and the forward light harness through the top right hole (hole D). 

Notice that I have used friction tape to tape the end of each wire, so that the material covering the wire will not fray. 

And I have wound some of the wires together, as Palmer says that this was standard practice in the early days of the Harley-Davidson factory. 

Switch to Coil Harness Instalation

Hi. 

I have fitted the switch to coil harness - along the top rail of the frame, as stated in Palmer's book. 

The green wire has been fitted to the coil's front terminal, the red wire to the rear terminal post on the frame, and the black wire to the negative terminal.

 Here are some photos. 

Battery Instalation

Hi

The battery has been fitted. At this point in time there is no battery acid in the battery. 

I have also connected the two battery terminal wires. Here are photos of the positive wire running to the seat post terminal. 

Seat Post Terminals

Morning. 

I'm busy fitting the seat post terminals. This is what Palmer has to say about the installation of the seat post terminals.

Handlebar Wiring

Hi

I have started with the wiring of the handle bar. I first strung a piece of wire through the two holes on the handle bar and then tied the first wire (the horn wire) to the piece of wire with masking tape.

This is the horn wire pulled trough. 

I did the same for the light toggle switch wires. 

Another H-D WL Wiring Diagram

Hi

I have come across this wiring diagram for a H-D WL (1938 to 1946), which shows the layout for a 5 tab switch (such as I have on my WL).  The wiring diagram came from the flathead and panhead web site (http://www.hydra-glide.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=2).

Rear Wheel Respoked!

Morning

I have just picked up the rear wheel - I had it respoked by someone.  It is really looking great!  Here are some photo's.

Harley Davidson Grip's and Handlebar Plunger's

Afternoon.

This is what Palmer has to say about the grips used by Harley Davidson during the early years. The grips that I have used in the restoration is therefore period correct, albeit reproduction grips.

Refurbisment of the Controls

Morning

I have started with the refurbishment of the handle bar controls (both for the manual retard /advance and the throttle).

Exploded View of Controls

I first used my Dremel tool with a small sanding disc to remove all of the rust and gunk from the controls - here are some pictures. 

Rear Rim Spray Painted

Hi 

I have also completed the spray painting of the rear rim. Which means that I can now have the rim assembled with the black spokes and the rear hub. 

Here is a photo. 

Handlebars Fitted

Hi. 

I have fitted the handlebars after cleaning them and spray painting. It was a bit of a mission to get the controls out, but I managed. 

Here is a photo or two. I still have to fit the two control cable's, etc., but this is really starting to look like a motorcycle! 

Solo Seat Covered

Hi. 

I have dropped the solo seat off to have the seat covered in a tan leather. I'll post pictures of the seat when I get it back. Which should be in two weeks time. 

The guy that will cover the seat is an old artisan - he must be in his 70's - and he only have hand tools in his shop. Everything that he does is hand tooled and stitched. 

I have also given him two vintage army (British) canvas bags that was used by the UDF during WW2 to fabricate a leather attachment for the carrier. 

And he will also replace the leather strap and band of the WW2 steel UDF helmet for me.

Vintage Shifting Spanner for Toolbox

Hi

I am slowly but surely getting a decent vintage toolkit together.  Yesterday I won an auction on eBay for a vintage shifting spanner from the same producer that supplied Harley-Davidson with shfting spanners during WW2.

Here is a photo of the shifting spanner.

Vintage Air Pump for Toolkit

Hi!

The toolkit is coming along very nicely.  I have also bought a vintage air pump for the H-D.

Vintage Spoke Wrench for the Toolkit

Hi

I have also bought a vintage spoke wrench.