Restoration tutorial

[Huzo]

After marvelling at the work by Charlie and Canuck, I got to thinking.
What a wonderful resource it would be if a budding first time restorer, could have the same bike as either of these two guys and commence their project concurrently.
When the beginner hit a wall, he could make his enquiry here and more or less in real time find out how the “master” was tackling the same issue.
Now of course there would be issues that were not common to both bikes, but Joe Average could say..
“Charlie, my blah..blah..blah.. has not come up as good as yours, can you suggest a good solution..” ?
Or..
”Canuck, did your xyz turn out better than this…”

Or something.
I just envisage how a new guy who might be feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of a restoration, would feel emboldened to push forward if someone of undoubted ability, was working in parallel on the same model.

Anywayyy..Just a thought.

[Canuck750]

Well just what you suggest has been working for me for years now, I just follow Charlie’s builds and learn from him. 

[Huzo]

Well just what you suggest has been working for me for years now, I just follow Charlie’s builds and learn from him. 

Pffffttttt…..
Well you’ve done that now…

[Dave Swanson]

Well just what you suggest has been working for me for years now, I just follow Charlie’s builds and learn from him. 

+1 there!  The wisdom of Charlie has gotten me through a number of sticky spots over the years.  Jim ain't so bad either!   

[Huzo]

+1 there!  The wisdom of Charlie has gotten me through a number of sticky spots over the years.  Jim ain't so bad either!   

Ahhh..
Canuck’s name is Jim ?

[Dave Swanson]

Ahhh..
Canuck’s name is Jim ?

Shhhh! 

[Huzo]

Shhhh!

So his initials are J.C.
That explains the aura…

[cliffrod]

I clicked, thinking this would be a great tutorial read. 


Then I realized that someone must have hacked my email and was revealing my secret resources.....

[Dave Swanson]

Everyone on here and most other sites has been great at helping people with the how too and where to go to find parts. That turns out to be the the easier part. Funding the project and staying focused on it is the hard part.

I never have an ambitious timeline for my restorations.  I believe in doing it via the time payment plan, therefore the pain is in smaller chunks spread out over time, and I never do a tally at the end. That would take the fun out of it.     

Perfect example is my 68 V700.  It took 13 years from tear down to finish.  I regularly fed the projects with bits a bobs over those years.  My bank account never ignored it for long. 

At this moment I am starting the assembly of my 1964 XLCH that I tore down 20 years ago.  Oh my! 

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I never have an ambitious timeline for my restorations.  I believe in doing it via the time payment plan, therefore the pain is in smaller chunks spread out over time, and I never do a tally at the end. That would take the fun out of it.     

Perfect example is my 68 V700.  It took 13 years from tear down to finish.  I regularly fed the projects with bits a bobs over those years.  My bank account never ignored it for long. 

At this moment I am starting the assembly of my 1964 XLCH that I tore down 20 years ago.  Oh my! 

That's partly why the Morini took as long as it did (Oct. '19 to April '22) - spreading the cost out over a longer time period. There was a seven month period when I didn't do anything (life and customer work got in the way). It did get huge initial funding when I sold the '13 Stone though.

The Pantah is pretty much the same - sold some stuff for initial funding, chipping away little by little, then sold the V700 to help push it through to the end.

[guzziart]

I really admire several of you guys that have the enthusiasm, dedication and patience to resurrect scrap to gold.  For me, I'm just happy to get someones old discard, get it running & highly reliable for everyday use although maybe not all that good looking.  Keep doing what you've been doing and thanks for sharing your experiences with pics & text here.

Art

[Canuck750]

So his initials are J.C.
That explains the aura…

full name is Jim Carey, no not that guy, I am the original! (and different spelling) take a guess of how many times I have been asked to make a joke.... ugh!

[Huzo]

full name is Jim Carey, no not that guy, I am the original! (and different spelling) take a guess of how many times I have been asked to make a joke.... ugh!

Well aalllrrriiighhtttty yyy then………!

[Pescatore]

After marvelling at the work by Charlie and Canuck...

+100

What a wonderful resource it would be if a budding first time restorer...

+100

I just envisage how a new guy who might be feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of a restoration, would feel emboldened to push forward if someone of undoubted ability, was working in parallel on the same model.

+100

I started my restoration (more like rehabilitation) only because I found Charlie's thread on the Lario.
Unfortunately many picture links broke (understandable why), but I read it before then.  I wish I had the intuition to download it.
I took that thread as a guide for helping others. To me it represents the spirit of this forum, so I decided to join and pay it forward with my thread.

I read many other threads where I picked up bits of knowledge, learned about tools, methods and also products and web resources.

In my experience there isn't much interest in small block bikes and unless the topic gets really exciting, people don't come back to it.
However, if someone has a question on a big block, there will be pages of responses.

I guess the support depends on who has done the work before. And there is more experience on big blocks than later bikes.
I'm still very happy with the support and direct answers I receive.

To your point Huzo, I am overwhelmed and not quitting because of this forum.
Perhaps you could take this transmission out of my nightmares? https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=102352.msg1805855#msg1805855

Oh yeah, I need to bleed the brakes and get rid of the points too.

[80CX100]

     I'm glad to learn about the JC angle, I've always been amazed watching Canuck, patiently and methodically turn dogs breakfast/basket cases into concourse worthy, works of art,    I knew he could walk on water, now I know why 

     I rarely look at the build page on the forum, but I get Charlie's ACC posts showing up in my FB news feed every few days; it doesn't matter what bike he's working on, what job he's tackling, I'm always impressed and always learning something new.   

     I'd like to say that knowledge is locked in my steel trap and translates into skills with my hands, but we all know, it's not that simple

     The general mechanical knowledge of so many members here, continues to impress me  ie that recent lengthy post concerning the low compression on McArthur's sp? engine. I had nothing worthwhile to contribute, so I just sat back in the shadows and reveled in the gear head discussion 

      Carry on Garth 

     

[Scout63]

I have to say that the combination of quiet encouragement, clear answers and gorgeous restorations coming from Jim, Dave and Charlie make this forum indispensable and so enjoyable. I feel that we are pretty close to your premise already Peter.

[Tiki Joe]

There is ZERO chance that I would remember how to put something together I tore apart 20 years ago! 

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

No way I could have finished my Ambo or my v65 without the amazing build threads these folks have spent the time to put up!  I have spent HOURS combing thru Canuk750, Dave Swanson, Charlie's, and Chuck in Indiana's threads when I hit a wall.

Always blows my mind how much time and effort they put forth to do it.

[John Croucher]

The end results is proportional to the individuals mechanical aptitude and ability to research. I have seen many vain attempts to repair and customize "things" that seem appropriate and unique to the builder, but are a nightmare of poorly executed effort and a poor mix of parts. 

I try to share my experiences and knowledge when it comes to building and fabrication of all things mechanical.  Fortunately for me, I grew up in the machine shop, fabrication, mechanical world.  Walking around in a diaper and barefoot as a child.  Tutoring others is fun, seeing the results is even better. 

It took me years to wrap my head around how a set of points and a coil make a spark plug spark.  Or how to mount the hand held reciprocating saw in a bench vise and use it like a band saw.  Or using a 2 x 4, hinge, screw and bolted to the work bench to compress shocks to remove the spring or retainer ring.   

Imagination is something that comes from with in when the Tutor is not available.

[Dave Swanson]

There is ZERO chance that I would remember how to put something together I tore apart 20 years ago!

That's the fun part!  Most of it requires a serious refresh after that much time in between.  It's a good way to fight off Alzheimer's.   

[Pescatore]

Perhaps what would help is a new forum category.
The Builds posts are invaluable, but difficult to parse what you are looking for.
If there was a HowTo or Common Problems category, then the topic title and content would be specific to the task.
This might also reduce repeating questions.
People can contribute topics or provide a link to a specific post in the other categories.
And we don't have to remember anything anymore.

A forum for the other brand with wings has this category and I sometimes refer to it for general know-how.
Just a thought 

[Canuck750]

That's the fun part!  Most of it requires a serious refresh after that much time in between.  It's a good way to fight off Alzheimer's.   

Amen to that!

With every bike I rebuild I take more and more pictures of each step of the disassembly and still never seem to have the right picture I need for every issue I come across, I think I am now taking close to 200 pictures during disassembly. Parts manuals, service manuals and even the riders manual can explain "how does this go back together?" Most old bikes have been bodged or modified at some point in its life and that can really throw a wrench into the reassembly.