Charlie's "Ambovert" build thread.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Bearings finally arrived and I bought more stuff from McMaster-Carr. Back to work.

Cleaned away as much of the wood dust and metal shavings as I could.


Shaft has seen better days - divots where the set screw of the old transmission wallowed it out. I'll replace it I need to.


New bearings and collar installed:


Needed to add a washer at the front:


Even before I made the new mounting plate, I realized the motor still wouldn't be able to move far enough back for the pulleys to align. So I had ordered a keyed coupler and 3" length of keyed 1" shaft to make an extension. The shaft only turns 175 rpm and won't have much load on it, so I think it'll work just fine.


Still waiting for the upper pulley to arrive, so I rewired the entire thing and replaced the broken work light fixture.





Pulley finally arrived:


Used the belt length calculator on McMaster-Carr's website and came up with a 64" belt needed, measured around the pulleys and got 65". Bought a 64" belt at Tractor Supply. Perfect!


Now, let's just weld up a blade and we'll be ready to rumble. Uh, plug is falling off of the cord to the Do-All Bandsaw Blade Welder. No wonder, cord is crumbling and the plug is busted too.


Project for another day. Sigh. I'll just order a 111" blade from McMaster-Carr for $17.

Blade arrived on Monday (April 4th), I installed it and reset all of the guides. First cut in a long time.

A few more test cuts revealed that it drifts a bit to the left, so I need to compensate for that.

Mixed in with the bandsaw project was rebuilding my "garage-in-a-box" that collapsed under a heavy snow load and fixing the leaky Harbor Freight lift table.

Being a "packrat", I had saved all of the framework and main cover from a previous "garage". I replaced it because I knew that the cover wouldn't make it through another Winter. It'll do fine for this Spring and Summer until I can build something more permanent or just clean all of the crap out of the sheds where my equipment should be stored! Reassembled the frame one afternoon and reused the ends:


Battled a 20 mph wind, gusting to 30 mph putting the cover on by myself.

Good enough for the short-term.

Now, that leaky lift...

The pump assembly is very simple, but crudely machined.


The bore of the pump cylinder was poorly finished causing the o-ring on the pump shaft to tear.


So I made up a "hone" consisting of two dime sized discs of Scotchbrite screwed to the end of an aluminum dowel. That polished the pump bore pretty well, but there were still imperfections that could cause a leak. Reassembled with an aluminum crush washer in place of the original soft steel one, applied some sealer where the pump threads into the base of the hydraulic jack and reinstalled the unit. No more leak, even with a load and not locked into position. How long it'll stay that way? Who knows. If I have to do it again, I'll just machine a better pump assembly.

[Chuck in Indiana]

If you don't have any, a transfer punch set



makes short work of transferring holes. Faster, and more accurate than laying out.

wallowed

The correct technical term is wallared. 
Attaboy, Charlie. You'll be kicking yourself for not fixing that band saw years ago..

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

If you don't have any, a transfer punch set



makes short work of transferring holes. Faster, and more accurate than laying out.

The correct technical term is wallared. 
Attaboy, Charlie. You'll be kicking yourself for not fixing that band saw years ago..

I have a cheap set, but there wasn't a straight shot to use them. Would have needed an "S" shaped one.  Couldn't even get in there with a scribe or Sharpie.

I'd been kicking myself for a long time about the bandsaw, but it was a matter of principal - you break it, you fix it. Karl moved to Oregon last year, so it was down to me. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

 
As far as I'm concerned the two indispensable tools in a shop are a drill press and band saw.

[O]

Many thanks for documenting this build, including the 'bonus' projects.  I'm stuck indoors after work as torrential rain washes the salt from the roads.  This thread, a craft beer, and a ballgame on in the background make for not such a bad wet spring evening. 

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

As far as I'm concerned the two indispensable tools in a shop are a drill press and band saw.

Agreed. The old Craftsman drill press here needs a bit of work, but still gets the job done.

Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh yeah, pump mounting.

Cut the bracket out last night, rounded the corners, smoothed some edges and drilled some holes today. I need one more hole in the bottom right corner for the wiring to the starter, brake switch and rear lights to go through. Other than that, it's ready to be bent into shape.


Last week I thinking forward to luggage. I plan to do some longer trips this year if this thing turns out as well as I hope. Wixoms are nice looking but a bit small for any more than a long weekend. A few years ago I bought a pair of DB saddlebags that had been "smoothed" from Cam3512. Tried to sell them a few times, but never did, probably a good thing since I now plan to use them. Do these 'bags make my butt look big? 


Of course I'll have them painted to match the (Guzzi) polizia/"buffalo" fairing (and repro DB lowers for cold weather) that will migrate from "Barney".


I also have a DB rear fender guard that I might have rechromed and install.


The only other thing I've done this week was make a decision to not have a (foot pedal) shift lever. Instead I'll use a "nub" salvaged from the Convert rear brake lever to move the high/low arm if desired.

I'll install another right-side footpeg without the shifter bushing loop on the left.

That decision brought forth another to make: which side do I want the rear brake foot pedal on? I have both set-ups and my '69 is a left-footer which I like better. The left foot pedal is (new-old-stock) aluminum and kind of gets in the way of the starter, the right foot pedal is steel and will need to be rechromed. Gotta' think of some sort of a parking brake mechanism as well.

The first batch of new parts arrived last week (repro battery covers, fork tubes, crashbars, handlebars, Brembo F08 calipers) so in total I've spent around $1000 so far.

That's it - all caught up. Updates will be slow in coming now.

[oldbike54]

 Slow down Charlie , I can't keep up 

 Dusty

[Chuck in Indiana]

Do these 'bags make my butt look big?

Absolutely, but nothing else will hold the amount of stuff that DBs will. I had them on the Jack-All rig. If you can't get it in a pair of DBs, you don't need it. 

[smdl]

Lovin' this thread, Charlie!  Can't wait to see how the electric pump works out.

Cheers,
Shaun

[vstevens]

Wonderful machinist skills here... too bad this kind of practical work isn't taught in high schools anymore.

[twhitaker]

It is probably posted (answer) but why could the OEM oil pump / front cover not be used.

The front mounted alternator interferes with the fender and the belt driven generator interferes with the ATF pump.

[twowings]

Do you need an apprentice? 

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

It is probably posted (answer) but why could the OEM oil pump / front cover not be used.

It can be used, this is the way Mike Tiberio built his Eldovert. But you need adapter brackets at the front engine bolt to mount the engine to the frame.
http://www.thisoldtractor.com/moto_guzzi_loopframe_brackets_to_mount_a_tonti_timing_cover_in_a_loop_frame.html
I'm not really keen on that solution, I feel it compromises the overall rigidity of the chassis since the engine is a stressed member to a certain extent.

Another reason I didn't go that way is then you're stuck with the crank mounted alternator. IMO, the stock Bosch alternator is somewhat lacking in output and expensive to upgrade (to 400 watts is around $300, the jump to 450 is another $200). With the Scrambler Cycle alternator kit I'm using, I get 600 watts for $260.

Also, the cover of the crank mounted alternator will interfere with the front fender (using Loop triple trees, fender and braces) unless modifications are made. The rear brace of the fender needs to be moved down and new holes drilled. The fender may also need to be flattened in one spot as well. V700 triples may help since they have 20 mm more offset.

But the number one reason I'm retaining the Loop timing cover is looks. I wanted to retain the stock Loopframe front view aesthetic imparted by the belt cover and generator/alternator in the V. The only clues that my bike isn't just an ordinary Ambassador will be the oil cooler, battery cover decals, the lack of a shift lever and some strange fittings and hoses poking out on the right side of the transmission.  Of course, the square-fin engine will be a huge warning sign that something funky is going on.     

Part of the fun of doing a project like this is trying new things, doing it a bit different (for better or worse) than those who have gone before you.

[Groover]

Part of the fun of doing a project like this is trying new things, doing it a bit different (for better or worse) than those who have gone before you.

 

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Wonderful machinist skills here... too bad this kind of practical work isn't taught in high schools anymore.

Most of what I know, I learned from my father. He was a welder/fabricator by trade, but could do almost anything. He'd work a 10 hour day at his regular job, then come home and work several more fixing everything the local farmers had broken that day. He built hay wagons for all the local farmers, go-karts for local racers, cut down drive shafts for the hot-rod crowd, built a bunch of garden tractors and related equipment for himself, picnic tables and much more. Not to mention, built the house I live in and the shop I work in. All while raising seven kids.

Almost from the time we were big enough to walk, my brother and I were out in the shop "helping" my father. Earliest memories involve "hold this and look away" while he welded something. Later it was "I need a piece of this X" long" and off we'd go to the power hacksaw to cut it. We spent thousands of hours watching and helping him build things so it just came naturally to us.

Unfortunately, he died way too soon, just shy of his 61st birthday. Dropped dead of a heart-attack, right next to the shop, in one of mom's many flower beds. Wish he had stuck around longer, there was so much more I wanted to learn from him.

A small sampling of the stuff he built.

[Guzzistajohn]

Entertaining thread Charlie thanks for taking the time to post it

[maquette]

I hope you managed to save that sign Charlie. Love the project and can't wait for each installment. Off topic, the stainless oil supply lines from MG Cycle showed up. Thank you for saving me a ton of extra work. No oil leaky now!

Tom

[Chuck in Indiana]

Entertaining thread Charlie thanks for taking the time to post it

Yes, sir! Many times it takes longer to document doing something than doing it. This is entertaining *and* educational.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Dropped the pump mount off at a local sheet metal shop for bending today. They have the same type of huge press brakes that I used at my first job out of high school. Really no way of doing a good job of it myself and the bending brake my friend has couldn't make a sharp bend in 14 ga.

I would have preferred to do it myself and I'm sure this won't be the last time. Thinking about something small and inexpensive to do bending with and thought of this. Anyone ever tried one of these or similar?:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-Vise-Brake/H3245?utm_campaign=zPage

[Waltr]

Yes, thanks for posting Charlie. Especially like hearing about your dad.
Be well.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Dropped the pump mount off at a local sheet metal shop for bending today. They have the same type of huge press brakes that I used at my first job out of high school. Really no way of doing a good job of it myself and the bending brake my friend has couldn't make a sharp bend in 14 ga.

I would have preferred to do it myself and I'm sure this won't be the last time. Thinking about something small and inexpensive to do bending with and thought of this. Anyone ever tried one of these or similar?:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-Vise-Brake/H3245?utm_campaign=zPage

Yeah. Years ago, I made something similar about 15" long. BIL Harley Bob has a HF 20ton I think bottle press, and it'll bend fairly heavy stuff. I'll take a picture if you want.

[jrt]

Thanks for the stories and information- it's very interesting following along.

If you are hard up for space and don't mind spending a few bucks, the PDM60 will take the place of fuses and relays.  I have one on my Eldo.  Power throughput is a little limited, but they work well if you don't have extravagant needs.  Or maybe just use it for core electrical draws.
http://pdm60.com

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Thanks for the stories and information- it's very interesting following along.

If you are hard up for space and don't mind spending a few bucks, the PDM60 will take the place of fuses and relays.  I have one on my Eldo.  Power throughput is a little limited, but they work well if you don't have extravagant needs.  Or maybe just use it for core electrical draws.
http://pdm60.com

There's actually plenty of room for Greg's gang of four relays w/sockets and a flasher. I have a Hella 4 fuse block that will be mounted to the tank bracket to feed power to them and other things.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

There's actually plenty of room for Greg's gang of four relays w/sockets and a flasher. I have a Hella 4 fuse block that will be mounted to the tank bracket to feed power to them and other things.

"Plenty of room" he says. Uh, no. More about that later.

Picked up the bracket from the sheet metal shop I had bend it for me. Thankfully, they understood my directions and did it correctly.  Mounted it up, marked the location of the pump and then held the gang of four relays up to the plate. Room for only two after all. No problem, I'll put the headlight relays inside the headlight bucket the same as I've done on my '69 and '71. Wasn't happy with mounting the fuse block on the tank mount, so moved that to on top of the pump bracket along with the flasher relay. The seat will cover them, so they'll be out of sight. Drilled the holes and attached it all for a test fit.





The circle marks where I need to drill a hole so that I can adjust the pressure.


It all fits.


Top view. All of it will be hidden by the battery covers and seat.


Almost time to tear it back apart and send parts off for powdercoating, zinc-plating, chrome and paint.

 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Pretty darn nice, Charlie.. attaboy. 

[smdl]

Lookin' good!

Shaun

[Aldo]

These are the topics on the forum I enjoy most.  Nice work Charlie and thanks for sharing your progress.

[Muzz]

Charlie, between yourself, Chuck, Rodekyll and Canuck there is a complete "how to" on motorcycle maintenance, restoration and modification.

Thanks to all you guys for taking the time to post; I personally have learnt heaps from your projects. Your skills amaze me.

[lazlokovacs]

^^^^^

fully agree.

keep em coming guys,

very much appreciated

[Groover]

Motivational bump 


Hope all is well!