1967 V700 Corsa-Record

[Canuck750]

Nice work Clint, cominga long real nice

are you going to make the fairing to match?







I can hardly believe I took this picture back in 2013, where does the time go?

[cliffrod]

I'm not sure.  We were talking about it today.  Fairings on a bike in a small shop are a drag, but i do like the fairing.  will probably make one eventually.  There are a lot of other things needing address first.

Edit- I didn't realize those were YOUR pictures, Jim.  Thank you for taking them and letting them get out into the Internet realm. They have been a significant resource for this project. 

[Canuck750]

I'm not sure.  We were talking about it today.  Fairings on a bike in a small shop are a drag, but i do like the fairing.  will probably make one eventually.  There are a lot of other things needing address first.

Edit- I didn't realize those were YOUR pictures, Jim.  Thank you for taking them and letting them get out into the Internet realm. They have been a significant resource for this project.

I hope you can make the fairing one day, it would be great.

I kick myself for not taking many, many more pictures of the museum bikes, I took a lot of pictures of the V7 Sport because that was the bike I was restoring at the time but I sure wish I had taken a couple hundred pictures of the various bacon slicers and race bikes, I need to get back to Italy and the Guzzi museum, hopefuly next year....

Italian panel beating is ART in itself

[cliffrod]

I hope you can make the fairing one day, it would be great.

I kick myself for not taking many, many more pictures of the museum bikes, I took a lot of pictures of the V7 Sport because that was the bike I was restoring at the time but I sure wish I had taken a couple hundred pictures of the various bacon slicers and race bikes, I need to get back to Italy and the Guzzi museum, hopefuly next year....

Italian panel beating is ART in itself

What I've learned doing this tank is that some of the  organic shapes that are so quintessentially Italian are not necessarily a deliberately composed design.  They are simply a natural action-reaction function of the metal as it is hammered, stretched and shaped in certain areas and left alone in other areas. 

The side of those original Record bike tanks got the majority of their "flow" by how they were stretched at top and bottom while the center area was left alone in whole or part.   I was tempted to leave them that way and not add the more pronounced concave detail.  But they were in strong tension, which is not good for installation.  Adding the deliberate concave detail relieved that tension and looks like the Ducati Americano tanks l like so much.  The Record bikes were built for such limited use, they only had to survive for a few days of use.  Mine will hopefully get more,use than that.

I'm really enjoying the Metalshaping.  My original plan was to do this level of special bodywork for my V7 Sport, simply because I had it.   Simply bolt-on stuff,  but use it as a canvas for new shapes.  Then this loop chunk showed up cheap, I discovered the Record bikes and it was time for a new plan.

[Rick4003]

Very nice work, and thank you for the detailed description and pictures of the tools! 

[cliffrod]

Thanks, Rick.   Hopefully it will help others make parts they want for their bikes.

The original bikes used a cheap generic Italian flip-up gas cap.  They were also used on some of the MV Augusta singles. Repro versions available now as ultra lightweight racing fuel cap are slightly different (both cap and base ring), but I was able to source an original cap. 

For the filler neck. I folded a double thickness of aluminum with extra length for the neck, rolled it into a tube and filed it to fit inside the base ring.  After it was ready, I marked the tank and made a hole with a knock-out punch.





To install the filler neck, I turned a flange on the hole in the tank.  I started with a simple slotted tipping tool before working the flange into final shape with hammer and dolly.  The more refined way to make one is with a flaring or belling die set.  Without a flange, welding is much more difficult and the tank is likely to distort when the weld cools.  The lip created by the folded double thickness provide the necessary arrangement for a butt weld between flange & filler neck.









All was welded together. I welded the filler neck with oxy/hyd.  No issues, no problems.  Tried welding filler neck to tank with oxy/hyd and still need to learn how to do larger pieces....  So I used my oxy/act torch and had the weld done in a couple of minutes.









The filler neck is long to allow trimming if needed.  This old cap came with the original shrunken, hardened rubber cap gasket.  Until that gasket has been replaced with ??, I don't know how tall or short it needs to be. 

[Canuck750]

Thanks for sharing the details of your fabrication, very imformative, you make it look easy but I know its anything but

[cliffrod]

Well, resolving the welds on this tank IS a lot faster & easier with oxy/act.... 

I've been filing and planishing a little and fixing the holes.  With more work, I'm sure I could make it perfectly straight and smooth but that isn't how the original tanks were finished.   It's clear from the pics they are not perfect.  After all is done and it's painted with primer, this tank should look pretty close to those tanks.

















edit -   

Thanks for sharing the details of your fabrication, very imformative, you make it look easy but I know its anything but

 

Those MG Museum pics you've sent have already helped, Jim.  Among other things, I've been able to see the rear fender mounts to battery tray were riveted to the fender.  That's been a blurry detail in every pic to date.  So I'll be correcting that shortly.  Thanks, man.

[cliffrod]

i don't have the material for bungs or related parts here yet for the tank, so I made a little progress on the frame. 

The rear hoop of the frame has been cut like the original bikes.  The frame tubes needed to be capped and exhaust hangers needed to be made & installed.

Based upon Jim's museum pics, the original hangers appear to be made of two pieces, laminated together to provide some wrap around the frame rail for better integrity.  I made mine a little longer on the outside, figuring they will have to last longer than a few days of use.

Caps and hangers-









Gas welded in place, with quick wire wheel/sander clean-up and a shot of primer-

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

It really looks like a bike now! 

[cliffrod]

Thanks, Chad.  One of these days, it'll get done.  In the meantime, a little more progress ....

The original exhaust nuts in the engine aren't perfect, but they're not half destroyed by channel lock pliers like the ones that came on (and are still on) my V7 Sport.  They didn't easily budge with a wooden drift.  So for the last however long, I've been keeping them wetted with ATF.   There isn't an exhaust wrench in my G5 Guzzi tool kit on the sport.  Nothing else in the tool boxes here fit particularly well.  And those cool exhaust wrenches on eBay cost $$$. 

So while Elsmore observed the other day, I made a quick rubbed paper pattern of the installed nut.  Glued it to a handy piece of scrap metal.  About an hour of Hole sawing, bandsawing/hack sawing and some filing later, it fits pretty good and works even better. 













Both nuts came loose with no trouble or damage.  Threads in heads are great.  Very cool and Elsmore was thoroughly entertained by the effort.    but I finally lost a long-suffering tire on the bandsaw at the beginning of this project.  Once that's replaced,  I'll pretty up the wrench with rounded corners and a nicer handle

[Canuck750]

Nice job fabricating that exhaust nut wrench! Far more satisfying than just plugging in your MasterCard and ordering one.
I need to make one just like that for my Moto Morini 500 and hadn’t figured out how to make it.

[cliffrod]

Nice job fabricating that exhaust nut wrench! Far more satisfying than just plugging in your MasterCard and ordering one.
I need to make one just like that for my Moto Morini 500 and hadn’t figured out how to make it.

It's very low tech...  That's why Elsmore stood around and watched.  He said he wanted to see this work.

A piece of scrap paper is marked on the end of the pipe.





The marked circle is trimmed and opened in one side to easily fit over pipe.  Then it is installed against the exhaust nut and rubbed with a dirty finger to define the pattern.









Now the pattern & blank are nearly ready for a quick squirt of 3M 77 upholstery adhesive.   Trimming the pattern with a razor blade after gluing it to the blank helps assure the tabs will properly aligned and not torn.





Before I glued up pattern & blank when I made my wrench, I used a slightly undersized 1 3/4" hole saw on my drill press to open the center close the needed approx 1 7/8" diameter..  That made it easier to roughly align the pattern to the blank.  After that, it was a matter of sawing and filing away what wasn't needed.

I tried to keep the end tabs very tight and work the other tabs away from the center point.  Its also important to keep checking the fit from both faces of the wrench to make sure the tabs are even & square.  It's a little tedious but worth it to get a tight fit.  And to show Elsmore how to do something new...

[cliffrod]

As my lathe skills for making bungs for the tank develop, I got a sheet of 18g crs for bike and car stuff.  I need a slip roll to make the exhaust components.  Using materials collected for other machines, I made a very low $$ version of a slip roll.

About a foot of angle iron was cut, trimmed and welded to make both fulcrum and adjustable ends.  Fulcrum end needs a little shim work but that's simple.









The adjustable end has top retainers with a simple welded nut adjuster to allow the lower two bars to spread to form a taper.









Screwed to an oak board, all is good-





Metal isn't formed by rolling.  The longer top bar is pressed down as the metal is progressively moved to produce an even bend.   Using a piece of scrap that wasn't trimmed, it quickly became a nice smooth rolled piece of aluminum.  Very cool.













I wouldn't want to go into production using my slip roll bender, but it works great.  Making one with three pieces of plain iron or black pipe, some scrap lumber and screws would probably work just as well and be even cheaper.  For a machine that may not be used much, it's another low $$ option.

[cliffrod]

there's multiple ways to produce the patterns for tapered cones.  I hate doing lots of math, so I used the wooden patterns of the reverse cone megaphones that I made (scaled up from pics of the original bikes) with paper, tape, ruler and sharp knife to do the patterns for the metal blanks.

Paper was taped to the wooden patterns, then tightly wrapped & overlapped before being taped to itself.  the ends of the taper were trimmed with a sharp knife.   A straight edge was taped to the overlapped paper.   A cut along the straight edge produces nice long edges as it releases the paper from the wooden pattern.  lots easier that trying to lay out and produce perfect precise radii cuts...









With collector, main taper and reverse taper, there are three patterns in total. 

[cliffrod]

The long parts were more challenging to get into shape than the short tips, but I'm happy with the results.

Laid out the patterns and cut the blanks from 18g steel.





I used my slip roll bender, a wood slapper to help convince the long parts to curve and a long piece of pipe to gain more leverage.  Steel bars like these flex at a predictable rate, so you've got to assist the metal to curve in the center where flex is most counterproductive. 





Everything can be gas welded  and then will wait for final trim & fitment to bike after the new head pipes and crossover are made.

[Michael Moore]

I've made similar exhaust nut wrenches (Ducati) by taking an old nut that still had some of the fins on it, cutting a bad section of broken fins out to open it up and then attaching a handle. 

[SED]

Impressive work!  Love your roller - might have to make one.

[cliffrod]

Impressive work!  Love your roller - might have to make one.

Thanks, man.  The good words are much appreciated.

The best thing about this slip roller bender is there are no commitments of special materials like the steel bar that are kept around to be used for a variety of jobs.  as example, I needed to tune these long cones. Real Pexto stakes for such mandrel-type work are hard to find and not cheap.  So a handy steel bar, like one used for the slip roll bender, can be clamped into a vise and used with a simple outboard leg, in this case a scrap length of 2x4 with a slightly larger hole through it, and it becomes a great mandrel to use with a slapper, made from an old file.





Easy to install, remove and adjust tension on leg as needed.  It's equally fast and easy to install and remove work.

All parts are welded, tuned as needed, welds dressed and shot with some handy paint simply to ward off rust until there's time and materials for more progress.   Wooden patterns, paper patterns, finished collectors and reverse cone megaphones.





Sure has been great to have had time and gorgeous fall weather to to enjoy while spending a weekend making bike parts.  Very cool.

[Turin]

Oh man do I need to start working on my heap. your bike is going to be amazing!

[cliffrod]

Oh man do I need to start working on my heap. your bike is going to be amazing!

Thanks, man.  I hope so. I've been studying your 850T pics & details, thinking about engine build details when that far away day comes.  Until then, the carnage continues.  Today, another egg was broken and another omelet was made.  Fabrication for the rearsets began.... 

First step was the sawing-





All I have for reference to make these rearsets are a variety of pics from a variety of angles that are just as varied in how much or little usable information they provide.  I would doubt the original bikes used solid bar for the loop, simply because it would have been unnecessary weight.  I've looked at some new steel tubing.  But since I'm cheap and romantic, I figured I already had a perfect piece of factory-approved tubing to try and use.  So the original rear footpeg bracket was carefully trimmed away from the removed loop.





The tube was cleaned, reshaped and shortened.  A pair of new peg brackets were cut and shaped before being welded to the new shortened hoop.  When the pedal and shifter is made, the brackets will be drilled and a sleeve added between them for strength.  Probably will add some support connecting the edges of the two bracket pieces after that is done to keep all as strong and aligned as possible.  When it's time to weld everything to the frame, I'll make a pair of steel inserts to replace the dowels holding it together right now for pics.





The remaining original tube and bracket will be put aside and saved, just in case I can recycle it into the project at some point.

[cliffrod]

A quick update for those following..

For nearly 20 yrs, we've lived adjacent to large pastures.  Laid back, no worries. Very cool.  Now the pastures are turning into a 1000-house subdivision.  Not cool.  So my termite-eaten, cracked & jacked slab wood/model shop that cannot be locked will be removed and rebuilt twice as large.  One bay will be my new bigger wood shop.  The other will be much-needed dedicated bike & car parking/storage.  So my Corsa Record is being sidelined in order to put my 1967 Galaxie- which was underway & sidelined when the Guzzi arrived- back together and out of the shop to make room for my woodshop equipment during construction.  Aside from collecting parts, I'm not expecting to get much work done on any bike for quite a while.  Kinda bummed, but will be great to finally get vehicles out of work areas and make things more secure & efficient.

On a more positive note, progress is being made my second Corsa Rosso V700-ish loop project. A bare V700 frame and wheels I've had for years will wear all the oem parts removed from my Corsa Record project.  A good group of V700 parts from a deceased Guzzi friend named Richard came fromTN.  The 850 Guzzi tractor will participate in some way.  A usable front end was sourced via eBay.  Earlier this fall, Mayor of BBQ Chad donated a 5 gallon bucket + of nuts, bolts and other Loop pieces.  Nick sent some bits from up north.  Yesterday, a big box arrived from Charlie Mullendore with front brake, front fender mounts, petcocks to rebuild and a well-ventilated but free later loop gas tank that will be used as a pattern for an aluminum tank.   It will be fun to build a bike from parts & friends when the time comes.  Thanks, guys.

And I got a crunchy but decent 1966 Sprint a week ago to put back for later. Building a bike like Jim's Ala Verde is tempting, but so is a cafe bike more along the lines of Lino Tonti's Linto 500 or other Aermacchi-related machines...





Until then, thanks for watching.  I'll be back.

[Turin]

I've had a couple of galaxies. FE under the hood?

[cliffrod]

I've had a couple of galaxies. FE under the hood?

Yup.  Factory Q code 428 C6 red on red bench seat car with a/c and original disc brakes.  61k original miles.  Ive got a 428pi intake, 427 long exhaust manifolds, bigger Holley and more to set it up just like my old 67 Galaxie with a 428PI that I built as a kid.  Planning to change trans to a a 67 390 Galaxie wide ratio 4 speed toploader and add pentroof valve covers & a Holman Moody style NASCAR cowl plenum air cleaner that I've made.













No fancy resto, just an old car.  It should make a great Guzzi tow car when needed...

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

The filler neck is long to allow trimming if needed.  This old cap came with the original shrunken, hardened rubber cap gasket.  Until that gasket has been replaced with ??, I don't know how tall or short it needs to be.

Cliff PM me your address I have a couple sheets of great gasket for this application. I used it to replace the cork gasket on my Ambo tank cap and it has been stellar.

[cliffrod]

Cliff PM me your address I have a couple sheets of great gasket for this application. I used it to replace the cork gasket on my Ambo tank cap and it has been stellar.

Thanks for the offer, Chad.  I have some flat material here that's probably similar here.. The ? is more about how I configure and attach the seal.  The original seal/gasket is somewhat fancy.  The repro caps appear to use a metal retainer (probably with rivets) to hold a flat gasket in place, which is probably how I'll do mine. 

I've also got some new muscadine wine here, so expect we can come to an appropriate arrangement.....

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

Still havent got that in the mail, Clint. I had some manilla envelopes around here somewhere... cant seem to find them. Will depart soon, good thing this is a long-term project. FYI the material is Buna-N (Nitrile) sheet at 1/8" thick IIRC

It should mosey down there in the next week or so, maybe it will beat Santa to your hose! And yeah, I am always down for some muscadine wine!

[cliffrod]

Still havent got that in the mail, Clint. I had some manilla envelopes around here somewhere... cant seem to find them. Will depart soon, good thing this is a long-term project. FYI the material is Buna-N (Nitrile) sheet at 1/8" thick IIRC

It should mosey down there in the next week or so, maybe it will beat Santa to your hose! And yeah, I am always down for some muscadine wine!

No time for any Guzzi progress lately, but I wanted to post a couple of quick updates-

1.  I wanted to post a big thank you to the Mayor for his generous donation of Buna-N to the project & the gas cap gasket effort.  Your muscadine wine awaits.

2. I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to learn that I (or at least some guy with almost the same name as me- I'm the II, not the III...) have been awarded Metal Shaper of the Month over on the AllMetalShaping forum for the metal shaping portions of this ongoing bike build!!  Very cool- sure didn't see that coming. 





Looking forward to getting caught up some around here so I can get back into the project.   Lawn mowing season is about to begin and that always complicates fun time in the shop.

[cliffrod]

Time for a brief update and HUGE thank you. 

Life responsibilities continue to take priority over bike stuff.  Then, the addition of an 81 Lemans CX100 to the herd at the end of April and ongoing sorting diverted limited available attention and resources from the Corsa Record project.  But the break has allowed me some perspective and time to better critique my progress to date.

I’m not happy with the tank top, in terms of comparison to the World Record bikes.  I’ve taken some artistic liberty, but now it’s not what I want it to represent.  The spontaneous character of the original bikes is what I want to capture, but. It’s hard to be accurately spontaneous on purpose….  I also want to add some baffles to benefit handing, which would be difficult with the current one piece top.  Mad Genius Allen Millyard did a similarly-shaped tank for his replica Honda RC 250-6 build, which he fabricated & assembled in a different order to facilitate the installation of baffles.  So a full rework had become the plan. 

This morning, I was surprised with a large group of pics from Canuck750 Jim Carey in my email inbox.  He generously took time during his current Mandello Anniversary trip to get many new pics of the existing original World Record bike in the factory museum, including many details I had yet to clearly see.   One shows the rear of the tank being much more narrow than I previously understood it to be.  So a serious rework of the tank is now even more palatable.

These pics will be indispensable to the project and are sincerely appreciated.  Thank you for being a friend, Jim.

[Tkelly]

Several years ago a friend Let me ride his v700 and I was surprised by how good the handling and brakes were compared with my memory of my old Eldo.