Bacon Slicer project

[SED]

Foot rests didn't match.  Both looked like they had been bent and re-bent - primary side (right in pictures) more than once! Better after a little rebending:

   


The left peg is the pivot for the brake pedal and was so worn that welding up the worn bearing surface of the peg was one of the first things I did back in 2017.  There wasn't much I could do with the worn pedal bearing which was ovalized.

          


Now's the time to make a new brake pedal bearing - 1" sch 80 black iron pipe cut to size and brazed in like the original. 

               
 

So much less play!  Can't wait to try it for real!

   

[SED]

There's also lots of silly jobs to do before taking parts to the painter.  Drive out bearing races.  Straighten steering stop on front triangle. Drill and tap worn center stand pivot bolts. Weld up worn stand stops on main frame and stand.  Clean up old welds. All parts pickled with Ospho (phosphoric acid treatment) and wiped down.

              


Chose paint matched to the inside of the speedo blanking plate and loaded the first 1/2 of the parts into the car.  The box of paint (arrow) was Holy Cr*p! expen$ive.  1st bunch of parts in paint booth.

       
 

[SED]

Parts came back a couple days ago.  Wow! 

   


Next batch....

[Rick4003]

Looks great! All the little jobs always take a lot longer than you would expect them to!

Love the color! Can't wait to see it finished and the video of it running! :)

[SED]

Thanks Rick!  Maybe by fall...?

Here's another silly job that will be a great improvement...

One of the first jobs I'd done was to try to eliminate some of the slop in the shifter pivot by tuning the pin and installing a brass shim but it wasn't enough.  The rocker pivot was ovalized from wear so needed to be reamed.  I used one of the collection of old reamers I'd bought on ebay and it worked OK after some cleaning.  The gap was made up by installing bronze bushings and turning them to fit. The shifter pivot is now a precision fit! 

           

[SED]

This bike has a newer engine in an 1937 frame.  The factory gave the frame date, but not the original engine number.  The engine number was a mystery until the chrome was stripped and the original number revealed.  (why didn't they use the flywheel from the newer engine?)




The timing mark would have been polished away by rechroming:


 

Tracing the arrow and digits on a photo resulted in digital images that I took to the local engraver and he did a great job!  Now it can be rechromed and the old engine number will stay with the frame.
           
 

[blackcat]

Wow, quite the project.  Looks like it is slowly coming together, great work!

[SED]

Wow, quite the project.  Looks like it is slowly coming together, great work!

Thanks Blackcat.  I'm not normally this patient and meticulous so maybe I'm maturing.  Or trying to fix my mistakes.   

Many of the parts that were chromed on the later bikes were black oxide coated on the great depression bikes.  Ariels were similar.  The pictures of this original 1937 GTS show parts that are not chrome, black paint or zinc - they are black/brown:

   


The traditional black-oxide is applied in a vat of caustic manganese phosphate solution heated to well above boiling (so says the interweb).   Many small production shops have switched to a room temperature black oxide process that uses an acidic copper solution.  (it requires less energy and doesn't have the heavy metal disposal problems of the traditional method.)  Caswell sells small quantities of this solution.
While the coating is rust resistant it must be coated with something to seal it from the elements.  Traditionally linseed oil was used so I used the same. Here are the results:

              
 

Large parts were painted with DP-90 black epoxy primer (instead of using the Caswell) then coated with linseed oil.  It's a good match!  The 3 pieces at the top of the 2nd pic are epoxy primer.

I'd thought that Parkerizing was a trade name for the traditional hot caustic black oxide method, but it turns out that it is different chemically - instead it is an acidic solution heated to about 180F.   So there are 3 choices for black oxide - Parkerizing, Caswell (and others) room temp black oxide and the traditional hot caustic black oxide.

[blackcat]

Nice finish, those finishes are not cheap but I guess there is no other option. I need to have four bolts coated black, guess I'll just buy a can of VHT black oxide finish for $10 bucks and re-coat as needed.

[Rick4003]

That black oxide finish can also be done using cold blue, I just bought a small bottle from the local hunting shop. It is used extensively on firearms. So you should have plenty of access to it in the US. Unless everybody is preparing their guns for shooting Corona

The bottle I bought is made by Birchwood Casey and is called Super blue. I paid 125dkr which is around 18Usd. I'm guessing it is much cheaper in the US. So not that expensive. I have yet to try it out, but I have a few bolts for an old drill press that needs to be treated, so I can return with the results when I'm done :)

-Ulrik

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Nice finish, those finishes are not cheap but I guess there is no other option. I need to have four bolts coated black, guess I'll just buy a can of VHT black oxide finish for $10 bucks and re-coat as needed.

You can buy this product at most model train stores:
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Blackenit.html

Not sure how well it holds up outdoors, may need to be cleared over to prevent rust.

[SED]

Got more parts back from the painter:

     


He did a great job of making iffy steel look very good without sculpting it out of plastic!

[SED]

Had hoped to have the engine back together by now, but still waiting on parts.  Planned to have the wheels built too, but rims had rusty chrome so dithered.  Finally sprung for new rims so now waiting on them...
     That leaves the bicycle frame...


Main frame and stand:




Spring tubes and swingarm buffers:




Swing arm and spring rods:  (fortunately the swingarm bushings in the frame were not quite worn out - about the only thing on this bike!)

   


Spring pack:  That's about 5 feet of springs for 3 inches travel!   

   


People always complain there's not enough grease    A little adjustment and the swingarm is installed!

         

[Canuck750]

The bacon slicer rear suspension is brilliant, especialy for its time. I am really looking forward to seeing the frame back together with the lovely new paint!

I freshened up the scissor damper mechanism on my 58' Cardellino yesterday, Guzzi specified some great engineering, the little star shaped springs that compress the lock washers into the slotted nuts is very clever.

[SED]

Agreed, the Bacon slicer is a crazy combination of really innovative and really old school.  And the combination of the swingarm and sprung saddle is really comfortable.  Rear suspension is no lightweight tho! 

Went to fit the rear braces and found that both needed repairs surfaced so the fasteners would seat - don't know why it looks worse now.  Also found that the right side brace was still about 1/4 low.  So some paint was scratched.   But everything looks square now.

Amazed how much my perception of what is good enough has changed!  Anyway, finally got them well fitted, but not permanently installed as I'm still waiting on the correct fasteners.  Dampers are just for show - and to check alignment.  They have the same star-spring, lock-washer combo as the Cardellino.

   


 

[SED]

Spent a couple days putting the parallelogramo together.

Frame front triangle is held on by 2 pins -  flex makes it comfortable!      



Installed the head stock bearings.  Make sure the steering damper works.



Install the spring in the girder, then slip it into the steering head, then install the upper link from the left with your 3rd hand.  With your 4th you can hold the spring away from the steering head so as not to scratch the paint.   



Cam lock or ratchet straps can be used to compress the spring enough insert the lower link from the left.  Removing the straps will allow the fork to hang down until the spring rests the steering head and scratches the paint.  The best solution is to leave the straps in place or loop wire between the upper and lower pins to keep the spring compressed.




Adjust the end play in the pins, then tighten the friction dampers.


 

[SED]

The gas tank is corroded paper thin so it the panels are painted rather than chrome. 


   


And pinstriping to set it off based on an unrestored original.

             

[SED]

Rebuilding the wheels should have been the first job, but I didn't have any of the right parts so stalled.   

Wrong brakes (1931 3spd) and right brakes 1934-41 GTV.

           


Seller cut the hubs out of the rims and sent the brakes.  Strip, straighten, chrome, paint, new bearings, cut seals, turn axel spacers, reline shoes...

         

   


Rims were rusty toast so eventually decided on new. 




Lacing and truing the wheels. Spoke lengths from seller and parts book did not match so wheels had to be laced in the frame to determine spoke lengths.  Some spacers were missing so that was another unknown. Front was relatively easy.

        


Rear didn't want to lace evenly or center in frame so laced and unlaced it about half a dozen times     Eventually was able to true it on the centerline.


 

Then took them all apart to have the center stripe painted...

[SED]

This time for real...


 


First time on its wheels since December.  Feels better!

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

 

[Canuck750]

Nice job lacing the rims, wheels look great! The slots in the hub that receive the spokes look odd, never seen anything like that before, I should take a closer look at my Airone to see if a similar hub was used on the smaller bike.

[SED]

Nice job lacing the rims, wheels look great! The slots in the hub that receive the spokes look odd, never seen anything like that before, I should take a closer look at my Airone to see if a similar hub was used on the smaller bike.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Slots are pretty common (the Ariel has them too) on the 1/2 width hubs; otherwise you need to bend the spokes into curlycues on the small side just to lace them.  I've got a ca. 1931 Guzzi front hub with just holes (no slots) and is nearly impossible to lace.

[SED]

The engine was going to be the first job after stripping paint, but the conrod looked sketchy after running it without oil    Finding a good rod was an exasperating experience!



First (middle - click on image to see all 3) took 2 months to arrive - it spent 45-50 days in the NY customs office at the height of the coronavirus outbreak there.  But it was 90 grams too heavy and the Guzzi name was upside down!  Then Canuck750 got a great looking rod (right) in some parts and made me a nice trade.  BUT someone had torqued it down onto oversized bearings and it was sprung.  A local machinist said he could surface the cap/rod joint and line bore the rod, but when I pulled the cap there was grit under it and so not a round bore.    Machinist tried again and got it better - barely within tolerance.   

Decided to go for it.  And securely stake the bearings into the case while at it!


 
Nice to have the cases back together!

[edit]  Thanks to Canuck750 for the nice connecting rod!   

[SED]

Primary gears, clutch and generator drive go back together! 

      



Disassemble and clean world's smallest oil pump.  The faces of the impeller teeth indicate a rough life.





A quick hone on the cylinder, check ring and skirt gaps.  Pin is nice sliding fit.  Laying out parts for rocker box and pushrod tube.  This is getting good now!

          

[SED]

Been getting some things done!

Easy way to get the engine in the frame without scratching paint.

      



edit: OOPs - clicked post.  More in the next.

[SED]

There's more...

New steel cushdrive plate finally arrived:

   


Straightened rack and tool boxes went together without scratching paint - hurray!

         


Slicer in in place! 

   


Foot controls, handle bar and cables, front fender...

         


Installing the plumber's nightmare, but there was a setback.      The fix was to clean (kerosene, crud cutter detergent, brakeclean, phosphoric acid, compressed air), wick some superglue into the crack and then reinforce the fitting with a blob of JBWeld.

       


One of the best things about this project is learning to do new things - pinstriping! 




For those of you interested in such things - 6 cable controls on handle bar, 4 oil pipes.   

[Canuck750]

Looks great,

Are you brush painting your pin stripes by hand?

That is a skill I need to tackle.

[SED]

Looks great,

Are you brush painting your pin stripes by hand?

That is a skill I need to tackle.

Yes, but only the wheels!  A very skilled expert painted the rest of the tinware.  Wheels are simple because you just hold your hand steady and rotate the wheel.  And the expert is a couple hours away.

There are several youtube videos showing how pinstripe.

[SED]

Installed an unused 28mm PHBH from the Monza. - even connected the enrichener to the choke lever.  The PHBH is new to the bike so a bit of a risk, but it is in much better shape than the original Dellorto and more appropriate than the Mikuni.




Reinstalling the wiring was tedious but all checked out.




Installed tank, seat and exhaust.  Really need to get a different headpipe 

      


Was sent the wrong decals so those will have to wait.

Checked valves clearances, timing, spark, air pressure etc.  Just waiting for the rain to stop!   

[Canuck750]

Gorgeous