Ryan's A.M.C.A. Giveaway bike build!

[Matthew N. Olse]

I just did that with a set of '48-'50 OHV tanks. You can really get at the dents and hardly any filler was used to finish them off. I don't have a tig outfit so I did what H-D must have done. I gas welded them with steel filler rod. I was slow and clumbsy at first but once you get the hang of it you can really sail along and almost "hear" when it's right. Still, I have to wonder how H-D did that in volume considering the number of years that tank was produced. I guess after many years of welding gas tanks; a guy would get quite proficient at it.

Eric,
I have a friend that worked for HD in the 50s, and he said that the guys that welded the tanks together were the neatest thing to see. He told me that the torches that they used to gas weld them together had a 6 to 8 inch skinny flame, and the welders held the tip of the flame 4 or 5 inches from the seam that they were welding. Sounds pretty wild, I wish that I could have seen it.



We went to the Palm Garden for lunch. I am friends with the owner Carlisle, he gave us two fresh ginger bread men. They were really good.



Here is what the inside of the tank looks like after it was bead blasted.


Here is the worst dent after a little bit of pounding. We filed the tank to see the low spots.




We took this opportunity to beat out a couple of the dents. I usually use a brick, but I wanted to impress Ryan, so I dug out some actual body shop tools...

[Matthew N. Olse]

Here is the inside of the tank after Ryan beat the dent out


Here is the outside, it is really nice. It will still need some bondo, but not much. We beat out a couple other dents and ....


I clamped a piece of thick steel to the tank before it got tacked together.


We got most of it welded back together, then our pizza showed up. To be continued...

[exeric]

You guys do nice work.

[c.o.]

You guys do nice work.

You've got that right Eric! It looks like if these guys gotta fix something they make sure it's done right! What a great thread...........

[Chuck#1848]

Hey Matt and Eric,

If you have a decient dc welder you could buy a Tig torch ,regulator and small bottle of gas I generally use argon unless I am welding aluminum for roughly $350. bucks or so and trust me when I say this you will wish you did it years ago.

And a foot pedal will make your life a lot more easier to, I have been tig welding for close to 30 years now mainly welding stainless steel.

[Slojo]

Matt
I am surprised that initially you did not have confidence in Ryan’s ability. After all the deliberations through the selection process and all the great talent the applicants demonstrated by their essays you should have known we picked a winner.
In Ryan’s essay he demonstrated self perseverance in the difficult times with his family fracturing he did not give up,,, Read when the going gets tough the tough get going, right?
Ryan also showed confidence in himself by personal motivation with COMPLETION of not one but two bikes while still attending high school. You remember pure pressure by the kids who thru difficult time may have taken the wrong path not Ryan, while his friends were out doing who knows what Ryan BUILT BIKES.
His mechanical ability shined through by his capabilities to actually build bikes with the most basic of tools in his garage. Probably not much more than a hammer and a pair of vise grips. Ryan is not a dreamer he is an achiever.
Ryan was not picked because he had the best grammar or writing skills. He also was not picked because he had the best smile (although the best smile may have been a good candidate). Ryan was selected because he earned the position he now holds. Ryan has articulated his abilities of self motivation talent competence skills…..he has the proofs.
Besides Matt in our candidate selective process consideration was taken so as not to bog your shop down with a burdensome candidate lacking sufficient skills to pull this bike build off. The objective was not to invade Carl and your valuable shop time. The club as a whole has demonstrated by all the parts donations, that it is excited to bring Ryan into the fold.
I personally am looking forward to you building the Sears Spacky for the Cannonball so we can once again ride together across country, we can’t have a incompetent unwilling kid holding you a competent willing kid back.
I also look forward to perhaps riding along side Ryan some day with his bobbed fourtyfive.
Give it all you have Ryan the club is behind you.
Joe

[Matthew N. Olse]

Hey Guys,
The reason that I have been typing all of these messages is because Ryan is still waiting on his account to get activated. Hopefully he will be up and running in a week or so, and he can help with some of the posting responsibilities. Last night was a good night, we finished welding up the tank, and straightened out the mounting tabs. The lower rear tab on his gas tank is broken, so he will make one up today or tomorrow, while we can still trace the good tab for the oil tank. We did a fun oil line fitting lathe project yesterday. I machined the first one, and ryan did the second one. Ryan is running rubber lines on his 45, so we had to do a little bit of lathe work.


Here we are turning down the od of the nipple.


In this pic Ryan is cuttting the second radius down to a diameter of .365


Then he takes out the material in the middle to finish it.


The finished part!


Here is a pic of Ryan straightening out the oil tank tab!


All three tabs are straight de burred and ready to be welded to the oil tank.. as soon as Ryan copies the rear one.

[D.Mac]

I'm with these fellas! If this is the beginning of a new trend for this forum I'm all for it. Thank-you Matt for including the rest of us in this build!

Yeah! These threads showing build details are the greatest. I don't think there's many of us that can't learn something from this thread and Joe's thread. Nice clear photo's too. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing. Ryan, you're a lucky guy, I'm sure your bike is going to turn out great.
Doug.

[VL Girl]

Thanks for sharing this Matt! The tanks came out great... Glad Ryan is wearing the glasses too.

Gotta love the gingerbread guys too.

[Matthew N. Olse]

IMG]http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd1/MatthewOlsen/P1040062-1.jpg[/IMG]
We left off at the oil tank being 80 percent welded back together. We finished tig welding it back together, and tested it for leaks. Ryan sealed off the fittings and drain plugs and put an n.o.s. oil tank cap on the tank and filled it with water and tested for leaks. There were none!


With the tank seam leak proof we moved onto welding the tabs on. Ryan laid the tabs on the template that he made earlier, then set the tank on it.


Then I welded the brackets on the tank for him. Ryan is still learning how to tig weld, and doesn't want to practice on anything particularly important. We will get him trained up by the end of his stay in south Dakota!


The next project that Ryan moved onto was making a repair piece for his bottom gas tank mount. The one on the far left is the damaged original one. The two directly on the right of the damaged ones are the practice tabs that he made. They didn't quite turn out the way he wanted them, so he made another one, which was perfect. I admire Ryan's attention to detail and high standards.


Here it is welded on the tank, Ryan cut the original tab off on the tank surface so that he could have some additional weld holding the new tab to the tank.


Here is the other side, the weld penetration is very good.


With the tank project out of the way for now. Ryan moved onto drilling the holes in his frame for the plug welds that will be holding the tubes and slugs together.


The plug welds will be strong enough to hold the tubes in place forever, plus we will be sweat-brazing the joints just like the factory did. This will be a very strong and un detectable fix when we are done with it.


Ryan is bead blasting his cylinders right now, it will probably take him all night. I am going home, have a good night everybody.
best,
Matt Olsen