1925 JD Cannonball Bike

[ricmoran]

Nice work, wish I had the space for a shop like yours.

[Jerry Wieland]

Ric It isn't like it just showed up yesterday. I have been accumulating shop machinery for the better part of 40 years. It started when I was 14 on the family farm when I bought my first acetylene torch - but that is a story all its' own. It is only just starting to come all together.

[Jerry Wieland]

I got a little more done this weekend but pictures can wait. I need to know the original paint or plating that was on the following pieces for a 1925 JD.

-springer rocker studs
-side control straps and foot levers
-rear brakedrum
-rear brake band
-rear brake lever
-shifting rods and tower and mounting bracket
-sprockets
-transmission lid

I am sure that I have more but that is what comes to mind right now.

Thanks in advance, Jerry

[Jerry Wieland]

Not a single person knows what the OEM finish is of the items in question? Well I guess I am not going to let it stop me.

Jerry

[Jerry Wieland]

These are the pictures I took the other night of the work I got done. I forgot to take a picture of the brass sweat joint before I cleaned/finished it off. I filed off the excess weld and then 'buffed' with a floppy disc grinder using a worn disc of the finest grit I could find so as not to cut in the metal too much. Not good for removing high spots because they conform to the surface and remove metal from a wide area whether you want to or not, but excellent for removing file marks.

Chunk missing from seat post before:




After:




Rear upper frame stay before:






After:



On the upper joint I have a bit of a low spot on the old original part of the tube, I knew this but did not dare get any closer to the brass joint of the cross piece for fear of getting brass inclusion in the tig weld. I haven't figured out what to do about the low spot yet. My options are weld it in, braze it in or body filler. The last is the least desireable to me.

Some of the joints appear to have more distortion than there is probably due to camera flash.

Jerry

[Jerry Wieland]

Tonight I got everything done on the frame except a little dressing of the welds. I found some defects when I was grinding them plus I filled in the tube that was worn away using a tig welder.

Then I proceeded to set the frame up on the table one last time and then I determined that it was slightly tweeked in the neck. I figured this out by laying 3" x 3/8" flat stock across the seat post tube to the front down tube. Then I made a pointer that fit in the neck and found that the pointer was off center between the flat irons that stuck forward from the frame.

I took six 1 1/2" split collars and put 2 on the seat post and I put one just above the front motor mount casting, one just under the neck and to on a big point I made for the neck. Where the frame was not 1 1/2" I had to make a split bushing to take up the slack. Now all of the collars were located on a tube that should have been centered over the center line of the frame. Then I cut some box tubing to use as a stand off to get the frame off the table surface. I located where I want the 4 pieces of box tubing to set and then used a transit to check that the table was perfectly horizontal. I ended up sticking 1/8" flat stock under one leg and that got the surface within .050" on all points. Then I set the box tubing at each of the 4 locations and repeated the process and then used shim stock under the box tubing to get within .010". I think welded down the box tubing to the table and laid the frame on it and welded the bottom side of the collars to the box tubing.





You can see the shims under the tubing to bring it all level.



Now if the frame is straight all 6 of the collars top edge should be in the same plane or in other words have the same distance vertically when viewed thru the transit. We were able to confirm that the neck was off by a distance of about .220" from the collar just above the neck to the collar at the bottom end of the pointer. That is a distance of about 4'. Now what I had to due push down on the bottom end of the pointer and try to get the neck to stay where it was supposed to be. We found out that we were moving the whole neck down instead of twisting it like we wanted so I stuck a small machinists jack under it to hold it up on the upper end.



Then we repeated the process and it took a lot so we had to repeat and measure many times. Eventually we got it within about .010" and let it stand for a few hours and as expected the frame did go back a little to being bent so we had to repeat the process a couple more times until it stayed where we wanted it.





I hope you can understand what I did and hopefully the pictures can add something.

Jerry

[c.o.]

I'm certainly gaining a greater appreciation for what it takes to tweak a frame back to how it's supposed to be. Thanks again for taking us through this Jerry.

[Jerry Wieland]

Well, As far as I am concerned the frame is finished except for paint. Tonight just to double check that everything had stayed in place I fixtured it up using straight irons, squares, my eyeball and lots of clamps.

I also finished up some cosmetic work on the joints.







Next I have to get the front end ready to go. Hopefully it goes smoothly. It hung on the wall of the chicken coop most of its' life so it is really in great looking shape with no rust and all the grease in place. I have a couple of dents to remove and then check it for straightness.

Jerry

[Jerry Wieland]

Here is the front end. Has the same red paint on it that appears on some other pieces.













I am sending the cylinders out for nickle plate tomorrow and also finish fitting the cases to the frame before we build the engine.

Jerry

[Jerry Wieland]

On another note here. Does anybody know if someone is making an oversized breather bushing for the rightside crankcase. Part # 502-17 or are there any suggestions on what type of brass should be used if I make it myself.

I also need a source for the rod thrust flywheel washers or what suitable ones will work. These are the ones staked into the flywheel at the crankpin. I think the part # is 372-21 but it really hard to see in my reprodudtion parts book and all it calls them are 'flywheel washer'.

Thanks Jerry