Lord Gruntfuttock

I'm out. In Ranfurly this weekend, work dos next 2 weekends and at the races 11th Dec. Brought the car to work today too. Looks teeny next to all the horrible SUV things in the carpark.

I've used the KBS kit on bike tanks, worked well and think they have bigger options. Have also used epoxy on car fuel tanks but you have to watch there's no ethanol in your fuel nowadays...

Didn't know these had a kicker. Weird system, cool though...

Grabbed a D size Mig gas bottle swappa at Blackwoods this morning. Now to sort reg, hose and tips etc... Quite excited to run my first bead. Yonks ago I was welding for student vacation work and got ok at it, my shitty welds have bothered me lately.

Hi all. I'm a shit welder, but have been decent in the past. I can stick stuff together, it's just not pretty and takes more grinding than I'd like. My gear is ok for home, a Lincoln Handymig 170, so it's lack of practice really... I was in Blackwoods today and the Trade n Go bottle swap seems a deal worth looking at (no rental costs etc) so pretty keen to move on from gasless MIG. I have questions however... The Mig gas is I assume an Argon-CO2 mix. No idea of the composition. What regulator do I use for this, a standard argon one? And what is a decent one to look at...? (not the cheapest but not industrial grade). * Do I need a flow meter? I'd like to see flow when pulling the trigger, but is it actually necessary...? I gather the flux cored and straight wire are different sizes. Can I just change the tips, or do I need a new conduit, feed roller etc...? Size of bottle, they offer a 2.1 and 4.9m2 bottle. I have no idea how big these are, but assume the 2.1 would last me yonks...? Think the bottles have a type 10 connection. Guess that's normal...? I'd do more welding if I got set up ok, and using gas would let me tackle some panel stuff. Always put it off due to cost and complexity but think it's worth looking at. All answers gratefully received, cheers... *edit - looked at some pics, I'd assumed one gauge was tank pressure and other was pressure to welder, but seems it's flow. I was talking about the floating ball type flow gauge that seems I don't need if I have dual gauge reg...?

Actual work: Threw a couple of hubs in my blast cabinet yesterday, I hadn't used this for ages as my old hobby compressor was too teeny to work, but I had high hopes for my new bigger, belt drive job... But nope, still not enough air to work properly, even tried converting gun to a funnel filled, gravity feed system, with no real joy. Also tried fitting my pressure tank blast system nozzle into the cabinet, which sort of worked, but only in bursts if you kept turning the air off to build pressure. In the end I connected both compressors via a tee fitting and struggled away ineffectively knocking old paint and rust off... And drilled out the rivets of the rear hub as I wouldn't be using this sprocket... Then thought buggrit, and made a jig up to clean up the hubs in the lathe with emery paper, which went much faster... And when both were done I hit them with some durepox. Sadly my white stuff had turned to rubber in the can, which sucks as it's expensive, but I had a new can of light grey... So good to get something done. Now to look at the fun stuff, lacing wheels and inexpertly machining something...

Pretty easy to get at with the engine out. Which is the issue, you have to take the bloody engine out... So plans... Looked at wheel options, I like to start with these so I have a rolling frame I can play with, plus I have to work out swingarm mods/fabrication etc. I have a few Dandy hubs and rims in my stash, but everything on these is an oddball size. The 15 inch rims really limit my options, and the 4" x 3/4" brake pads (101 x 22mm) are impossible to find, plus the hubs have bicycle style cup and cone bearings. I could live with that, but I'm missing one cone, and some of the others are pitted... Hubs: The front and rears are the same, but the rear has a dished sprocket riveted on and a longer axle. Knocked out the loose ball bearing cups which are in good nick, and they measure 1.5 inch diameter (38.1mm). Thought easy, just look for a 1.50" OD roller bearing, around 3/8" thick, but (naturally) they are pretty much unavailable, unless you want to pay US$50 each (nope). Looked at machining out the bearing housing to accept a 40mm bearing but no meat there. Then looked at axle options as a starting point, Ali offer a 10mm axle and 10x30x9 bearings are cheap (6200 ZZ) so bought 4 of these and will machine a spacer with 30mmID and 38.1mm OD. Should be able to fit a sprocket and spacer somehow too, using the mighty Myford... Rims: I looked at rim/tyre options with a tyre size calculator, and can do a 14" rim with taller rubber that is near as dammit same size as the originals, which I need as I want to keep the 50's styled valenced rear guard. Some 32 hole 14" rims were availble cheap on Ali so bought them, and they arrived in a week or so, and look good. Not exactly the right width (only 1.40") but will work, just, with the 90/90-14 scooter tyres I bought... Spokes: did some calcs once the rims arrived, ERD looks to be around 338mm, so with 130mm dia hub flanges 65mm apart and a 2 cross pattern, comes to ~133.4mm. Ali offers 10G (3.2mm) stainless spokes at 134mm for a reasonable price, so ordered... Power: looked at my spare CT110 engine but way too big, so I've already bought a scooter motor, a suzuki FR50 with carb, that was on tardme at a suitable price and seemed smaller than many others. Not sure how I'll actually fit this but nice to have something to measure up. Electric option, seriously looked at hub motors, as I've already done an old BSA pushbike with a front tugger hub, but concerned about gearing/top speed with scooter sized tyres. Went with a 48V 2000W chain drive motor kit, that I should be able to line up ok, and gives me sprocket options... Arrived in 10 days so parts stash is growing, just a few problems to solve... Does anyone offer custom brake shoe relining for oddball moped sized things?

Hop update. they're going ok. Cascade in the middle is a star, growing ~ 120mm vertically a day and throwing tendrils out everywhere looking for something to climb. Have since read you don't want to train the first bines that shoot up as they are bull bines looking to spread rather than flower, so might do some pruning (unsure on this as first year is all about establishing a healthy root system rather than yield). Might stick the cut offs in some dirt to see if they grow, and chuck em in random spots on the property...

Here's some pics of my misery... Bluey... Greeny... and the Grey ghost... (sitting atop a spare CT110 engine) I paid a couple of hundy for the green & grey ones, planning on building a complete bike out of the 2, then the blue/red one came up locally, that is fully complete...

The BSA Dandy. Possibly the worst bike ever built, a massive failure and rightfully despised as a prime example of shoddy engineering, poor build quality, penny-pinching design, and failing to address known issues. Few in number, gross, and only admired by weirdos. I've got 3 of em... 1 complete blue and red one, suitable for restoration/unreliable 2-smoke pesting. 1 green thing with most bits, incl engine, suitable for a frankenbuild. 1 grey frame, mostly there, suitable for parts. So tentative plan is to restore the good'un (painted similar to above), bang a jappa-knees engine in one, and make an electric one. All 3 to be used on one plate, if things ever get that far. (Cant be bothered getting my good one out for pics so here is some background and pics of what they should look like): What is the Dandy? The 70cc Dandy ‘scooterette’ was originally a unit construction, 45x44mm two-stroke single, riding on 15in wheels. It included the scooter virtues of weather protection, some concealed mechanicals – the carburettor was out of sight behind a slotted cover in the crankcase – and a step-through frame. It was female-friendly, and BSA’s publicity invariably featured lady riders in skirts. Its many ingenious features for novices included (to spare footwear) a hand starting lever down on the left, but after a journalist broke a prototype, production models featured a left-side kickstarter. For compactness, the rear swinging-fork was attached to the backward-facing, horizontal engine unit. Brackets joined the crankcase to the right fork’s pivot position on the pressed steel frame, with the single cylinder forming part of that fork. On the nearside, a further steel pressing mounted on the gearbox formed the left fork arm. The front forks were leading link, and the brakes four-inch front and rear. The gearchange was equally innovative, featuring a two-speed pre-selector. Turning the left twistgrip towards you for first, as shown on a metal indicator next to the grip, and nothing happened until you pulled in the clutch, and released it to move away. For second you twisted the grip all the way forward and repeated the procedure, with neutral in the middle. Electrics were via a flywheel mag located in the middle of the crankcase, along with the points. The Dandy weighed in at 115lbs, claimed 130-plus mpg, and had a top speed on test of 33mph. What went wrong? The original design specified a heat-dissipating alloy cylinder with a chrome bore, but the production barrel became cast iron, and hot running meant that piston seizures were far from unknown. However, the real problem was the buried points. To get at them (a common maintenance task in the 50s) you had to remove the rear shocks, the electrical connections and the clutch. Then the bike wouldn't stand up, so you had to 'hang it from the rafters'. On the clutch there’s a set of fingers that engage with the flywheel. You had to separate them and move the flywheel to get at the points. 'It’s a half-day job. The desire to meet advertised costs also meant shortcuts were made (the stand is a bit of bent wire) and none of the known issues were addressed. The concept was sound, but it took the Japanese to do things properly a decade or so later where they revolutionised personal transport and sold millions of small, reliable, cheap runabouts... [TLDR] a good idea, ahead of its time, fucked up by British engineering and cost cutting, so essentially a bloody terrible thing, possibly the worst bike ever built by Britain, hence the attraction...

Peering over the fence at old cars in Ranfurly...?

Well. The Fairmont is WOFed and rego'ed. Not sure can afford fuel for such a journey tho... Ran out on last jaunt to Nightcaps.

Great mashups of various kits...

So also during lockdown I looked at growing some hops. Just as a hobby (not sure the climate is right here) but will be nice to throw a few home-grown leaves into a brew if I get any flowers. Best spot was a bit of unused wasteground beside my shed, north facing and gets all day sun, but currently a dump for old bricks, waste oil, weeds and roadsigns... Concreted in an old fence rail that was lying in the paddock... Then read they don't like wet soil, and looked at the swamp I was intending to use after a day's rain... So I dug out the clay/shitty ground, and dug in gravel, compost, good soil, more compost, fertilser, decent top soil, and raised it a little to help drainage... And it looks pretty good. Will string some guide wires from the crossarm and plant 3 plants when they arrive. 2 x Fuggles on the outside and a Cascade in the centre. Might plant herbs in the bit to the right, just got tired of digging... Be interesting to see how they go...

Ha, they wouldn't go near tasting it, the smell was enough. Had to corral them for each stage of filming as they drifted away, eldest was a hoot, didn't care her hair wasn't done or was in her PJs. Just banged out the lines and went back to whatever she was doing. And yeah added half a whirlfloc tab at end of boil, prob didn't need the clarity ferm but wanted to try it out. Pretty pleased how it turned out, will be a nice summer tipple, plus it used up some of the berries taking up space in the freezer...

Quick update, went out to the rally car shed on the weekend, which has had a tidy up and beer fridge installed. Some shelves have been set up and tyres sorted, plus the car is on the rotisserie... Roll cage done and in the process of being approved... And this shell is pretty good. So much better than dicking around with the old one.. Engine mounts made... So good being able to spin it over... And a new sump has been modified and leak tested. Main mission on the weekend was to check clearances... And trans mount made up. The bloke doing the welding is a truck tech, so everything's pretty beefy. Long ago gave up worrying about weight... And on the way home called past engine shop to check fitment on the actual block... So a bit of progress. Latest name for this thing might stick (it's had a few). Gentlemen, may I present you, the Fat Escort... (might even paint it like Roger Clark's Cossack Mk II... )

So lockdown home schooling doesn't have to be boring. HTF do you embed videos? (Ah, works on phone but not desktop) Anyway, an 11 minute video I made with my kids, parenting done right...

There's a heap of knowledge on the XL forum. Some real knowledgable blokes on there (plus assorted American bodge jobs). Used it a lot when I was figuring things out...

Run out of likes but great to see another ironhead owner experience the misery of the AMF years product... There's a knack to the kicker. Mine's off at the moment but used to find compression and swing through rather than brute force. Got a new side cover so will put it back together at some stage... I love the 70s AMF stripes too. Look fwd to seeing progress...

I used to start my Morry van by climbing out the back door with a crank handle. (broken driver's door and starter motor) Now THAT'S a crowd pleaser...

Yeah I've got some Kawasaki switchgear I'd like to put on the Hardly. Be nice to be able to wire in corresponding bits so it's plug & play...

Yes. Not quite sure why the tortoise has it. Given his predilection for shitters.

At least that German manual has metric dimensions. Good score...

Here's a screenshot of my order. Seller was CARATDIAG store, and was $35 delivered. Wondering now if I can use it on my 6V bikes...

Yeah was only yesterday I hooked up my new alternator/regulator and car runs way better when cold. Must be giving a fatter spark. Wish I'd done it a while ago. Have you measured output when running at battery? If that's 13.8 - 14.2 odd volts then charging circuit is sweet...