Resurrection of a wreck

[John Watson]

I took my piston to Dumfries on Monday, they tell me the rebore should be complete after the weekend, in the meantime I decided to have a look at the wheels and see if they are fit to be used again. The first thing I noticed was the make of the tyres, and yes, I am aware that this is an American make, the last time I saw this brand was in the Caribbean on a golf cart.

PB246230 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr

The rims look not too badly corroded, I would think that they will rechrome without too much difficulty.

PB246231 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr

I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the brake shoes and drum:

PB246234 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr

To round the week off, I received my replacement piston from Silvers this morning, it was at least a 305 piston this time....but for a CB77! I'm really quite pleased I'm in no hurry, just as well I suppose.

[G-Man]

John

Nice progress. Prestige Electroplating at Mexborough can rechrome those rims. Ask to speak to Diane.

Graham

I took my piston to Dumfries on Monday, they tell me the rebore should be complete after the weekend, in the meantime I decided to have a look at the wheels and see if they are fit to be used again. The first thing I noticed was the make of the tyres, and yes, I am aware that this is an American make, the last time I saw this brand was in the Caribbean on a golf cart.

PB246230 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr

The rims look not too badly corroded, I would think that they will rechrome without too much difficulty.

PB246231 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr

I was pleasantly surprised at the condition of the brake shoes and drum:

PB246234 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr

To round the week off, I received my replacement piston from Silvers this morning, it was at least a 305 piston this time....but for a CB77! I'm really quite pleased I'm in no hurry, just as well I suppose.

[John Watson]

Thanks as always, Graham.

[John Watson]

It's been a bit quiet lately which isn't to say I haven't achieved a little, the main barrier to greater progress is an unheated workshop and cold outside temperatures, it tends to aggravate my arthritus.

I went up to Dumfries on Tuesday and collected my freshly rebored cylinders, still only one piston, yet to receive the second one from Silvers.

Last week I tore down the frame, my focus over the next weeks is going to be on rebuilding the bottoms of the fenders, the first job will be making up a couple of wooden formers, then testing my sheet metal and welding skills.....could take some time!

[John Watson]

It's been a while, but I haven't been idle, I started on fashioning a wooden former for the rear fender. It took three goes but I think the latest one is as near to the real thing as I'm going to get without having an actual fender to use as a pattern. I downloaded and printed about a dozen side-on pictures of CA77s and spent an inordinate amount of time taking measurements off of the pictures, then using reference points on my frame, was able to get a better idea of the shape and size of the flare at the bottom of the fender.

The wood was roughed out, then a skim of body filler was applied and sanded down ensure the fit was as close as I could get it:

P1036260 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr


In order to follow the curves with a minimum of fuss, I cut mild steel sheet into strips, welded them into place until I got to here:

P1136261 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr


P1136262 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr

I know it looks a bit of a mess, but there's still plenty to do, I have some 3mm mild steel bar which I am going to use to wire the edges of the flare, then the outside edge will be trimmed to size and curled round the bar. I will then proceed to beat the crap out of it with a hammer and dolly to get in shape, clean up the outside welds, seam weld the insides and finally fill the outside joints with solder.

When the time comes for paint to be applied, a thin skim of filler should finish it off nicely.

[G-Man]

John

Great work. Looking forward to seeing the end result.

G

It's been a while, but I haven't been idle, I started on fashioning a wooden former for the rear fender. It took three goes but I think the latest one is as near to the real thing as I'm going to get without having an actual fender to use as a pattern. I downloaded and printed about a dozen side-on pictures of CA77s and spent an inordinate amount of time taking measurements off of the pictures, then using reference points on my frame, was able to get a better idea of the shape and size of the flare at the bottom of the fender.

The wood was roughed out, then a skim of body filler was applied and sanded down ensure the fit was as close as I could get it:

P1036260 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr


In order to follow the curves with a minimum of fuss, I cut mild steel sheet into strips, welded them into place until I got to here:

P1136261 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr


P1136262 by Happy Grandad2010, on Flickr

I know it looks a bit of a mess, but there's still plenty to do, I have some 3mm mild steel bar which I am going to use to wire the edges of the flare, then the outside edge will be trimmed to size and curled round the bar. I will then proceed to beat the crap out of it with a hammer and dolly to get in shape, clean up the outside welds, seam weld the insides and finally fill the outside joints with solder.

When the time comes for paint to be applied, a thin skim of filler should finish it off nicely.

[Geoff Hastings]

I had the same issue with my CA77, both mudguards had been cut down. I managed to get a damaged but complete front mudguard which I knocked back to shape and welded up the splits in it. I then used the original front guard to replace the large piece of damaged and cracked rear guard. The profile was not exactly the same but the difference is small and I added a skim of filler to blend in the difference which is behind the rear number plate.