For the manner in which men live is so different from the way in which they ought to live, that he who leaves the common course for that which he ought to follow will find that it leads him to ruin rather than safety.
-Machiavelli

Please visit my new blog: http://baldwinmaker.blogspot.com

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Mysteries of Pushrod Tubes

One of the troubles of building these old British engines is when you start mixing parts from different years. I have a '67, with a '66 cylinder head, '71 pushrod tubes, and '66 tappet blocks. My old set up was '71 head, tappet blocks, and tubes.
When I ordered my new tappet blocks to put into the big bore kit, I ordered '67 style. I'll admit, I wasn't thinking about all of the mismatching. Had I ordered '71 style, I could have saved some work. However, the '66 cylinder head would have still required a little work.
I mentioned this mismatch the other day, but I didn't take many pictures. Since I've got the top end back off of the engine, it's sharing time!

This is one of the tappet blocks from my old engine. Look down on the left side...you'll see some cracks in the bottom of the cylinder. Oops! Anyway, this block is different from what I'm running now. The differences are subtle, but they will change the way the engine goes together.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Taking care of business

Last night and today were dedicated to bikes. I got a lot of work done.

Getting started on the primary drive. This carrier will hold the clutch basket and cush-drive.

Triumph...building and screwing up

Last night I put the engine into my chopper. I probably should have waited until I had a set of helping hands to assist me, but I wanted to move forward. The engine weighs a hair over 125 pounds. I managed to lighten it a little by not installing the outer transmission case and the primary drive.

There she is. LaCucaracha has her engine.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Getting that engine together

It's kind of nice to be moving on from being crushed by a minivan! With the energy level coming back to somewhat normal, I'm starting to be a little more productive.
I got the top end of my engine torqued up, and it is ready to drop into the frame. I'll have my chopper complete just in time to call the insurance company and tell them it's time to put my bikes into storage!
Pushrods from Johnson Cams. These are really nice steel pieces. My old ones were aluminum. The aluminum ones are nice for reducing weight on a race bike, but don't always stand up to everyday use.

Engine building

I am by no means an expert engine builder. This is only the third one (actually, same one third time!). I'm not going to try and teach anyone how to build a Triumph T120R through this blog. There's very little that I can show that is not already common knowledge in the engine world.

Tools for sale

I still have some tools for sale. Contact me at bald68d@gmail.com.
The list and pictures follow:

Saturday, October 12, 2013

What to do now?

So, what does a guy like me do when he gives up a hobby? Well...he starts spending time with the other two overly time consuming hobbies.
I won't show pictures of the macaron incident from today. I'm sure I would be arrested for committing such a crime. Let's just say when you whip the meringue into your batter...don't mix in too much! At least the French butter cream turner out well. That stuff can be frozen until I try the cookies again. Not a total loss. To my credit, it was the first time I tried macarons.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

What a response, pt 2!

Hey all!
I've been surprised and overwhelmed by the response to selling my tools.WAY more than I expected. A few of the tools are very popular, and I want to make sure that I get everyone lined up in the correct order. I am going to sift through emails this evening after work. If you have emailed me, thank you! I want to make sure that I respond to everyone in the correct order (the LV router and LN floats are the cool kids that everyone want to hang out with).
Thanks for your patience.
I believe I have replied to everyone so far. If I have not, I will get you tonight.
I don't want to nag anyone, but if you have asked about any particular tools and you are deciding to NOT take it/them, please let me know. The lines for a few of them are several people deep.
And oh-by-the-way...as I phase out of woodworking, my focus will be more on metal work, mainly in the realm of choppers/motorcycles. I will probably start showing a little more on the baking side of things as well. FLOUR AND HORSEPOWER! If you're interested in that kind of stuff, I hope you stick around.
Thanks a bunch!

Monday, October 7, 2013

What a response!

Just when I thought nobody ever visited my little corner of the interweb. Thanks to those that have emailed showing interest in taking away my tools. I look forward to sending them to good homes! As any sales become final, I'll scratch them off of the list in my previous post.
Thanks again.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Ain't had the time

UPDATE: Tools that are lined out have committed buyers. Others are still available.

Since my wreck back in April, I have not picked up a woodworking tool in anger. Nearly six months has passed, I'm just now starting to get back to the point where I have energy left at the end of the day. Sitting around and not doing much has left me with a lot of time to think.