Pan/VL Project Build

[Tha Nutz]

OK, I am actually going to go through the trouble of building a complete bike, documenting the entire build, and posting pictures and descriptions of it here. Why, you might ask. Well, I come on here all the time and barely ever see jack shit that I would like to see. So fuck it, I'm gonna do something about it.

I'm building a bike using a VL frame with a '61 panhead motor. I want to say thanks in advance to Max Schaaf, Irish Rich and choppercopper1 for answering my questions about the build thus far. I got the frame on ebay a year or so ago and it was listed as being set up for a panhead. Well, it was set up to be fixed and that's about it:



The neck was fucked, the seat crossbrace forging was destroyed, crap was welded all over it, the neck forging was gone, you get the picture. So I decided to fix it as best I could. I was looking for a VL neck forging for a while and never found one, but I ended up with this RL forging for real cheap, so I decided that since I was making a frankenstein anyway, why not use it:



The frame was obviously stretched and raked, and I wanted it to be stock dimensions, except for the rake. Instead of the stock 28, I wanted my rake to be 30-32 degrees so I could ride at highway speed without the bike getting squirelly. Here is what it looked like with the motor in place and the neck forging mocked up:



The neck is slugged into the downtube, which I then heated and bent back until I had the rake where I wanted it (around 31 degrees).

[Tha Nutz]

Then I moved on to the backbone. My friend Chris and I used my ghetto harbor freight bender to bend a nice, mellow curve for the backbone. The sleeve next to it is also going to be used on the joints, it was what they did on the stockers, although I really stole the idea from Rockabilly Jay:



My friend Chris (who is also building a panhead in my garage) has been helping me on the project. Here is the panhead he is working on (we grafted a paughco wishbone front section onto a rear section from an OG knuckle frame):



We finally got the frame mocked up and tacked together--getting somewhere!



Anyone working on OG brazed frames, take heed to the warning about getting ALL OF THE BRAZE out of the area you are welding. We didn't clean good enough in a few spots and we are still trying to fix it. At this point, we decided to do a quick mockup to see how it looked and check to make sure the motor cleared everything, etc. Here is how it looks--I am NOT running the invaders or the handlebars, they are only being used for mockup, I will keep the ceriani on there though.



Next step is to finish weld the frame, add gussets on the seatpost area, and then start on the rear fender/sissybar.

[Capino]

That neck forging is the shiznit!

[TEACH]

Looks good Dave..nice detail shots I'll get a hold of you I'd like to stop by and see the progress in person. I just picked up a unmolested 36 VL myself.

[Tinppa]

Looks great!!
I hope that we see the finished bike soon.
Have you made that front wheel by your self?

[HD48FL]

Great fab work, keep us posted on the progress.

[RidingHood]

Nutz,thanks for documenting the build,always inspirational to see the process.Looking forwards to more
cheers

[Guy]

Gonna be wicked. Did you get my PM?

[Sporticus]

Very nice work with the nexk swap and the sleeving (right word?) on the top tube. I look forward to watching this. I realize it's not you're doing, but WTF happened with that down tube?

[HeX]

Nice work as always....... Very nice!

[SID]

That Looks Great! I am doing a similar project with a 48 motor, with some advice from Irish Rich too. I would love to see some close up pics of the tranny mounting, and primary setup when you get to that point. I was considering using the ribbed covers too, but was unsure of clearance, I guess they work!

[hellbent]

this will be a great looking bike. looking forward to watching it happen.

[2_wheel_nation]

awesome, nice job on that mill, it's purdy.

[lackluster]

Great info so far. Can't wait to check back on the progress! lackluster

[garagebuiltbob]

very cool....thank you for giving us something worth looking at.
thanx, Bob

[rukwikenuf]

lookin sweet. keep it up Davey

[Big Nick]

This is why I joined this board!

[Dan]

very cool!
on a totally unrelated note - how'd you attach your foam to the garage door, I plan to insulate mine the same way.

[Tha Nutz]

OK, some answers. The front wheel, which is for a different project, is a Wheels for Choppers wheel, I didn't make it. It's just raw.

The downtube had been hacked by someone before, I toyed with removing the entire thing, but it is at least on there pretty strong, so I left it/

The garage door foam is slid into the slots on either side (I don't know how else to describe this). I used duct tape for the panels that fell down.

Thanks

[Galaxie500XL]

Originally Posted by Big Nick

This is why I joined this board!

+1