1942 WLC build

Yes, the engine builder is a great guy and did a very good job!

In December 2012 the engine was back on my work bench:



Top end reassembly with good friends, music and a beer:



Look Mom, no hands... me, trying to put things together via hypnosis.



nice...



i love those winter evenings in a warm work shop.



and a mock up with Hunt magneto and 6:1 heads

While the engine was away at the machine shop,
there was of course enough other things to do...

Preparing for tranny overhaul:





Sitting around on the frame and thinking about nonsense...



And, of course, play around with lamps and seats and the rear fender i got,
a triumph ribbed fender repro.











but, most important, sit around some more and just stare at it from different angles, wondering how it might look like, what to do, how to build stuff, and so on... endless evenings just staring and thinking.
i find this to be very soothing.

I hope so, improving it is what it's all about!

When i finally had decided how the rear fender should sit on the tire,
i made the cut and built a model for the strut.
Then I went back to my friend Gobi's to get on his nerves and make i him do some welding!

Welded a tube into the rib to improve stiffness and to hold the cable for the taillight:





Built the fender strut and drilled holes, then put some rivets in:



Heat and hammer:



File the rivet heads to clean them up and check everything.
Nice and snug:



Put it on the bike and be happy:



Next mock up stage, black paint applied:

Thanks!

Time for some small stuff inbetween.

Unfortunately the original fuel tap was eliminated and replaced by this:



After some filing and sanding and with new gaskets i figured it could as well stay there, i don't think it's that ugly and you can hardly see it behind the hand shift lever's pivot on the underside of the tank.



Trueing the wheels (or at least try to...)



Drilling holes into things!





Marks:



A primitive wooden jig:





Drilling, drilling, drilling and more drilling.

I love it!

Finally i put the engine back in the frame:





I didn't like the black fender anymore, so i erased the paint to think again.

In the meantime i had found another seat on the bay, it was very cheap
and looks like someone had built it from an old leatherjacket back in the days.
When i put it on the first time i knew i had finally found the perfect seat for this bike.

Then i packed my stuff and went back to Gobi's place to finish the body work
and build a seat support and lamp holder and front fender (i need that to get it road legal here, will take it off afterwards).

Good company:



The base of the seat support is clmaped by the original screw in the frame that holds the pogo stick in the OEM setup, i didn't want any holes in / or brackets on the frame.



Weird washers for the springs, it really twisted my brain to cut these, i don't know...





grease fitting and bronze bushing:



The complete setup.





Here it is with the seat and the new lamp holder, while we're building
the front fender support (welded to the inside of the front fork legs).
The front fender is the leftover from the 180° blank used for the rear.
It will get the same style strut with rivets.
Didn't like any color anymore, so i ground the primer off the rear end and that's that.
I think it's nice and simple that way.

Thanks a lot!

Yes, it's a little bike, that's true. After relocating the seat i can sit quite comfortably and it doesn't look too small between my legs, but it's still tiny and rather fragile, with the single loop frame and all.

"Painting" the tins:



All the black parts of the bike are painted with various types of flat black color,
to preserve the overall shabby look of the old parts, and then finished with
a special oil that dries like paint after a few days. i used that on my original paint Plymouth sedan to preserve the look of the desert bloom sun bleached paint and it works great.

Tranny back in:





A nice visitor:



I had two 3 brush generators coming with the bike when i bought it, but they were both shot and it seems to be ridiculously expensive to fix them (if you get parts, that is, absolutely none around here...).
So i decided to go for a Cycle Electrics A65 sporty generator and convert to 12V
(Blasphemy in my eyes, it's my first 12V vehicle...), but i had to camouflage
it with the old 3 brush cover...



The modified generator sprocket (there's a new one on there now, don't worry) and sawed-off shaft. i drilled the shaft to accept the old style cotter pin in addition to the nut.



Getting closer!

I want to share these 2 pics here because i think they give a very nice
"before and after" impression and i am always stunned how 2 bikes of the
same type can look so different with so little changes.
This is a friend's WLA that ran as a police bike in Holland,
i think it's a 1949 or 50 model and it has the same tins mine came with,
but with all the chrome and without 10 tons of filler and bondo
AND a much nicer color:





Now i started wiring the bike.



Since i'm an idiot sometimes and have to think very hard when it comes to all things electric, i drew this very simple wiring chart just for me.



I'm very glad everything worked out fine and the cables are hidden quite well.

Some more of the thousand little things....
a new brass driver for the speedo (this system is a real pain in the ass, i think.
it took quite a while and quite a lot of brass chips untill i had it distanced correctly
and the speedo needle moved...)



Chain guard and bracket.
I must say i feel like a total loser when i compare these parts with some things others here are fabricating every day, but somehow the rough and primitive details add up to a nice ensemble in my eyes. Next time i'll try harder



And here's a bird catcher built from a tea strainer. I admit it's more of a joke...
I am looking for a decent filter housing, but i haven't found anything nice yet or
had an idea about how a homemade one should look like.