Aluminum finishing case halves, Webco bits, and Joe Hunt Magneto for the 1957 Triumph Freebird build.

Getting into the engine on the 1957 Triumph Freebird project. The side covers were matched up on the primary, clock case engine case halves and transmission covers. The rough original castings do not match from the factory, with differences on the mating surfaces that have to be evened up. This work needs to be done with the halves bolted together, so it was done prior to disassembly.

There are two covers on the tranny, stacked on each other. I wish there were some before pics of this. The lines between the cases are almost invisible. The casting lines and rough texture will also be polished out. The reason this was done at this stage was to get the parts needing chrome and cadmium plating off the tranny and engine.

Getting the case halves and clock case covers evened up. There is a flare on the middle motor mount that will not be evened out, leaving it as a place to pound when splitting the case halves. A simple engine stand was made to get this part of the job done.

Some of the before ugliness. The flare on the case half on the right side is easy to see in this picture.

The clock case cover all evened up.

Still getting the chrome parts prepped prior to plating. Sometimes you get a pleasant surprise. The original plating was flaking off, revealing a brass fixture and some copper plating left from the plating process. With all the brass going on this bike, it will be left as-is.

Getting ready to send this vintage Joe Hunt Magneto back to California for a factory rebuild. Though the patina is beautiful, it will be refinished to show quality aside from the original Bakelite cover.

The rear brake plate on the rotary table getting ready for some speed holes.

A couple vintage Webco pieces to choose from for the rocker oiler. The arched one in the back will replace the one that originally came with the bike.

The back of the original primary cover and some of the chain rash. The other cover in the background will be used in its place.

One last thing. One of the interesting things to take notice of is the progress of the manufacturing process. On the original 1957 cover (the bottom one in the picture,) there are some gouges on the bottom where it meets up with the frame. In the later cover, there are recesses cast in to overcome this defect. There is also a notch cut into the chain guard that was not on the original cover…not sure why that mod was made.

The1957 Triumph freebird and 1993 Harley-Davidson FXR updates.

The tank mount was re-made, making it a mechanical mount opposed to a welded one. Removing it made it easier to work the tube around it.

The new tank mount in place.

After some drilling and polishing. It will be chrome plated.

One of the reasons there was a longer than usual gap between this blog post and the previous one was because of the almost identical pictures despite the amount of time working it over (I figured there are only so many pictures of frame polishing that anyone wants to see.) Even though I thought it was near finished, as the rest of the frame got better, it was apparent there was more work necessary to blend in the joints.

More speed holes drilled in the rear frame.

The front motor mounts were drilled out and the chrome stripped off.

Another picture that looks near identical, but another six hours of welding and grinding was done to get the joints smoothed out prior to sending it out for the cover.

Assembling the frame again to make sure the tank fits correctly…looks good!

The 1993 Harley-Davidson FXR project is moving along as well. The rear fender and a second set of handlebars with a little more pull-back are on the bike, and the pipes are getting worked out. The rear pipe was part of a used set purchased online, but unfortunately, the front pipe could not be found by the seller! A second set was purchased and is on the way.

Another deja-vu moment. Round two of stripping and re-painting for the FXR primary case. The first job had some irregularities that were in visible places, so the process was repeated. This time it looks great!

Finishing the 1957 Triumph Freebird frame

Putting together pieces of the 1957 Triumph Thunderbird frame for final metal finishing, Gouges, pitting, welding porosity and bad welds are being ground out and filled to get the frame smooth enough for chrome plating.

The rear frame mount boss needed a little love. Some welding and grinding to make for a tighter fit between the front and back frame.

This frame came with some signs of the rough life it has lived. This kickstand mount had been broken and repaired at some point. Since the repair was so gnarly and another side stand is being used, it needed to come off. Fortunately, the repair was brass brazed and could be melted off without too much trouble. I had been told the fixtures on these old Triumph frames were brass brazed on, but that didn’t seem likely, as the gaps are too tight to allow the brass to flow into them. When the remnants of the fixture were pried off, it appears that silver soldering is how they were originally applied.

That’s better. You can’t even tell where the old side stand mount was.

The rear of the lower triple clamp was modified to include the stops for the front fork. This had been done a while back, but needed some additional welding to fill in the surface. In this picture, the clamp is in the middle of being polished with black compound.

The handlebars and brake pedal got some more attention. The cable exits were finished out on the bars, and a bunch of contouring and shaping was done on the pedal.

Every inch of this frame will be gone over before it is done. Even with all that has been done, there is at least another day of refining needed. Every joint is being evaluated to fill any voids and then the welds ground smooth. Because the welds are being ground off so much, special care is being given to insure the welds are deep below the final surface.

An example of the kind of things getting repaired. Small pits and nicks get ground or drilled out, welded, and then ground and polished out. The foil tape on the neck tube is to protect the serial number stamp.

The difference between the first and last frame pictures in this post is not easy to see, but an entire day of finishing separates them.

The base of this side stand was sand cast and rough with some inclusions that had to be dug out and welded up .Some metal was also added to the wear surface of the bracket. After some welding and bending on the stand to get the bike leaned over a little more, everything was sanded and polished out.

One final thing: a hack on the special tool for removing the bearing retention ring on preunit wheels. Because grinders have been replaced so many times around here, there is a wealth of wrenches and one was tapped to make this tool. A slice was made down the middle to get the right spread. The posts fit in the holes perfectly, with a slight tap needed to set it in.