First bike underway!

[viclioce]

OK. When my youngest grandson and I got home from school today, we started working on his Ace! A bit of minimal disassembly, like removing the steering head, brake pedal and some other bolts like motor mounts from the frame. Taped the VIN plate and started sanding! This 11 year old got his hands dirty and learned how to sand by hand! Had to take a picture of him working on it! ; D Victor

[dcooke007]

Hey Vic,

If you are going to strip the frame to bare metal you might want to try some paint stripper. I buy aircraft paint stripper from Walmart that works very well......don't remember the brand off the top of my head. It is the only brand of aircraft paint stripper they sell in my area. I have bought other brands at Autozone that did not work as well.

If you are going to let the little one help you with the paint stripper be sure to supervise, use eye protection and gloves. Working out side or a fan helps with fumes. I use the spray can version.

Danny

[viclioce]

No. Not going to strip it. Just sanding smooth and clean and then primer before the paint. Worked well last time on the Wombat. See no reason to change track at this point. After all, they are going to ride these bikes and they will get scratched up quickly. But at least Andy was excited to work on "his bike!" And I love the intensity in his facial expression in the photo too! ; D Victor

[dcooke007]

I know it feels good to get the kids involved with similar interests. My three girls had no such interest and even my one son just did not share my interest in mechanical things. We will see about the grand kids.

Danny

[viclioce]

When I told Andy we were starting today he jumped off the bed, turned off the TV and jumped into his shoes! ; D Victor

[hodakamax]

Victor, you're a good grandfather.

Max

[viclioce]

Had to do some metal manipulation on the lower, rounded mounting tab. Just now put a coat of Red paint on the chain guard! But, it's too dark to shoot the red color now. Tomorrow! ; D Victor

[viclioce]

Was able to get the color shot! Still need to spray the opposite side. Tomorrow! ; D Victor

[viclioce]

Hung the frame today! Primer is on! ; D Victor

[hodakamax]

Victor ,you're not just talking about it, You are doing it! Keep after it!

Max

[viclioce]

Victor ,you're not just talking about it, You are doing it! Keep after it!

I didn't ever think there was a question about this Max. Not only do I enjoy it, I'm teaching the grandsons about building and painting as well. I just didn't document the Wombat the way I'm documenting these bikes now. ; D Victor

[viclioce]

And now that I think about it, I probably should have titled this thread "Second Bike Underway!"

I got home last night after dinner at my daughter's house and pulled the frame down. Primer was nice and dry. Got up this morning and found it snowed again last night. It's 11:45 am and it's still too damned cold to go out and paint! It has nearly warmed up to somewhere between 27* & 32* F right now, depending on which weather app on my phone I use. Hopefully, it will continue to warm up but the highs predicted between the two apps is between 34* and 37* F. Not exactly good painting temps! ; D Victor

[viclioce]

Well it warmed up enough to spray. I'll have to leave it hanging for a few hours but it should dry fine. ; D Victor

[viclioce]

And just to document the beginning of the Ace 100 project I'm doing, here's a photo of the bike when I first went to pick it up! I actually got more than is pictured here! An extra chain guard, a second swing arm, a second bottoms end, and a box full of misc. parts not shown in the photo! And I was also given the option to take a Wombat tank, which I did, because it has a larger filler opening and fuel cap! ; D Victor

[viclioce]

I only had about 2 hours of daylight after work today. But it's a rolling chassis! ; D Victor

[viclioce]

Even though it's only about 30*F right now, I was able to shoot some spray paint. Not sure I'll be using the OEM air box, but it needed a coat to stop any further rusting. ; D Victor

[viclioce]

After digging some more through all the parts boxes I have for both the Ace and the Road Toad, I found both the Ace and the Toad rear brake rods with all the parts intact on the rods! God bless the guy I bought these bikes from. Seems the Ace brake rod was in a different box, but it fell out into the Toad big parts box! I almost spent close to $50 I didn't need to spend!

I was actually considering buying a piece of steel rod, drilling and bending the end for the cotter pin and threading the opposite end for the spring & nuts! Glad I don't have to do that now! ; D Victor

[Thunderdogdownunder]

Going too look good when you polish up those fenders and chrome tank ,bolt them on too that shiny red frame !

[viclioce]

Soon! Very soon. Engine first though! ; D Victor

[viclioce]

Cleaning the Ace "Hodaka" shift/magneto cover today I found there were 2 spots on the inside shift cover which had holes in them from possibly the chain rubbing. Pulled out my wire feed welder and closed up the holes. Had to do some to do some grinding to get it to fit back inside the case cover. Still need to do a bit more. Pic to follow! Can anyone tell me if the "Ace" cover uses the same piece inside cover? I may have a spare if they are! ; D Victor

[viclioce]

The grease around the shifter mechanism was like hardened paste! Took me about 3 hours to clean it, take it apart, clean it some more & get it to look like this! I also found 2 loose shifter arm bushings inside the case, loose from the shifter arm! But she's ready for grease and re-assembly now! ; D Victor

[dirty_rat]

Some of the parts from the ACE shifter (the one up, four down shift pattern) are interchangeable with the parts in the later shifter (one down, four up pattern). The main part I know is not interchangeable is the shifter ratchet (and no, putting the other shift ratchet in an ACE case will not allow it to shift the one down four up pattern).

[viclioce]

True! Thankfully I have both. I removed the inner cover from the 1 up 4 down and it fit! ; D Victor

[viclioce]

Got the motor cleaned up and the carb all cleaned as well. Took about 2.5 hours to get all the caked on oily dirt off the motor!

The clutch cable will be replaced. It was an original grey cable. It was cracked and coming apart. So it gets a black cable. Also needed a new clutch cover gasket and I ordered a new set of upper and lower steering head bearings both to put new and to account for one missing on both ends, top and bottom. As soon as the parts get here, I'll put them in and drop the motor in the frame. I'm also still waiting for the new levers and perches to arrive and the rubber for the kick start lever.

The compression feels pretty good, actuating the kick start by hand. When I get the motor in the bike, I'll do a compression test! As long as it's hitting around 135 or better, I won't do a rebuild until it really needs it because the PO used to run and maintain it regularly!

I've decided to skip the lights for now. This Ace is going to my grandson who is 11, so he's got 5 years before he can ride it on the road!

Now for a question or two. What do folks here reccomend for polishing the chrome tank and fenders? Do you use something like the 3M polishing compound and a buffer, or is there something better recommended?

Also, I was looking at my NGK B8HS plug for the Model 95 head on my 125. It is a bit longer than the Champion J8C which is in the Ace head. Is it's about 3/16" longer based on "guesstimate measuring!" Can I run this B8HS plug or do I need to run one as short as the J8C?

Finally, if you look at the 2nd photo below, there is a hole (drilled?) into the top of the magneto cover above the K, directly across from the wiring retainer in Hodaka. I'm thinking this isn't a standard hole and wondering if it's going to be an issue? I'll talk to the PO and find out why this hole is there. Maybe cooling the magneto/coil side of things? But I suspect it will make for dirtier and wetter coils so I'll probably put a rubber plug in it. ; D Victor

[olddogs]

Guys used to drill a hole in this cover and put a vent hose in it to let any moisture out. I don't see any threads in the hole so it may remain a mystery. You could tape the back of the hole and fill it from the top with JB weld and sand it smooth. This cover was originally painted and could be returned to stock so you would never see the repair for the price of a can of spray paint.