The Hillbilly Deluxe dually build

[Tx Firefighter]

No Joe, I closed my Facebook down. I hope you didn't think I unfriended you or something. I unfriended everyone !

[Palf70Step]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

No Joe, I closed my Facebook down. I hope you didn't think I unfriended you or something. I unfriended everyone !

AndI thought you just didn't like me anymore.

[Tx Firefighter]

No offense meant to anyone on the Facebook deal. I just got tired of it one day and shut it off. I haven't really missed it either. I think Facebook is headed downward. A lot of the guys I work with are talking about shutting it off too.

Progress for today.....I'm hemorrhaging money.

I went to reassemble the rear hubs and found some bearings I just couldn't live with. If a bearing goes bad here, its likely to ruin a hub or axle housing, so this is no place to run sketchy parts.



So now I wait....

Four new Timken bearings and four new Timken races ordered....

[joe231]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

No Joe, I closed my Facebook down. I hope you didn't think I unfriended you or something. I unfriended everyone !

I understand completely!!

[Low Elco]

I'm about ready to do the same. Between the politics and religion, geeze, people.....

[Tx Firefighter]

This thread is liable to slow a lot for the next couple of weeks. I'm finishing a motorcycle restoration for a guy that has to make a show in three weeks. So I'm pushing stuff aside and focusing on getting that finished. Its been a tough project and I'll be so glad to see my lift table empty finally. The motorcycle I'm restoring had been submerged in the Gulf of Mexico for some period of time. Its been a challenge right at the edge of my skills and (mainly) edge of my sanity.

But, upside to that, completed motorcycle = working on dually with increased intensity afterward.

To keep my motivation in the mean time I'll still be gathering parts. I have a steering column inbound from another member on here right now. I'll also try and get the last two tires, lugnut covers, and new Alcoa center caps bought too.

[Low Elco]

What's the bike? We need pics!

[hgs_notes]

About all I do is scroll pics on fb when I'm bored. I did some updates for my truck projects there mainly to let my extended family see what I've done with my time and money. And I do post a few pics occasionally to my kids and wifes page to give them a chuckle. That's about it though. I have a list page set up that is all auto related and that's what I go to rather than the inanity of the posts on the news feed.

Its a tool that gets used when needed.

I would also like to see the sunken treasure restoration pics. You can do a thread in the alternate tinkerings part of the forum, but I think a few pics here wouldn't bother anyone.

[Tx Firefighter]

I'll snap some pics of the bike when I get it more together. Its probably hard for anyone to understand but the guy who owns it. Its an old Honda dual sport. We discussed right up front that a restoration was a financial disaster, but he bought the bike brand new and wouldn't ever sell it so, restore it I have. It was indescribably rough. The 400 dollar parts bike I bought to rob stuff off of was a much better bike if that tells you anything. The guy has been a great person to do work for. Nice and patient to a fault. He is kind of private though, so I'll just show a few pictures when I get it finished.

[Tx Firefighter]

I'll post these then wont derail the thread anymore....



















I also just finished restoring an old Wilton vise for myself....







The chrome shop wanted $150 to redo the handle so I just left it original. Its a working vise, not a show vise.

[rs74]

He bought it new and won't sell it. Just how did it come to be in the Gulf of Mexico for some time.

[rs74]

The bike looks like new! I used to have an old XL 100 & 500 myself. You do some nice work. The vice looks great too. Carry on.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by rs74

He bought it new and won't sell it. Just how did it come to be in the Gulf of Mexico for some time.

I didn't ask him for the painful details on the oceanic excursion, but he lives in Houston, so the Gulf is right close to him.

Salt water just destroys stuff. For example, to get the rear wheel bolt/axle out, I had to lift the entire bike and support it on sawhorses and slide the rear wheel into my 20 ton shop press, then apply heat and penetrating oil and hydraulic pressure for a week before the bolt would begin to move. Needless to say the bearings within we're not in good shape.

[Jonboy]

Love the color on that vice. Sharp!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Its a working vise, not a show vise.

Show vise? I can just imagine it. Some hall at the fairgrounds with tables set up and a vast assortment of vises. Different classes for stock and modified, cast and forged, wood or metal, pre-WWII, pre-WWI, Pre-Civil war, restored and unrestored and over in the corner is the new rat-vise section but it's just a fad and will be replaced with a new asian econo-vise section any time now.

That is an incredible job on the bike though. And the vise too. Looks like a show vise to me, except it needs a new handle.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Show vise? I can just imagine it. Some hall at the fairgrounds with tables set up and a vast assortment of vises. Different classes for stock and modified, cast and forged, wood or metal, pre-WWII, pre-WWI, Pre-Civil war, restored and unrestored and over in the corner is the new rat-vise section but it's just a fad and will be replaced with a new asian econo-vise section any time now.

That is an incredible job on the bike though. And the vise too. Looks like a show vise to me, except it needs a new handle.

You need to step over to the Garage Journal forum board. There's guys there that geek out over old tools way more than we do about SPID numbers.

[Greenlee]

Nice work on the old Honda! I owned a bunch of them growing up and would love to have another one.

[Low Elco]

You're on the GJ also? They love their vises and compressors, don't they? Yours looks great. Nice work on the bike! Please kick in the side work pics, I'm enjoyin' 'em! How big is your PC oven?

[rs74]

Going backwards here a bit. If you wasn't going to sand on the wheels what type of product would you use to clean wheels like that up. I bought some mothers compound but just doesn't seem to be cutting it. I thought about neverdull but didn't know if it would work.

Do I need to get another product or get a buffing wheel and put on a power tool? Trying to clean up my Eagle rims on my K30. Thanks

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by Greenlee

Nice work on the old Honda! I owned a bunch of them growing up and would love to have another one.

Thank you. I'm not real emotionally attached to this bike so the restoration has been more difficult than if it were my own dream bike.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

You're on the GJ also? They love their vises and compressors, don't they? Yours looks great. Nice work on the bike! Please kick in the side work pics, I'm enjoyin' 'em! How big is your PC oven?

I am on the GJ. I don't talk much over there though. Tech discussions about Harbor Freight tools and pegboard hooks aren't real engaging to me so I mostly just scan for interesting stuff here and there.

Originally Posted by rs74

Going backwards here a bit. If you wasn't going to sand on the wheels what type of product would you use to clean wheels like that up. I bought some mothers compound but just doesn't seem to be cutting it. I thought about neverdull but didn't know if it would work.

Do I need to get another product or get a buffing wheel and put on a power tool? Trying to clean up my Eagle rims on my K30. Thanks

I wonder if your wheels are clear coated. I know some brands of wheels are. When I got these, even as bad as they were, a few minutes of polishing showed promise so I knew there was hope.



Regardless, you're going to have to start aggressive enough to get the skank off of them. Maybe a fine Scotchbrite and water ? Then get finer from there on out. Notice in my picture there, even though there was polishing going on, there were bits of contamination that weren't going to polish off. I had to sand that stuff out, then bring the polished finish by getting finer in increments. I wish I was a polishing Jedi. I'm just learning as I go myself.

[Tx Firefighter]

I had a little time on my hands today while the motorcycle carb was boiling in the crock pot on the workbench.

What kind of deviant spends two hours sandblasting and powdercoating the rear brake drums on a work truck ?

That's me, I'm that guy.





Lord these things are heavy. I read each drum goes 45 pounds. I believe that to be true. They may weigh a lot, but at least they're sanitary now.



Another part of my life spent doing work that will never be seen by anyone except me. It makes no sense.

[Tx Firefighter]

And, FedEx and Rockauto just delivered again. New bearings and races for the rear hubs.



That was not a cheap box to buy. Big truck, big money.

[Billy81]

Those brake drums came out great, I wish i could of done that to the drums on my 3/4 ton but i didn't have the time or resources but i definitely would have if i did.

[Tx Firefighter]

I started assembling the rear hubs and drums. Again, its hard to convey how heavy this stuff is. The combined hub, drum, bearings, and hardware must go 70 pounds each or so.

The hubs are weird design as you have to load them entirely from the back. You turn it upside down and drop in the outer bearing, press in the outer race, install a large internal circlip, press the inner race in, drop in inner bearing, then press seal in place. Then you drop the drum onto the hub and press in the 8 wheel studs which hold the assembly together.

[meatwagon83]

i know how heavy that stuff is! i rebuilt my rear a couple of years ago