Re: 1973 Triumph T140 (frame up build)
Got some work done yesterday. Bittersweet work. Here's why- I spent a good amount of time cleaning the rims and forks he'd sent me home with, but as we started assembling, he goes "You don't want drum brakes. Let's go find another rim..."
So the plus side is, disc brake upgrade, the down side is clean and polish time wasted. I guess I shouldn't complain. What an idiot I'd be to complain! But what this means is I'm not cleaning anything else, aside from parts that need clean for operation (engine parts, etc) until the bike is running. I'm even leaving that coating of dust on the tank.
The oil tank ended up being pretty nasty. Sand and grime up in there. We scrubbed the thing and rinsed it all out. It was 105 degrees out, and the frame dried in about 6 minutes.
As he dropped the spring into the right fork, monkey saw and monkey did to the left fork. He'd measure and pour in the fork oil, then I'd measure and pour in fork oil. We added some spacers over the top of the springs to stiffen up the suspension. By now the bike has a generous mix of parts from 1970 to 1976, and a few parts brand new (the fork end caps were hand made by some dood and don't match the rest of the bike at all). Some parts are stock, some are upgraded (I guess the handlebar risers are NOS from the 1970's). Here I threw a bunch of the parts on there for some pics. I guess we're doing more work on Wednesday.
I've got a small military ammo box I want to bolt onto these studs for a small tool kit, and a place to keep my hat and wallet... I'll use wing nuts so I can pull the thing off when I don't want to see it on there...
side note, for anyone else who is into the raw denim scene, I bought a pair of raw APC jeans when I started this bike, and I've worn them every time I've worked on it. They now have blood, sweat, and 35 year old paint, grease, and oil caked into them.