The Thunder Toad Cometh

Sadly I don't have any good level profile shots. I've got a few of my daily rider (same bike) in its stock form that I look at once in a while while planning.

That's a good idea though, I'll be sure to take some in the future before I start a project. One of the problems with this build in general and specifically for photography is that I don't have a garage and just use the protected space between shed and fence as my work area. A couple of tarps is all the protection I've got for now :( Hopefully moving within the year though so that will change.

What kind of car did you build/are you working on?
 
I feel yah, all my work is in a gravel driveway. I do what I can. I wish I had a garage, but being poor I have to do what I can. I did a seat though. I will throw some pics up. I wanted to do a tuck and roll brat style to it but my sewing machine from 1955 wouldn't sew the vinyl. It kept tearing the thread up. I am going to try it on my mother-in-laws when I can get there. 1.5 hour drive away.

Cheers,
 
Good luck with the sewing machine, you're braver than I am for trying to sew it yourself. The nice thing about working outside is it makes you organized, no leaving parts and tools laying around out of order. I'm curious to see what you did with your seat.
 
This was my baby-'62 Impala, sold in May.

Before:
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After:
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used lots of photoshoppin' to get my ideas straight; saves cash in the long run ;D
 
Dan is awesome, just sent me the back half of the first pan he made.

Can't wait to see what your friend does with the upholstery
 
Thanks man, I hope you find something to do with the seatpan.

Hopefully I'll have the seat back in the next few weeks. Since my friend is doing this project gratis, it's lower on the priority list than her paying projects. Plus riding season is pretty much over here so I won't actually be able to use it until spring. I'll be sure to post lots of pictures once I get it.
 
Can't wait to see what you do with the seat. Should be cool. I agree about the look of a true bratstyle being different. I think most have major frame modifications. i think the majority have konged the seat rails along with other changes. I do love the look though.

Hey Kev, that '62 is sweet. Shame you don't have it anymore. Do you have a new project lined up?

Hey MaritimeBiker I'm with you on the pain of working on the gravel. I can't help with a roof but I think I can help with a cheap but awesome floor. I had a garage with a gravel floor for 18 years. I've since moved and now have a concrete floor to work on. Man I didn't know what I was missing. Well I guess I did. I lost all kinds of nuts, bolts, washers and everthing else that went flying into the gravel. Anyhow, I found out about limestone dust. We covered our barn floor with it. First we put down about 6" of gravel then about 3" of limestone dust. It is everybit as hard as concrete only way cheaper. I think we paid less than 6 dollars a ton. Anyhow, I would have given anything to have known about this stuff a long time ago. It packs in so tight it is amazing. The horses don't even kick any up. I'll tell ya it is just like concrete only way cheaper. I'm not sure what it might be called in your area but what it is is pulverized limestone. It is as close to a powder as you can get. A couple of ton goes a long ways.
 
Hey Troy, happens the maritimes are the end of the appelation range and full of limestone too. Yeah I should get some and pack the area I work on the bike in it. I was hoping this spring to be able to get one of those portable work shelters to put up when I work on the bike.

Thanks for the idea,

Cheers,

Maritime
 
You won't believe how nice and hard the stuff gets. Even Horse piss will puddle ontop, LOL. If I catch it soon enough (within a couple of hours) I sweep it out and it makes things much cleaner. Awesome stuff.
A work shelter with this stuff as the floor would be sweet. Just make sure to put a few inches of base under it. I think the size we use as a base is 1.5" . If you've had to work on gravel you will love this stuff.
 
I know what horse piss can be like, my uncle had horses for years and I used to spend summers working the farm with him. Been a while though. His were all harness racing horses and could be pretty high strung.

Cheers

PS, Sorry for the thread jack DCWP
 
Maritime Biker said:
PS, Sorry for the thread jack DCWP
Click to expand...

No problem! I'm glad you're keeping my thread alive while I'm having down time, it makes it look like I'm busy ;).

Also, I'm hoping to move within the next year (that would mean that I found a permanent job so it's a long shot) and I'll be looking for a better garage situation. The limestone dust is a great idea. Out in Nebraska where I do a lot of my work, some folks build large structures with dirt floors to store machinery. After a few years of no rain, the loess soil just turns to a super-dry powder. It's actually pretty amazing, it's the same stuff that is rock solid when it's got grass growing on it, but dry for a few years it can be two or three inches deep of super-fine powder.

That's obviously not great for working on bikes and losing small parts, but better than gravel. If I end up in that area, Kansas is one of the places I could get a job, I'll have to think about filling a floor with limestone dust to keep it firm. The Great Plains were under an ocean during the Cretaceous period, so they're literally made of limestone and chalk. Should be easy to find some cheap stuff.

Slightly more on topic - I ordered pods and jets this week, so hopefully I can get those on this weekend. Will probably be the last project before winter storage.
 
Pods will wake it up a bit, I have mine tuned in well now and went for a 100 mile rip and
I found out my Speedo is off by about 10-15 MPH. I have been hitting the ton a bit more than I thought. I went to my in-laws for the thanksgiving weekend and my mother in law was following me down the highway. I was behind her for a bit and she was only going 110 KPH about 70 MPH or so I thought so I passed her and got the bike up to about 125 KPH or about 80 MPH so I thought. Well she caught back up to me at a gas stop and gave me shit for going 95 mph down the highway in the dark. They have a Toyota RAV from the US and the sppedo is in MPH. I told her I was doing 80 per my speedo and she said I was not. So I cut back a bit for the last part of the ride. ;D all the times I was hitting 90 MPH I was going over 100. I think I switched the speedo drive when putting the bike back together and put the one for the larger wheel. I have 2 fronts, an 18 and a 19 and I put the 18 on the bike because of tire. I had the 19 on for a while and may not have changed out the drive. Think I better check.
 
Nice to know these bikes can do the ton so easily ;) I think the factory specs list max speed as 98mph and I've always wondered why they don't just go ahead and say 100.

I still don't feel experienced enough to go for the ton on my bike (not to mention that I'd like it to be a bit more mechanically sound), but I did go on the interstate once and got it up to 75 without really even trying. It wasn't pulling hard any more, but there was clearly a lot of room left on the speedo. And that was my stock CM400 with no modifications at all. I'm sure a tiny bit of extra power will go a long way.

So what did you end up using for jets? And do you have any other mods to the airflow? For now I'm just doing cheapo Emgo pods with stock headers. I've pulled the mufflers, but the H-pipe is still baffling quite a bit. So I've ordered one and two steps up on on my jets - I think 120 and 122 for the secondary and like 45 or something for primary. From what I've read, that sounds about right, but rejetting is like voodoo magic to me.
 
I have the stock slows and 128 mains. That is emgo pods and no 'H" just headers, 12" of straight pipe and emgo shorty's with the baffles in. I also have 50 more cc's now too though and a 6th gear so I hit the ton a little easier. I wouldn;t do it as much but I put a small windshield on this time of year because it if F'ing cold and for longer rides and it makes it easier to hit the speed. Bike is sound and excellent rubber on it so taking it to 6500-7000 RPM in 6th is natural now. Your 120-122's will likely be good with the pods on the 400. Slow's are 72's I think on my carbs. You may have slightly different carbs than I do as they used 3 depending on the year and model of bike. At least according to Clymers.

Cheers
 
I got an unexpected hour to work on the Toad today and made some good progress. I got my new jets in - 75 and 120 - hung my cleaned carbs, pulled the airbox, and threw on my new pods. They're not Emgo like I thought, some El Cheapo brand from e-bay, but they look pretty good.

No pictures yet. Waiting for tomorrow.

What's happening tomorrow you ask? Funny you should bring it up. I'm going to pick up my covered seat tomorrow. I'll get some pictures of the bike with seat and pods tomorrow afternoon.

Quick question for you Maritime (or anybody else with pods for that matter): what do you do with your breather hose once the airbox is gone? Just stuff it between the pods? Put one of those pod breathers on? ditch it entirely?
 
I put a cheap breather filter I got at an autoarts store, it was red and matched my paint ;D But I need to stuff it with steel wool because when I am working the bike real hard, it spits oil a bit and gets through the filter. I have a mess to clean off my carbs and side covers, and pants sometimes. It isn't a lot of oil as my level never drops much but its a nice spray all over. Usually only happens when I am reving the engine past 6-7K a lot or for a long time.

Cheers,
Maritime
 
Alright, the seat has finally arrived. I think it looks pretty good. Nothing that jumps in your face, but a definite hand-made look.

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Sadly it's too rainy today to go put it on the bike, so those pictures will have to wait. I'm thrilled with how it turned out, but it's killing me to not be able to see it on the bike yet.

Dan
 
Got a break in the rain today so I ran out to check out the seat on the bike. Of course as soon as I uncovered the bike, the rain started up. I managed to throw the seat on and grab a quick picture, but not much else.

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I'll say I'm happy with how this turned out considering I really didn't know what I was doing to start with. I think it's an improvement over the stock seat, lower profile for sure. But I made the pan hang quite a bit lower than the stock seat pan in an attempt to cover the ugly stock seat rails and the attachments for the chrome grab bar that I'm not putting back on. The result is that the seat looks just as thick as the old one, just lower total height.

I may in the future pull the cover and trim the glass a little. My friend who did the stitching said it would be fairly straightforward to do that.

Anyhow, the waiting is over. Hopefully I'll get some better weather to play around with it more this weekend. I'll post any pictures if I get the chance.

Dan
 
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