Grey Iron, my 1943 Westfield bike build

If you're going to go through all the trouble to break down a bike to paint the frame... go the extra step & remove the bearing cups!!! :rolleyes:
I KNEW someone would call me out on that lol. The edges of the cups were rusty so they got sanded and primed with the rest of the frame! They're still nice and greasy inside so paint won't stick in the inside. I'll clean up the grease/paint and pack with fresh moly grease when I re-assemble
 
The cups should be removed so ya get the paint where it needs to be.
Besides if ya paint the edges of the cups it looks like an amateur painted it.
You should want your 1943 Westfield to look loved - It's 82 years old

While the cups are out - throw them in the trash - Buy new cups and bearings, It's well worth it
 
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The cups should be removed so ya get the paint where it needs to be.
Besides if ya paint the edges of the cups it looks like an amateur painted it.
You should want your 1943 Westfield to look loved - It's 82 years old

While the cups are out - throw them in the trash - Buy new cups and bearings, It's well worth it
I guess I will take em out then lol. You raise a good point! Today I worked on my ignition module and got everything put together. It was a very tight fit but it's all assembled. Also began shooting the paint. Will definitely be using wet sand paper and compound for the final finish.
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Hey guys, been a few months since I last posted but life gets in the way sometimes. Since I was last here I've been working on finishing up the paint, restoring the gas tank, and trying to get everything looking good. I still have a long way to go but have a mockup to show you all. Any questions let me know. It's really late and I'm tired. Hope you've all had a great memorial day!
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I was very busy today and made butt loads of progress. What's left is hooking up the clutch and throttle, mounting my ignition module, running a fuel line, and running the chains. Still need to paint the chairing and crank which will be satin black, and the fender and pedal chain guard which will be the same grey as the rest of the bike. Let me know what you think so far!
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Looking really good I like it......Curt
Excellent.
Thanks for the support guys! My wife and mom have been cheering me on as well. Today was both a productive and frustrating day for bike building. I got my wiring done, ran and adjusted the throttle cable, ran the fuel line, and riveted on the original badge. I also restored a nifty little tail light and made a mount for the headlight that attaches to the stem. What didn't go so well today was attaching the chain... What I didn't realize is the bike is actually quite long, I haven't made any comparisons to a modern cruiser but it seems to have a long wheelbase. As a result the chain would not reach to close with a master link. I needed to dramatically shift the position of the engine to get the gap to close. Of course now it's hitting the part of the casting where the upper right hand clutch arm/cover bolt goes. Some filing is in order to make it fit. Another annoyance is that the air filter I had picked out won't fit with the change in engine position. I have a velocity stack with a built in filter coming Friday. Anyway here are some pictures from today!
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Looking good! (^)


One of my tips for builders is to always install the pedals & pedal chain first; then you install the engine & big chain... (because there's no way to adjust the chain tension on the pedal side).
This way you can come up with a plan for the big chain while bolting in the engine by possibly tilting the engine mounts or making shims.
 
Looking good! (^)


One of my tips for builders is to always install the pedals & pedal chain first; then you install the engine & big chain... (because there's no way to adjust the chain tension on the pedal side).
This way you can come up with a plan for the big chain while bolting in the engine by possibly tilting the engine mounts or making shims.
Thank you! I was thinking that, in hindsight that is probably what I should have done lol. Everything is still loose so that I can still install the pedal chain with relative ease. The tensioner I bought for the engine chain side was driving me a little nuts. It came with a plastic roller that wouldn't clear my rear engine mount, just another headache. I shimmed a bearing into a spare drive gear I had lying around and then used the hardware for the cruddy tensioner that comes with the kit. I'll have some pics of that later :)
 
Well guys, I got eager and tried to bump start the bike. No luck in my less than 100 foot driveway. Good news is that this 75 year old fuel tank has no leaks and is solid. Also everything is done other than chain ring, fender, and chain guard. Nearing the end is weird, part of me is really happy and part of me is kind of sad. Anyway I won't bore you with my emotions lol. Here are a few pics of the tensioner mod I did today as well as the bike in its current state. Also noteworthy is that the chain was rubbing against the engine, but with some filing and grinding it clears now.
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So it was certainly a day of learning. My homemade cdi did not start the engine, the crankset I had was too narrow even with some modifications and shimming. I scraped the F out of the pinstriping on the clutch cover, but there's good news as well! I did get it started after setting up the cdi from the kit and took a short little ride, and for the time I had it going it absolutely RIPPED! Also Venice motor bikes was right, the pedal chain went on all stoopid lol. I used an old derailleur I had laying around as a tensioner and it's working well! I have an extra wide crank set coming tomorrow, a new one of the same pinstriping coming soon, and my helmet is arriving today! Looking forward to giving you guys more updates, I'll try to post pictures later.
 
Hey guys. Update pics from the build. I painted some gold stripes on the chain guard and then shot it with clear. I'm gonna do some light polishing on the fender and chain guard and then they'll be ready for mounting. Also had one of those silly little checkout line mini flashlight hanging around and put it inside the tail light housing. It looks and works great and even turns on and off from turning the lens just like the original one. Amazon effed me over and my one day shipping on the wide crank turned into 3 day shipping, so I'll be waiting til Monday to finish. Weather was so cold and wet and windy today, glad the forecast looks like warm sunny days are ahead
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The choke lever was in a silly position so I used a piece of furniture brace, aluminum angle stock, and a finishing nail to fashion a choke that is convenient and easy to reach. I secured it by drilling a small hole in the carburetors choke lever. It's fixed to the frame with a stainless p-clamp like almost everything on this bike
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Hey guys, waiting on the wide crank to get here, Amazon is supposed to be dropping it this evening. In the final stages of the build and will be riding soon for sure. I'm going to take some beautiful pictures, probably by the beach because we live in a beach town, I may end up taking pictures at the local park as well (TBD) I have an easy to remove clamp on phone mount for the handlebars which will allow me to take some POV videos as well as track top speed of the bike. More pics to come soon :)
 
Hi guys, so I went for an official first ride with the bike and there were good parts and bad parts. The good part was it was stupidly fun to ride! Bad parts are the choke I made kept riding upward and choking the engine, I'm gonna find some way of rigging it so it won't do that while I'm riding. Also the idle was way off but I got that adjusted. Exhaust nuts loosened on me so I'm going to find a better way to secure those, the rear tire rubbed the fender a bit, and lastly the heat shield for my fuel line also rode up, leaving the fuel line exposed to heat. I figured some adjustments would be needed so I'm not surprised or discouraged. A video of it can be seen Here. I'm going to tweak it til it's perfect but at least I made it this far! Also I forgot to buy nuts for the chain guard hardware at the store lol, things happen. Anyway, I'll keep posting!
 
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