Some progress

Sorry for the lack of recent posts. Life intrudes sometimes... After a trip to Dubai to confirm that the $65 per tank of gas is being well spent, with a fun little side trip to chase Triumph pre-unit parts, I have had some time to wrench on the old girl...

Here are a couple of pictures just to show, if nothing else, that she's a little cleaner...






The old Indian needs a fair amount of minor (I hope) mechanical tweaking before I can really ride it. Sometimes, the cosmetic stuff really nags at one, though. I broke down and ordered a repro taillight from Starklite. It definitely makes the back fender look a lot better.



No, my license plate is not blank! I used the "blemish remover" tool to mask the number, and curiously, it preserved the background. In terms of cosmetics, the other small thing really nagging at me is the missing Indian Chief face on the front fender running light. A small thing, but the first thing anyone notices. The chopper seat is of course also pretty ugly.

I had the Indian running again, and wanted to check the voltage to see if the generator was working. 13.7 volts!! Thought it was a 6-volt system. This lead to some generator research.



The GAS 4151-1 generator is original Indian equipment, and was 6-volt. First I though the 12V stamped into it was an indicator of voltage, but I looked closer and saw it's 12Y; I learned that it's an Auto-lite date code. The 12 indicates December, but I am not sure of the year. T indicates 1939, and U indicates 1940, etc. If Auto-lite maintained this sequential scheme all through WWII, then I guess Y might indicate 1945? On the other hand, they may have suspended the practice during WWII ('43-'45) , in which case the Y might indicate 1947...

I am now guessing someone converted it to 12 volts, but not sure... I would prefer 12v, I just need to be sure before I start buying a battery and light bulbs...

The biggest mechanical problem is that the scavenger part of the oil pump is only working intermittently. From online research, confirmed by some very helpful advice from Mike Breeding, I now suspect that the oil pump needs to be torn down and the scavenger gears replaced. The scavenger part is apparently particularly subject to failure.

After talking to Mike, I am also contemplating removing the engine from the frame, and tearing down the top end. This will allow me to check condition of cylinders, rings, valves, guides, etc, but most of all, I can get some idea of rod and main bearing condition. It will also allow me to clean the exterior of the engine and transmission much more thoroughly.

Enough for now.