cattailhaas - 69 Cat 400X - (Vintage Class)

#1
Been meaning to restore this bike for a while now....so glad the OldMiniBikes build off has finally come.... gonna start working on it tomorrow. I have everything to build this bike except an original throttle assembly and a rear fender, just in case anyone wants to sell me these parts to help with the build....will keep y'all posted...
 
#3
Looks like your pal on the bike wants to go fast already. Thanks for playing!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
#9
So I got the welds ground down and smoothed out and the chain slot cut open. Made a cardboard pattern off another bike so as to get it correct. Also dismounted the tires off the wheels. I've had quite the battle in the past taking tires off the cat wheels, so this time I cut some one inch by 1/4 inch strips of aluminum and rolled them into a ring on my slip roller , then welded the seam. I then placed it over the wheel onto the tire in the press with some steel blocking, and simply pushed the tire off the bead. Here are some pictures of the progress including the tubes all cleaned up and checked for leaks....
 
#11
Spent more time on my other build the last couple of days but I did get both sets of wheels for both bikes blasted and painted. I start by painting the outer ring with aluminum, and then wait a day and come back and add the black. I made a ring awhile back that I use on all my cat wheels out of thin aluminum. It's a 9/16 wide ring that just fits inside the outside lip, and I used a half of a bowling ball and a wheel half and rolled the inside edge down in my press. I then put it on the wheel to be painted and tape the outer edges and use squeeze clamps to hold it down tight so no black paint gets on the aluminum paint, then wait awhile and perfect edge between the two colors...
 
#17
Haven't got much done on this bike lately except for machining the new sprocket. I bought a new sprocket blank with a small hole in the center and then used my boring head on my mill to open it to the correct size. I then made a hub out of aluminum to keep the sprockets centered while transferring the bolt holes...
 
#18
You're not kidding about the rims and tires "welding" themselves to it. All three CATs I've done had this issue. I actually used a Dremel saw with a carbide bit to cut the beads to crack open the rims (the tires were beyond shot).

Nice way to do the sprocket...if I can I use 2-1 3/"8 bearings and use a 5/8" bolt to mate them when transferring the bolt pattern. Three washers are used as shims.
 
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