Got a powell!

This project stalled a few years ago and this week I resumed working on it. Got the wheels finished and assembled, painted the front end I made and fit it all together (thanks to Havasu Dave for his detailed drawings of the guts of the front end as I could not remember how it went together) finished painting the rest of the bike yesterday. Waiting for the paint to harden good and time to assemble it. I did add bearing spacers between the wheel bearings even though the Powell design does not put side pressure on them.
 

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I was away driving all over the east coast, Tenn and Alabama. Have been making slow progress on the powell since I arrived home last week. I have run into a few issues with the pulley and idler I made the frame for. The original had the idler axle welded to the frame and I used a bolt so as to make it replaceable. Well after assemble the bolt hits the frame preventing the idler from dropping down all the way. I cut the head off and welded it to one side but the nut on the threaded end still hits. It should still function OK but limit the max operation of the 20 series driver. Working on the led lighting system now and maybe today test run the engine on my engine stand.
 

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I74

Well-Known Member
I was away driving all over the east coast, Tenn and Alabama. Have been making slow progress on the powell since I arrived home last week. I have run into a few issues with the pulley and idler I made the frame for. The original had the idler axle welded to the frame and I used a bolt so as to make it replaceable. Well after assemble the bolt hits the frame preventing the idler from dropping down all the way. I cut the head off and welded it to one side but the nut on the threaded end still hits. It should still function OK but limit the max operation of the 20 series driver. Working on the led lighting system now and maybe today test run the engine on my engine stand.
Pretty wild looking exhaust there.. Would like to know & see more details of that. :cool:
 
getting ready to install engine. Test ran it yesterday got carb adjusted and it runs well. Alternator output verified and now need to get 1/4-28 bolts for the pull starter. I also found the correct metal gas tank on ebay and am waiting for that to come so I can paint it and install it on the motor. I can't seem to upload a .AVI file to see engine running. How do I upload a video file?
 

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Just a quick update on this slow moving project. I have run into a number of re assembly issues One being the drive pulley idler hitting the frame at the bottom, Trying to find a location for the electrics box to convert the two out of phase coils into DC, and the engine did not fit in the frame as the plastic tank seam hit the front down tubes and the air cleaner hit the frame in the back. I had to get the correct tank and then make a 1/8" thick engine plate spacer to raise the engine 1/8" so air filter clears. The engine is a later hs50 converted to look like a earlier round shroud HS40. Anyway I'm getting close. I painted the fiberglass pulley cover the same as the frame even though it should be silver as I am really liking he yellow. I still need to find a belt, I found one in my stash that fits real tight so I need to get one a inch longer. I still need to make a rack for the original throttle although to test run it I may use a regular throttle twist grip till I have time to make a rack.
 

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Just a quick update on this slow moving project. I have run into a number of re assembly issues One being the drive pulley idler hitting the frame at the bottom, Trying to find a location for the electrics box to convert the two out of phase coils into DC, and the engine did not fit in the frame as the plastic tank seam hit the front down tubes and the air cleaner hit the frame in the back. I had to get the correct tank and then make a 1/8" thick engine plate spacer to raise the engine 1/8" so air filter clears. The engine is a later hs50 converted to look like a earlier round shroud HS40. Anyway I'm getting close. I painted the fiberglass pulley cover the same as the frame even though it should be silver as I am really liking he yellow. I still need to find a belt, I found one in my stash that fits real tight so I need to get one a inch longer. I still need to make a rack for the original throttle although to test run it I may use a regular throttle twist grip till I have time to make a rack.
That bike is beautiful. Good choice on the clutch cover color. Great job!
 

I74

Well-Known Member
Looks great !

Head light bucket & ring look like for an old British bike & or old HD set up,, which is super cool,, & my fav. bike headlight assy. :cool:
 
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