Ironhead Boardtracker Project

[JonesL]

My board track replica is coming along and I'm putting together the '71 Ironhead that'll power it.
Where I can I'm doing a little detailing to make the engine look older.
My Zenith carb looked entirely too new so I went to work on it.
By turning some pieces out of scrap brass and stripping the label off the can a christmas gift tie came in, I went for the 1920's Schebler Model H look.
From what I gather; the tin can was there mostly to keep the larger board track splinters and dirt clods out. Must have worked because there are lots of vintage photos showing that set-up.
Mine will include a copper mesh filter element (similar to the original washable copper mesh HD filters) that wraps around the inner perforated sleeve and fills the can giving my engine clean, filtered air.

Here's a Schebler from that era and my add-on to "age" my Zenith a few decades.

[Pan55]

very nice Jonesl

that's the details I love to see...where someone creates*....this in turn will somewhere inspire another....

tips my hat to you Sir...

[Hopper]

Nice work. Looking forward to seeing the finished bike.

[JonesL]

Glad to share. That's where the fun is; Sportster people helping each other.

[JonesL]

Thanks Hopper,

Getting ready to add a little surface texture to my axle plates. Last frame part to make is the "forging" under the seat where the backbones, down tube and upper legs for the hardtail meet up. Get those last pieces finished and I can start laying up and putting the frame together. I'm machining all the pieces that were castings or forgings on the original frames out or domestic 1050 steel billet. It machines good and with that much carbon, can be tempered or hardened as needed. Donor piece was a scrap diesel locomotive axle.
All tube to fauxging joints will be tack welded then brazed like the factory frames.
Inline open-spring springer parts (tube legs, inserts for the tube ends and the rockers) are roughed out as well as upper and lower triple trees. Just gotta fit and finish.
Springs are just cut down fork springs for now. Once I get it up on it's wheels I can get a better idea of how much "spring" my springs will need.
More as the project progresses.

[JonesL]

I'm building my own frame including making the forgings/castings for the axle plates as well as other components. Luckily I have more than enough of the original frame so it's more like repairing or restoring than a full-on fabrication. I'm currently setting up a bolt-on hard tail and need to know the dimension from inside face of one axle plate to the inside face of the opposite axle plate. I should be able to measure a stock 1971 swing arm... if I had one on hand.
Anybody able to give me this measurement?

[Mosey]

Oh my oh my! Those are so pretty!

Looks like a solid start to a frame. Will you be brazing the frame tubes into the neck and axle forgings? Are you planning on making more forgings?

[DR DICK]

nine point three seventy five.

[mrmom9r]

Inside to inside is 9 1/4".

The parts are pretty.

[JonesL]

Thanks for the kind words; and the dimensions.
After everything is fitted and aligned, the pieces will be tacked in place then silver soldered together just like the factory did.

To be honest, the "forgings" are machined out of 1050 steel billet then shaped and textured for a rough cast look. A lot of work but it gives me the "look" I want.
I'm using a pair of flat-sided late teens/early twenties style tanks so a double backbone set-up is going to take some engineering.
This is for a sportster powered board track replica I'm building so I'm trying to give everything a retro look to carry the theme. Got some other ideas in mind for the engine to change it's appearance and it looks like I'll be building my own springer front end too.
But hey... a boy's gotta have a hobby, right?