Panhead People's Champ Build

[SundownSlinger]

I'm building a panhead chopper for Showclass People's Champ 7 here at Shamrock Fabrication/Irish Rich Custom Cycles in Denver and thought I'd post updates along the way here on ChopCult. I'm not getting too out there or crazy with molding, stretch, etc.. I'm building a classic chopper that is reliable, a chop that is a rider, making adjustments to current parts I've used in the past or had saved for a special project. So here it goes, I hope you enjoy what I'm putting out here...

For my last 2 Choppers, I used a Paughco wishbone 4 speed frame. When I got it, everything about it seemed off. After lifting it up and standing it straight up on it's neck, all of the cross members along the bottom weren't straight across. On top of that, the axle plates were sucked in about 1/2" from where they should have been. To get my spacers in when mounting the wheel, I always had to use a crowbar of some sort in-between the wheel and axle plate to pry it out in order to slip the spacers in. A real pain in the ass.

So, after putting 90,000+ miles on this frame and deciding to chop the shit out of it for this build, separating the axle plates to the proper specs was my first project.

A porta power works better. Pumped it out well past what was needed knowing the plates would suck back in a little after releasing the pump.

My last trip on this chopper was from Denver to the U.P. of Michigan. Only made it to the Nebraska border before the bike cut out on me. Got it back to Denver and realized a voltage regulator wire was cut and rubbing on the frame beneath my primary. Another thing I noticed in the process was a crack around my seatpost. This frame has seen a lot of miles and been through a lot of abuse over the last 10 years.. Had to tear the entire bike apart and get it sandblasted to see if there were any other cracks, as well as repair the post.

[SundownSlinger]

I cut out a section of the seatpost and fit a replacement piece, along with sleeves/slugs for support inside, drilling holes where needed for plug welds. I also used a cleaning wheel to strip the outside metal and cleaned all parts with denatured alcohol.

Plug welded everything in place

Smoothed out the welds to blend into the seatpost before tig welding the seams

[SundownSlinger]

Next, I wanted to stretch the downtubes of the frame roughly 2" and also add to the stock rake. I cut the downtubes up near the neck, placed a pump underneath the backbone, and heated the backbone up with a torch at the bottom of the backbone near the seat area. While cherry red at the base of the backbone, I then pumped it up until I had 2.25" of stretch in my downtubes, extending the rake from 30.5 to 37 degrees in the process.

[SundownSlinger]

Once I had the backbone and rake set to where I wanted it, I felt like chopping out the wishbone downtubes for some stright-legs. So, I cut the downtubes off near the front/bottom motor mount and bent up new straight-legs to fit. I made sleeves/slugs for support inside, drilled holes for plug welds where needed, cleaned the parts with a cleaning wheel and then denatured alcohol, and welded them into place. Again, smoothing out the plug welds to blend into the frame rails before tig welding the seams.



I'll be posting more update as soon as I make more progress. I've got an extended girder front end, an old hummer tank, a spool hub, a new top motor mount and battery tray needed, frame details, metal engraving and many more projects to come.

[DoomBuggy]

I'm digging this one, you are using the technique I used "back in the day". The only thing I did was first scribe a line on the ground parrallel to where the wheels go so I could shove a pipe in the neck and make sure it stayed true.

I REALLY dig the straight frame conversion that was a stroke of genius, looking good dude.

[montuckymatt]

Great thread! Looking forward to following this one. I appreciate the step by step info.

[BurnoutNova]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. It is neat to follow along with these builds and see how the finished product is achieved.

[xMPRx]

cool start! and I like the concept, a ridding chopper, hard to find that in these competitions anymore.

[SundownSlinger]

Here's a disassembled look at my extended girder front end that I'm throwing on this chopper for the Showclass People's Champ competition. Sent it off a few weeks ago to Industrial Plating in Omaha. Plan is for Nickel and black nickel plating.

Chopped off the old stock paughco top motor mount. Grinded down the leftovers and smoothed out the bottom of the backbone.

Mocked up a new motor mount made from 2 pieces of 1 1/8" round tubing, and one 1 1/8" solid bar. Coped both pieces of tubing to fit the bottom of the backbone and the piece of solid bar. Drilled and tapped the solid bar for the top motor mount bolt as well. Used magnets to hold the pieces in place while I tacked it in position.

Finished welding it up. Beefy mount for a beefy motor(on the way).

[SundownSlinger]

Cutting and prepping everything for a battery tray. Measure, cut, clean.

Weld and smooth out.

Check fit

Welded into place on the frame behind the tranny mount, in front of the back wheel

[SundownSlinger]

I got this old hummer sporty tank over 10 years ago and held onto it for a special project. This Showclass People's champ build seemed to be the right one. It was painted and beat up when I got it, but I didn't know how bad until I had it sandblasted a month ago. Dents all over it, obviously covered up with bondo and paint. Since my plan was to flat bottom the tank, shallow the tunnel, and put new mounts on - busting out the dents was needed also. First, I had to rip the bottom of the tank out. I started by cutting off the front and back mounting tabs, then grinding down the welds from the remaining tabs in front so I could pry them off.

Next, I cut the bottom of the tank loose about a 1/4" inside/away from the bottom edge so that I had remaining surface to weld new bottom panels to when the time came. I also cut slits in the bottom front leading up to the front tunnel opening/seam, which would allow me to peel the entire bottom and tunnel opening out all at once once the tunnel welds were grinded down to it's seam as well. Towards the front of the bottom here, you can also see I cut a square around the ignition wire passage/tube, so I could preserve it and attach it to the new bottom panels when the time came.

Here's a picture of the tunnel weld grinded down enough to see the seam that separates it from the rest of the tank. The seam is very faint, but you can see it if you look closely.

Once all of this was done, I was able to peel the entire bottom and tunnel out. Notice the ignition wire tube/passage still in place.

[SundownSlinger]

Like I mentioned before, after getting it sandblasted, this tank had dents all over it. Big ones. Once I got the bottom ripped out, I had room to get into it and work them out.

Using body/planishing hammers, along with a variety of dollies, I worked out the dents as well as I could. It was a lot of work, but something I needed practice on, so it was good for me. Irish Rich, who I work with, was a big help during this process as well. He showed me the ropes and lended a helping hand. If you don't know who Irish Rich is, you should. He's a ruler in this industry, not only with building bikes, but also chopper history. I've worked part-time with him for almost 13 years now.


It came out pretty well overall. The unnoticeable, tiny ripples that remain will be covered with a really thin layer of bondo by my painter when he goes to work on it.

Next up, I needed to cut new tunnel holes, front and back. I also needed to form and weld in a new tunnel and bottom panels...

[Dragstews]

Very Kool Thread .....

I can relate to what you have done on the Hummer's tank ...

Did somewhat the same thing on running that tank on my 52 Pan...



I used a tunnel from a early CH with making up internal mounts ....
Only draw back to this tank is feeding 90 cubes .... Don't get a lots of miles in the saddle from a tank full of gas till ya start hunting a gas station. But tis a Killer back in-da-day look...

[SundownSlinger]

After tearing out the bottom and tunnel, as well as busting the dents out, I got to work filling in what I needed. I started with the front tunnel opening, cutting and bending a piece of 16 gauge steel to fit.

I cleaned the piece completely with a cleaning wheel and wiped it down with denatured alcohol

Then I cleaned the tank surface that I was gonna weld the piece to, again with a cleaning wheel and denatured alcohol.

Finally, I clamped it all together using a variety of vise grips to hold it tightly in place while I tacked it, then welded it together completely. Certain areas where the filling piece didn't fit tightly enough against the tank, I used a planishing hammer while it was still hot from the tack welds to pound the metal closer together.

[SundownSlinger]

I completely tig welded the front piece into place to fill the front tunnel opening

I was then able to cut new tunnel holes on each end, front and back, for my new tunnel to fit into. I cut the holes using a 2" hole saw bit. I also positioned the holes so that once the new tunnel was in, the tank bottom would sit flush with the bottom of the frame's backbone.

[SundownSlinger]

Next came the bottom panels of the tank to be formed, fitted, and welded into place. I used a piece of thin cardboard paper to trace my outline and get a template piece to work with.

I cut both panel pieces out and finished shaping them where needed to fit perfectly, cleaning both sides/edges for welding. I also marked both side either R "right" or L "left" since both weren't exactly the same and needed to go on a certain side.

On the bottom left panel, I needed to cut a hole for the ignition switch wire tube. Since the existing tube wasn't long enough to reach the new bottom panel, I ran a narrower tube(just narrow enough to slide down the existing tube) through the existing one to the bottom panel. I traced around the tube on the inside of the bottom panel, took the panel off, and cut the necessary hole in the panel with a hole saw bit. I then cleaned around the hole with a cleaning wheel to clear burs and get it ready to weld. I left the inserted tube/extension, of the ignition wire tube, long so I could trim it down later. With the tube sticking through the bottom panel to hold it in place, I then tacked the inserted inner tube to the existing ignition wire tube with silicon bronze. Once it cooled, I pulled the bottom panel off and finished silicon bronzing around the rest of the tubes to complete the weld/connection/extension.

As you can see here, both panels fit and I have the extended tube welded in and sticking out from the bottom more than what's needed. Silicon bronzing it to the bottom of the panel and trimming the tube down will come later.

[SundownSlinger]

As I mentioned before, I left about 1/4" of extra trim around the outer edge when I cut out the old tank bottom(as you can see in this first picture where the outer edge isn't covered by the 2nd panel). Since I did that, I had a small amount of surface area to not only weld the new bottom panels to, but also clamp them to while tacking/welding. I used a bunch of vise grips to clamp the panel in place along the outer edge. Problem was, after starting to tig, welding it wasn't going so well. As well as I cleaned the panels and tank surfaces, there must have been contamination in the tank metal. This tank is over 60 years old, so I sort of expected some issues when welding it.

It got bad enough while welding it that I had to resort to silicon bronzing the outer edge of the panels to the tank. It melted and filled the seams much easier/better than typical welding did. It wasn't too pretty, but it worked and it'll hold just fine.

With the panels in, my next post will be the forming, fitting, and welding in of the new tunnel. Also, silicon bronzing the ignition wire tube to the bottom of the panel and cutting it down closer to the surface. Then, grinding and smoothing out everything that needs to be...

[montuckymatt]

Dig it! Keep it coming im learning alot from this thread. Thanks

[Dragstews]

As always .... Fantastic work from the shop of "SHAMROCK FABRICATION"

[Hoghead]

Beautiful work!