Martin Pinkston's - Miss Appropriated Funds Project
Here's Martin's story in his own words

 

This is my "78", "Miss-Appropriated Funds" just before I decided to seriously look into why it was running poorly all the time. It has a Vetter Windjammer SS fairing and Bates bags.

I am the third owner and it was purchased last the summer of "99".

The first thing I did after getting the bike home was to change the old after-market electronic ignition system over to a Dyna III, remove the K-Mart yellow fog lights, remove the non-functional CB radio and clean up / re-organize the nest of wires in the fairing.

My wife and I rode it 5000 miles before I tore it down.

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Shaun, my daughters boyfriend introduced me to Bob Roe.

Shaun had sold Bob a tool box, and remembered that Bob had a few Wings. I had been have problems with my bike fouling out the #2 plug after about 200 miles. I got sick of pulling the plug and cleaning off the carbon. I rebuilt and re-sync’d the carbs. That did not help. I tore off the heads and did a valve job after checking compression and finding all cylinders low (85 psi) and #2 especially low, 65 psi. As the heads were off I noticed that #2 piston did not come all the way to the top of the cylinder, like the other three pistons did. That is when Shaun remembered meeting Bob and introduced us. Bob told us about the Open House at South Bend and we planned to be there. After talking with Carl’s mechanic, Jim Hughes suspected a bent connecting rod. When I returned home, I decided to tear down the motor, even thought it was suggested that just replacing the motor would be less expensive. I look at it as an educational experience and no lessons come cheap.

Another photo from video.

This is just after I split the case and removed the #2 piston and rod. I was not in a hurry to get the motor out and found it relatively easy to remove. Getting off the circlip on the drive shaft spline was the most difficult. At this point here I am 7 hours into the job.

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Another photo from video.

This is the #2 rod and piston. No, that is not screen distortion, that is the bent rod. Believe it or not there was very minimal rod bearing wear and minimal wear on the piston skirt.

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This is the case halves with most of the internals removed. In-between the halves you can see the bent #2 rod.

Here the cylinders have been lightly honed to remove any glazing and to provide a new surface for new rings to mate to.

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The crankshaft.

It looks brand new. There is not a mark on it.

I expected to find scoring on the #2 rod journal.

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This is the stator field windings. When your stator fails, this is the part that goes bad. The large hole to the left of the stator is where the clutch is found...when it’s all together.

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This is one half of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th gears, with the drive chain that delivers the power from the crankshaft to the transmission.

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My plans for this bike are as follows:
  • Install; Gapless piston rings,
  • Dyna S ignition system,
  • Dyna coils or similar,
  • Invader carb kit,
  • Jama exhaust system,
  • New saddle, tires, rear shocks, new front fork seals and progressive springs.
  • Optional; new grooved rotors

January update: The reassembly begins. Follow this link to the page where pictures of the new gapless rings have been posted.

Do you have a story you would like to share with other members.  A rebuild job?   A memorable tour of your bike? Or just some plain fun times.  Email us at webmaster@classicwingclub.org

 

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