Firea100
Gold Member
Way back in July of last year, I posted some info on a trike I had purchased in the DFW area while at a school in Dallas. It was partially disassembled, (a well meaning nephew attempted to fix an unknown problem) Read:dropped valve, hole in piston. This is an update to that story:
With my currently un-heated garage and a ton of studying to do for my new career, the trike sat idle until this past month. I'd gathered parts I thought I'd need through the winter and prayed for some warmer weather. Well last month I removed the right cylinder head and did find the broken valve PLUS the hole in the piston. I contimplated splitting the case to install a new piston assembly but instead, opted for a lower milage long block 1 year newer. I have a cousin that has a rather severe case of ADHD,BUT who is a true genius when it comes to bikes! It's hard for him to hold a steady job but has many customers that he does work for out of his garage. I asked him if he would help me do an engine swap in the 'Wing-trike, he said sure!
So began the journey. Last Tuesday, he came over and in almost less than 2 hours had the broken motor removed! If you've ever saw a "fast motion" video of something being disassembled that's what it reminded me of!!! As most all of you 1500 'Wing folks know, there are about 3 miles of vacuum lines and wires wrapped and connected to the motor! I asked him if they needed to be labeled? "Nope, they just have to be plugged into the right ports when we're done!!" was his reply!!
Adam came back over on Thursday to re-install the donor motor. Again about two hours, and with VERY little actual help from me, the new to the trike motor, was hanging in the chassis where it belonged!
Fast forward to yesterday, Adam arrived to rebuild the carbs and finish routing all of the wires and vacuum lines. I really didn't think that we'd (He) would get as far as we did but we actually got the trike to turn over and got things like the lights, horns and turn signals to operate!
Having issues with fuel pump not operating. I do have power to the pump when it should, I suspect the 2 gallons of fuel that sat in the tank for some SIXTEEN ODD YEARS may have taken it's toll on the pump motor. I'll look into that this morning after church and before we go out to Mom's Day dinner with the family. So I'm getting excited to actually drive this trike. I've only ever driven one for about two miles and you can't really get a feel for it in that amount of time.
Below are a couple of pics of the trike. The first one in the pole barn is where it sat for 16 years. The second one is once I'd put a little "spit shine" on it in the hotel parking lot on the weekends I wasn't in school.
I'll post again with more tales on getting this thing running and dialed in as soon as there is more progress.
Thanks for listening,
Larry Gill
East China Mi.
firea100
With my currently un-heated garage and a ton of studying to do for my new career, the trike sat idle until this past month. I'd gathered parts I thought I'd need through the winter and prayed for some warmer weather. Well last month I removed the right cylinder head and did find the broken valve PLUS the hole in the piston. I contimplated splitting the case to install a new piston assembly but instead, opted for a lower milage long block 1 year newer. I have a cousin that has a rather severe case of ADHD,BUT who is a true genius when it comes to bikes! It's hard for him to hold a steady job but has many customers that he does work for out of his garage. I asked him if he would help me do an engine swap in the 'Wing-trike, he said sure!
So began the journey. Last Tuesday, he came over and in almost less than 2 hours had the broken motor removed! If you've ever saw a "fast motion" video of something being disassembled that's what it reminded me of!!! As most all of you 1500 'Wing folks know, there are about 3 miles of vacuum lines and wires wrapped and connected to the motor! I asked him if they needed to be labeled? "Nope, they just have to be plugged into the right ports when we're done!!" was his reply!!
Adam came back over on Thursday to re-install the donor motor. Again about two hours, and with VERY little actual help from me, the new to the trike motor, was hanging in the chassis where it belonged!
Fast forward to yesterday, Adam arrived to rebuild the carbs and finish routing all of the wires and vacuum lines. I really didn't think that we'd (He) would get as far as we did but we actually got the trike to turn over and got things like the lights, horns and turn signals to operate!
Having issues with fuel pump not operating. I do have power to the pump when it should, I suspect the 2 gallons of fuel that sat in the tank for some SIXTEEN ODD YEARS may have taken it's toll on the pump motor. I'll look into that this morning after church and before we go out to Mom's Day dinner with the family. So I'm getting excited to actually drive this trike. I've only ever driven one for about two miles and you can't really get a feel for it in that amount of time.
Below are a couple of pics of the trike. The first one in the pole barn is where it sat for 16 years. The second one is once I'd put a little "spit shine" on it in the hotel parking lot on the weekends I wasn't in school.
I'll post again with more tales on getting this thing running and dialed in as soon as there is more progress.
Thanks for listening,
Larry Gill
East China Mi.
firea100
