Bits and pieces

Took everything apart and found the missing or replacement parts. Now, sandblasting and paint is in order!

Better late than never

A year has passed since the last post and the last time I wanted to work on the Laniel Velosolex 4600V1... Lots has happened and kept me away from the project, among the things, updating and insulating my garage!

Now that this is all behind me, I finally pulled the parts of the bike and took it all apart and made a full inventory what is there vs. not there. I broke a few of the original bolts and screws that snapped when I undid them because of the rust.

Here is a pic of all the parts laid on the floor after checking what I had

Most of the bike is there. There are no major parts missing, but most have some level of rust, some black paint either brushed or spray painted on them and quite a few are seriously bent. The bike must have taken a decent tumble at some point. 

Also with the bike, but not pictured is a set of chromed front fender which must have been acquired from a Velosolex 3800 Luxe or Super Luxe, the only one to have such chromed fenders. I will keep them for the moment since I want to bring the bike to original state right now

A few items I will likely have to change:
1. the crank/rest assembly, which on this model was riveted and appears to have been pried apart
2. All brake cables and will need to be redone
3. There were no brake pads on the front
4. Missing front and back lights
5. Front fork arms are so bent, I think I will replace them
6. Missing chain guard
7. Some of the bolts and screws which will need to be replaced (I broke some)
8. Missing decompressor

The rest I can play with. Next step, will be unbending everything, sandblasting and powder coating or painting some of the parts. I will dive in my inventory to see if I have all the parts next week...

It's Cold!!

It's cold outside and the snow keeps on coming up here in the Northeast. Since the engine is working fairly well now, I have drained the gas in the lines and stored it for the winter.

The next project will be the bike and I will start cleaning and taking apart the bike parts. Review what's good and what's not and dive in my bins of parts to get this baby running. My goal is to ride it in the spring. 

I will be posting pictures in the coming weeks of the progress I make.

Engine is finished!

Here it is the finished engine, and it looks like the job was done correctly, it even starts!

Rebuilding the engine - 2

The roller assembly plate was bent, and would jeopardize the integrity of the engine, so I replaced it by a part I had, and put it in with the single effect clutch

Next comes the Stator Plate, which was ok, but was bead blasted and de-greased. The points plate was completely bent, so garbage for this one and a replacement was installed:

Finally, the cylinder head, carburetor and pump were installed as well as a new rotor, since the engine must have fallen down and some of the rotor winglets were bent or broken and even after heating and bending them back, I thought it would be better to use one in better shape

Here it is almost ready to go, with its fuel lines and a brand new gas tank. Still missing at this point is the engine mud guard which I stripped and primed, sanded and painted. It's drying and will go on after a coat of clear in the coming days:

Rebuilding the engine

Once all taken apart, each piece has been bead-blasted when possible or thoroughly cleaned and put back together, including the fuel pump and the carb... Here is the whole engine ready to be assembled:

First off, a new bearing in the crank case, install the engine mounting plates so that I can put the engine back on the wall stand. The engine side plates have been sandblasted and repainted prior to getting these on.

Next, the piston and cylinder will go in:

First Step - Engine

The first step will be to work on the engine of the Canadian Solex. It is in need of TLC, although it is not seized and moves freely - it has some compression, but not a whole lot. I will give this little guy a complete makeover.

This is what it looks like before doing anything to it, just held on my home-made engine stand:

It is dirty and will need a throrough clean:

And so it starts. I took it apart to find a couple of things unusual, first, the clutch is of a 'simple-effect' that was briefly used by Solex and it is only the second time I see one. The other engine I have with this clutch is my 5000 version US Specs

A couple of hours later, all is taken apart, and it looks something like this. A word of warning, if you intend to attempt this, remember that you need to heat up the crank case to extract the bearing, and you need to be gentle, a shop press will greatly help. Otherwise it may break and that will be the end of that story!

Fortunately for me no problems here. Quick inventory:
- Bearing are good for the garbage, 6202 and 6203 will be replaced with new ones
- Piston rings will need a thorough cleaning as they are somewhat stuck (which would explain the compression)
- All gaskets will be new ones as well as the pump diaphragm and the spark plug
- Stator plate with the coils will be taken apart to be cleaned and de-greased and all the parts will be bead-blasted with glass beads to clean them
- Cylinder will be sandblasted and painted with high temperature black paint
- Front engine mudguard will be sandblasted, primed, painted and clear coated
- Pump will be checked and cleaned
- Carburator and fuel lines completely cleaned/blasted and reassembled
- Tank will be replaced with a new one since it is cracked and good for the trash can

Good luck to me!