1947 Velocette MSS frame repairs moving forward

  OK, it's been awhile since pulling the bike down to the bare frame. I've been waiting to find someone that either repairs frames or if a frame jig fall into my lap. Neither have to date and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.  I have let the issue percolate through the mind for a year or two, maybe three. Of inspiration were some of the Japanese shops creating homemade frames. One thing that got my attention was their use of construction levels to setup frame alignment. ok, cool, worth a look see even if it can be pricy. 

So with the speed of Amazon I got one into the shop this week. It would at the very least give me an idea how much damage is in the frame because after the strip down I noticed that the headstock was way out if you sighted down it's side to the center down tube. 

The first thing I did was throw the frame into the rotating bench vice. I gave it a quick leveling with a tiny level on the center tube and the lower frame tube. It took a bit of fiddling to get it just about right. From there I mounted the laser level on a tripod and sighted it down the (hopeful) straight tubes.  Luckily the center tube and the holes for the rear axel plates were in alignment. At first I was lining up the center and the top tube but then recalled the top tube is bent.  This led me to using the tiny level to 'square' up the frame in the vice.

Here are a few pictures with the laser in play.

As you can see, the head stock is way out of alignment.  Pretty much what I thought was the case and might explain the crack in the down tube at the steering stem. Another inspiration was seeing a few pictures of Burt Monroe's Velo racers this week which got me thinking, if Burt could modify old bikes in his shed then I should be able to work my way forward with hand tools as well, to a point.

With this info I'm comfortable to pick up the hacksaw and get into chopping out the broken downtube. 

Hacksaw you say? Yes, I figure it's the best tool for the job. Inexpensive, slow and with a hint of accuracy. Put in a new 18tpi bi-metal blade and away we go!

Once the first cut was done I could find out just how broken the frame was. It didn't take anything to lean on the down tube to just about break it off.

After an hour or two I hand everything that needed to be cut off, off.  Next was to score and cut out the castings so that I could remove the tubing from inside. Most of the castings are pinned and brazed into place. Removing the pins helps keep from breaking milling or boring tools. I find that the spring loaded punches are the best to help get a good start in centering where to drill. From that point you can center up a larger heavy punch and go to town,

More to follow