39 EL Lamp project

I am getting a little momentum on another 39 EL project. I got this bottom end from a friend in Jersey in the early 80's. I stopped by his place to trade him some UL parts fro a 46 EL lower end. I made the deal and while I was there I noticed a 39 EL lower end in really rough shape. The cases were blown out on the bottom from filling with water and freezing over the years. The rods that were sticking out were bent and rusty...I was in love! I looked it over again and again. My buddy told me he was going to weld it to a post and turn it into a mail box! No Way!

I guess he couldn't help noticing that I kept going back to the 39 EL.

Finally he said, " You're lookin' at that thing like you want that too."

"Fuck yeah", I said. I was shy back then. He replied, "Go ahead and take it with you. I ain't no good anyway."

Well, I took it home and turned it into a lamp. No shit, light bulb and all. The little EL motor followed me around from place to place and ended up as a decoration in my living room in my current house.

I took a good look at it late last year a thought shit, I outta build a bike around this. I brought the cases over to my friend Marty in Jeresy and he said no problem. He's a friggin' wizard with a welder. He put the bottom back in and you can't hardly tell it was gone! He didn't even fuck up the dirt on the rest of it! I found the fly wheels down in the barn that came out of it (had to take them out of the cases to fit in my light bulb). I was surprised that I held onto them for over 25 years (yeah right).

So now I'm on my way. I picked up a bent frame in Wauseon this year and started the gathering process. I found that I had a bunch of 39 stuff laying around. Oil tank, fenders, fork, etc. I need a set of tanks though. I found a chrome cam cover and just had it stripped. It sticks out like a sore thumb so I'll have to crust it up.

Oh yeah I got talked into updatin' the races... still not sure I shoulda done that...but what's done is done! No body's gonna see it anyway.

Well now I can add this to the other projects I started this year... I have made some headway on my 41 TT Knuckle. I'll get an update out on that soon.