Towers anyone ?

[will350]

I going to build a new tower for one of my Polaris motors . It's wet and cold out so "outside work" is on hold for a bit .
If there are any "interested " parties , I'll do a step-by-step with pictures
and detailed explaination .
Will

[Mark75H]

Sounds like fun ... let's go

[Fast Fred]

[will350]

I haven't done this sort of thing before , so you all will have to bear with me on this . Today I'll root through the back corner and dig out the raw material for this and see if I can get some pics of where I'm starting and what I'm starting with .
Will

[will350]

After a couple hours of rooting around , I think I have all the pieces I'm going to need for this . 5/8" plate , 3/16" plate , clamps , pivot and a motor.
My usual go at these is to just start sawing and kind of let nature take it's course . Since I'd like this to be somewhat "understandable" , I'll have to make a few changes in my MO . One thing I have to do is get a hold of another
saw ( I did buy a new skilsaw this summer but since I'm doing a re-model , I'd rather use one that's "dedicated and sacrificial " to do this . ) I figure a used saw will make about a dozen of these before it packs up . If you were a little more cautious and thoughtful than I am , you would get quite a bit more life out of them than I do .
The next order of business is to root through the house and find the tools I'll need to do the lay out ( I know that my tri-square and carpenter square are in here in here some where !)
Building one of these is really pretty simple ( for me , anyway ) The most difficult part of this for me will be the ..... ummmm....... presentaton .
Any input on that subject would be highly appreciated .
Thought I'd start with materials and tools ? ( when I find them.Should charge my camera batteries too)
Will

[will350]

This is what starting out with . The piece of plate on the left is 3/16 for the sides , the piece on the right is 5/8 for the motor mount and L/U mount .
The motor is one of my "Johnny Cash" specials assembled from a variety of my best used pieces . Air cooled bottom end and a "gifted " L/C top end with some suggested porting . I've done this before and it was one of the best runners I've had before it went lean at the end of the Kilos and burned off the BIG end of the rod on the top hole. The tower-clamps are from my first effort so I've got a sort of head start . It worked OK with the exception of having enough deflection betwixt the motor and L/U to be really hard on couplers and input shafts . When I get the layout done , I'll post that .
Will

[will350]

This is the "initial ( ?) rough lay out . It's kind of strange looking but the camera wouldn't pickup the scribed lines , hence the blue tape .
The pieces are slightly over finished size at 6"X19" for the 350 and .......
6"X25" for the 500 ( That's right, a 500 Polaris triple ) The L/U plates are
the same size at 4 3/4"X10". The side plates are roughly sized and will have
to be "custom " fitted and cut to final shape after the L/u plate is in it's proper place .
The first order of business is to cut out the rough pieces . That's the easy part . The hard part will the finished plate . I'm pretty finicky and if I had my "druthers " , I'd be hauling this stuff off to the machine shop and have them machine it to my specs but "Mr. bank account " is telling me to go buy a cheap saw and a decent blade and spend a few days filing and checking and filing and checking some more until I run out of patience or it's "good enough" to satisfy my critical eye . So.............................
I'm off to fight my way through the busiest shopping day of the year ......
Will

[will350]

I have the parts " rough cut " and drilled except for the side plates . I'll leave them pretty much as is till I'm ready to mount the motor cause I want to run them as high up as I can get them . Will "cut to fit " when I get them in position . I drilled the foot plate to accept a 302 or Bass ( new style with the pivot pin in the foot ) . That way if I ever get one of these to make enough power to eat a 302 foot , I have another way to go . ( Thanks to Sid for the pattern .)
I just had to "sort of " assemble it to see how much filing it was going to take to get everything to bolt up . HOLY MOLEY ! I can't beleive it but NONE . Everything fits like it's supposed to and lines up ( lay out is EVERYTHING )
The next order of business will be to go over to my friend's place for a little tool abuse to do the final sizing and finish before all the drilling and tapping . Since the front plate AND foot plate are layed out on a center
line , the only real critical issue is to get the centers lined up and square .
I'm cheating in comparison my usual M/O . Along with my other "stone age tools " I making use of a table saw and a jointer . ( very , very light cuts and it comes out great)
Will

[Joe Silvestri 36-S]

Nice work! What class will this engine be racing in?

[will350]

It's a legal 350 PRO motor . The crank case and igniton are from a fan cooled unit and the top end is from a liquid cooled . Both 340cc Polaris . I have a few things I'm going to try on this one to make it a little more "user friendly".
At the moment , the ignition is ET but CDI will fit right on . Normally they run 36mm Mikuni round slides . I'm going to adapt HD Tillotsons (1 1/2" bore).
I run these on gas at 40:1 Power Punch 2 stroke oil . There are some who frown on this but then the only thing I ever tried to run on alcohol was
me and after several severe "burn downs" , I had to cut way back on the percentage . Beside that , I "know " what the parameters on gas are and it's available on "any corner" USA . These things are inexpensive ( cheap) and there are thousands of them gathering dust in barns and basements .
I was going to do up a 500 but that's on hold till I "see" why it won't turn
( RATS , I knew I should've put in the closet )
When I finish the tower , I'll do a write-up on the motor if there's any interest in that ?
Will