Hans Eickeler did the finetuning by adding some cosmetical welds …

… and so did Ivo Doornenbal to the exhaust.

It turned out there was a lot of tension in the frame: only with force the front and the rear half could be bolted together, no good. So I decided (although not much of a choice) to heat the whole frame in an oven to get the tension out.

First of all I scored myself an old 350 engine …

… took out all the moving parts …

… and bolted the crankshaft to my garage; always wanted a V8 crankshaft above the entry.

I bolted the frame to the engine and took it to Smit Gloeidienst. For very little money and within a week (thanks guys!) they heated it up with 30°C per hour to about 570°C. When this temperature was reached the oven cooled down with 50°C per hour, to 100°C. This procedure is called ‘annealing treatment’.

Of course the tension in the steel has to go somewhere. I ‘protected’ the parts that shouldn’t be affected with massive studs.

After the heat treatment I cut the studs in half; they didn’t move a bit which proved the tension was gone.

I continued with the casing for the clutch, which was a very difficult and time consuming job. Had to put a lot of strips at the inside to get the armour plates fixed.

Looks a bit Mad Max, doesn’t it?

Hans and I puzzled for days to construct one-off strips. If you do this right … no one will ever see them again. Bummer.

Peter helped me hoisting the heavy engine on the trailer because …

… on the 19th of August 2013 I took the frame and the engine to the RDW at Venlo. The RDW is the one and only official company that does all the licensing of all Dutch vehicles. The procedure to get the bike street legal has two stages: the first is this one, showing the frame and the engine to examine the construction and the origin of the engine. Apart from that I showed them the recording of the first street test, and they liked what they saw.

With a special tool they hammered the VIN code (= Vehicle Identification Number) in the steering head.

From that moment on the heavy lump of welded steel tubes promoted to an official bike frame.

We had to fill in a lot of papers.

Took out the intake manifold. Nice to see that the one-off oil pump construction still looks like new.

Which was not the case for the inside of the fuel tank. A few years ago I treated it with Tank Cure, a 2K substance to seal the tank. The additives to petrol have changed dramatically in recent years, and Tank Cure was no match for these contaminants; I had to remove it all …

… which was a hell of a job. But what isn’t in this project? ;)

Eventually I got it in this condition.

In my design I decided the fuel tank should be hinged.

I contacted Springmasters to help me decide which gas springs to use for holding up the tank.

Both gas springs had to be mounted inside the frame tubes.

From computer simulation to reality is a big step. First I made a physical test simulation.

Almost 30°: that’s enough. Open …

… and closed.

Some milling …

… some Hans-welding …

… and it fitted like a glove.

I took the whole wiring loom to Niels. He started optimizing it.

The bike’s paint job is a two stage job as well: one before and one after Lelystad. Kustombart dared to take up the challenge.

No, this is not an abstract painting from famous painter J.M.W. Turner. It is Bart moulding the fuel tank with a special aluminum silicium filler.

Special treatment for the bottom of the tank too. Yes, the same filler …

… but covered with a thin layer of gold foil this time. Not because it’s pretty but because it will reflect the heat from the engine in a very effective way.

Heat, heat, heat, the never ending story. I had the exhaust ceramic coated by S&G Waardenburg. This can cope with high temperature ánd keeps the heat better inside than normal paint.

The rest of the painted parts are black. Of course.

On the left you see a part of the tank, and Tjeerd’s dog.

Gold and black. That reminds me of the good ol’ Formula One days. Ayrton Senna in his JPS Lotus, almost thirty years ago. Yes, that was before I even started this project. Unbelievable eh?

The steering head tube was not perfectly round anymore, not perfect enough for fitting the bearings anyway. Klaus and me constructed a special tool to scratch out the tube.

Because just hammering the bearings in: no way. It took a whole day but in the end they fitted like a glove.

I overhauled the hydraulic clutch unit as well, and replaced the small pistons.

The new ones have the grooves and the seals at a lower position so the pistons can make a longer way.

Heat. Did I tell you about heat already? I hate heat.

The pre-turbo water-methanol injection system (see previous V8 update) was not sufficient: the droplets were just too big, not atomized enough, to get an efficient cooling of the intake air. So I started designing an alternative new system with an electric high pressure pump.

But there was no way I could position this big pump on my bike. It would just look bulky.

It is a nice theory, and I’m looking forward experimenting with it. But right now it’s not my main concern: at lower revs, the intake temperature isn’t a real issue because the engine has enough power, even without extra cooled intake air.

Peter is an expert on wiring. He helped me installing all the wires for lighting.

A very delicate and time consuming job.

And on a cold day in February …

… Niels started installing the wiring loom. Most wires were replaced; it’s better now than it ever was before.

The end of March Peter and Niels worked on the wiring together.

Things are going well.

April 13th 2014: the first engine start since one and a half year, since October 5th 2012. After a minor problem with the wiring the engine ran instantly, and sounded like it had never been shut down.

What’s next? Next month a final (I hope) Dyno test, a final (I hope) street test, clearing lots of small (I hope) problems. And then: Lelystad, here we come!

To be continued … here.