Sixpack Story Nbr 3 !/Die Indian 6-Zylinder Teil 3 !

Ich hatte ja >>hier<< und >>hier<< angefangen die Geschichte der Roth-Super Six zu erzählen. Ihr erinnert euch: Mein Freund Jeff Roth hat die Idee, die 3. Indian 6-Zylinder zu bauen. Und zwar genau an dem Ort, an dem auch die ersten Beiden entstanden sind. In Wichita / Kansas. Es ist einige Zeit ins Land gegangen, aber das Projekt hat mächtig Fahrt aufgenommen. Wie man dem folgenden Bericht entnehmen kann, haben eine Menge Experten zum Gelingen des Projekts beigetragen. Und es wurden sogar noch Original Unterlagen der ersten Ottaway-Six in Wichita gefunden.
Verzögerungen gab es u.a. weil Mark Hill und sein Team heftig damit beschäftigt waren, die Hendersons für den 2018er Cannonball zu präparieren. Und die waren ja bekanntlich reichlich erfolgreich. Insofern war Jeff sehr sicher, dass der Motor seiner Six in guten Händen war. 

Wie ich finde, hat Jeff eine richtige Indian gebaut. Die Ottaway Six ist ja irgendwie ein Hybrid. Hinten Indian, vorne Harley. Jeff's ist 100% Indian.

Im vierten und (vorerst) letzten Teil der Story wird dann die Six zum Leben erweckt ! 

Here we go ! Danke Jeff für den Bericht. 

Da fehlt noch was...

In the latter half of 2018 the Mark Hill gang at 4th Coast Fours was busy preparing a group of Henderson four-cylinder motorcycles for the United States 2018 Motorcycle Cannonball race from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon.  While the Six Cylinder Indian engine project took a break in Waddington, NY its chassis began to take shape in Wichita, Kansas.  Incidentally of the Henderson’s that Mark provided engine support for, 4 placed in the top 10 spots of the 100 or so pre-1930 motorcycles that embarked on the race. 

Back in Kansas the stock Indian Four frame was straightened, strengthened and stretched.  As was done with the original 1961 Herb Ottaway frame, the extra length amounted to 7.25”.  The upper case had travelled to Kansas to serve as a template for the motor mounts. 

Sitzt und wackelt nicht

Verlängern und Richten des Rahmens

Fresh fenders were provided by Matt Blake of Iron Horse Corral.  Todd Ksenych’s crew at Jerry Greer’s Indian Engineering helped with the mounting of the hard-to-find 1941 Indian tank badges.  A two-tone red paint job was applied and by November of 2018 the rolling chassis was finished. 

Anpassen der Motorbefestigung

100% Indian

That fall, after the Cannonball race was in the history books, attention was turned to the camshaft and the crankshaft.  It was known from period magazine articles of the day that Herb had figured out that a Plymouth inline six automobile engine had the correct chain-driven camshaft rotation that an Indian engine would need.  Incredibly, the Wichita shop that helped Herb on his camshaft in 1960 still had the notes from their work, mentioning the Plymouth Flat Head 6 application. 

Die Notizen aus 1960

With this information and a four-cylinder Indian camshaft on loan for lobe profile, Tim Iskenderian, of “Isky Cams” fame fabricated the camshaft.  

Nockenwellen braucht es auch für einen Motor

At the same time Henry Velasco of Velasco’s Billet Crankshafts designed and carved out the crankshaft from a 5” X 3’ billet of steel, much in the same fashion Herb had done on his lathe 55 years earlier.

Herb Ottaways Drehbank

Kurbelwellen vom Feinsten

We were assisted by friend and middleman Daws Waffers in arranging the services of these Los Angeles craftsmen.  While the West Coast was undertaking these tasks the 4th Coast boys just south of Canada in Waddington on the St. Lawrence Seaway were cutting, welding and “Dynabrading”  the two oil pan sections and the weld across their midsection.

Das sieht gut aus

There was progress and there were setbacks. But perseverance was a hallmark of the Hill/Roth collaboration. Soon the upper case was in the line boring machine, courtesy of Mark’s son Loring Hill. 

Präzise Arbeit ist notwendig

The crank was fitted to its babbitt main bearings.  It “floated” in its babbitt bearings.  The camshaft likewise floated effortlessly, thanks to the precision of the Hill approach to engine building.

Die Kurbelwelle sitzt

Connecting rods were corrected (from my ham-handed upper bushing effort). And soon the top end was assembled, complete with a custom but authentic six-cylinder Autolite distributor, thanks to “Indian Frank” Vandevelde.  

Autolite Verteiler - stilecht

The twin intake manifolds were a stroke of genius by Howard Wagner who previously advised on the Bud Cox Indian Six in the 1970’s.  He urged that we forgot the single long intake manifold of the two previous sixes and create 2 separate intakes connected by a balance tube similar to a1937 Indian Four.  My colleagues at work provided the aluminum bends and I machined the parts.  Tig welding was performed by Corey Conyers of Crown Custom LLC in Wichita.   

2 separate Manifolds mit 2 Vergasern

The chassis was shipped to Waddington and final assembly occurred over the weeks of June 24, and July 1 & 8.  One more report to go – “It’s Alive!”

Jeff Roth