The Master at Work

There he is, my dad, John Ellis, and the master of all things mechanical. Ever since before I was born my dad has been working on all types of 2 and 4 stroke engines. Everything from cars, trucks, motorcycles, quads, three-wheelers, and even jets! I can't remember anything my dad wasn't able to buy a manual and fix. He's overseeing my motor build and helping me when I run out of talent. I have all the confidence in the world that this thing is going to sing like a bird when it's finished with him keeping an eye on things.

Motivational Mondays

Valve Issues

I got the motor all torn down with help from my dad. Unfortunately, when we went to install the new psitons, the valves were running into the pistons. This is setting me back about 10 days because I ended up having to send the heads back to Rev Performance to have them check and see what the problem is. If everything goes as planned, we'll be assembling everything Easter weekend. For now :(

I thought I was getting some work done...

Cams In

Just got the cams installed. The shiny new versions look awesome. Just hope it works with everything else I have picked for the build.

Motivational Mondays

Big Bore Radness

On the advice of Rob Rouser, I went with the Rev Performance 1250 kit for my Sporty. Here's a pic of the billet aluminum nickasil cylinders. Now I just need to wait on my new rocker covers to come in and I'll be ready to reassemble this thing.

Paint Progress

Painting the motor is really kicking my ass. I thought I would be able to knock this out in 1 weekend and here I am 2 full weekends in and still not done. The good news is that the POR 15 is working pretty well and it's turning out great. The only issues I am having are with the valve covers and oil pump. THe paint did not stick at all to the oild pump and I think I am going to have to wet sand the valve covers to smooth them out.

Motivational Mondays

Paint Prep

After 12 hours of tedious cleaning and prep my motor is ready for paint. Here's a pictorial of the process in reverse order.

Yes, that is an engine hoist holding the motor. Overkill to some, but truly what was needed to get every part of the beast prepped and degreased.


The POR15 Marine Clean is possibly the best degreaser I have ever used. It cut through all of the road grime on the motor to reveal this silver canvas.


Here's a pic of the motor opened up with the cam cover off.


One of the parts that was supposed to be hard to handle was removing the drive sprocket. Pssht. Dr. Ellis (John that is) handled that thing in about 2 minutes.

Just Beat It

The primary rocker covers were being a pain in the ass to get off the heads so I just did what any normal main would do and beat the hell out of it with a dead blow until they seperated. After a few minutes that succumb to the thrashing and seperated.

Motivational Mondays

Paint Party

I'll be heading down to stay the weekend in Santee @ my parents house. Pops and I are going to crack open my motor so I can start painting it. With any luck, I'll get all the pieces and parts painted that need it this weekend so we can begin assembling the motor w/ cams and big bore kit next weekend.



Marco from Lane Splitters in New York advised me to go with the POR 15 engine paint kit. It's a nice set up because you can use a brush to apply it and when it dries the brush strokes are gone. Besides the easy application, the stuff is supposed to dissipate heat very well and hold up like powder coat.

Spartan Sportster Frame

I just got back from my 1,000 mile trip to Vail, AZ to pick up my frame from George @ Spartan Frameworks and attend Wendy's 40th birthday celebration. The party was a blast and George made a beautiful frame.



As some of you may remember, it was my original intention to just get a weld-on hardtail made for my stock frame. Needless to say, once the frame got into George's hands it was a no brainer that a full frame was in order. I am truly honored to have the first official Spartan Sportster frame. Thanks George!!!!

Motivational Mondays