shogun700
Retro Guru
Thanks!
All week things kept getting in the way of finishing this up, and all I had left was installing brake pads and the chain, which for some reason I was dreading. Turned out I was correct-ever since I let a local homeless fellow 'borrow forever' my 1980's era chainbreak tool (a solid Park unit that stopped at the perfect depth to keep the pin from falling out), chain removal and installation has been frustrating at best, and infuriating at worst. I've been hoarding a NOS Shimano 600 chain (as well as some other parts) and was really hoping for a smooth install.
I thought I had it licked-I picked up a massive Park CT3 T-handle chainbreaker in new condition a few weeks ago to replace the pilfered one, so I decided to give it a go (far too late) Thursday evening. Drop my beautiful NOS chain in the tool and....the pin won't line up with the chain. WTF? New tool incompatible with old chain? No way, makes no sense. It took me a solid hour of blinding frustration to realize the tool had been improperly made-there was a bit of leftover casting that would not allow the chain to drop all the way down into the tool. Grrrrr..... :facepalm: In a bit of serendipity, I'd picked up a full set of tiny machinists files at a yard sale last weekend, and on was the perfect fit to file the chain slot back to the correct shape!
With that sorted, I was able to finish the assembly. The problem with late-night zombie work sessions? You get up the next day and can't remember why you made certain decisions, and some of the work *might* not be up to daytime standards.
The delay in final assembly was just enough time for these ODI Mushroom Mountaineer grips to appear in the mailbox, another ebay find. Stumpjumper1990 can now rest easy! I still don't like them for riding-the Grab-Ons from First Flight have also arrived, they will be my choice for daily use.
Shakedown run!
I was impressed, it shifted very well right out of the box, and these ancient NOS Shimano pads stopped the bike much better than anticipated.
Even downhill!
One of the zombie session decisions were the blue shifter cables, I'm thinking black will be better looking on this build, and different than my '85 Timber Comp. Any recommendations for period correct cable outers?
I'll do a better photo shoot soon, and document the parts on the build for reference. I'm happy with what I have so far, the mix of polished and black parts looks pretty good and is growing on me. Time to ride!
All week things kept getting in the way of finishing this up, and all I had left was installing brake pads and the chain, which for some reason I was dreading. Turned out I was correct-ever since I let a local homeless fellow 'borrow forever' my 1980's era chainbreak tool (a solid Park unit that stopped at the perfect depth to keep the pin from falling out), chain removal and installation has been frustrating at best, and infuriating at worst. I've been hoarding a NOS Shimano 600 chain (as well as some other parts) and was really hoping for a smooth install.
I thought I had it licked-I picked up a massive Park CT3 T-handle chainbreaker in new condition a few weeks ago to replace the pilfered one, so I decided to give it a go (far too late) Thursday evening. Drop my beautiful NOS chain in the tool and....the pin won't line up with the chain. WTF? New tool incompatible with old chain? No way, makes no sense. It took me a solid hour of blinding frustration to realize the tool had been improperly made-there was a bit of leftover casting that would not allow the chain to drop all the way down into the tool. Grrrrr..... :facepalm: In a bit of serendipity, I'd picked up a full set of tiny machinists files at a yard sale last weekend, and on was the perfect fit to file the chain slot back to the correct shape!
With that sorted, I was able to finish the assembly. The problem with late-night zombie work sessions? You get up the next day and can't remember why you made certain decisions, and some of the work *might* not be up to daytime standards.
The delay in final assembly was just enough time for these ODI Mushroom Mountaineer grips to appear in the mailbox, another ebay find. Stumpjumper1990 can now rest easy! I still don't like them for riding-the Grab-Ons from First Flight have also arrived, they will be my choice for daily use.
Shakedown run!
I was impressed, it shifted very well right out of the box, and these ancient NOS Shimano pads stopped the bike much better than anticipated.
Even downhill!
One of the zombie session decisions were the blue shifter cables, I'm thinking black will be better looking on this build, and different than my '85 Timber Comp. Any recommendations for period correct cable outers?
I'll do a better photo shoot soon, and document the parts on the build for reference. I'm happy with what I have so far, the mix of polished and black parts looks pretty good and is growing on me. Time to ride!
