'87(?) muddy fox explorer - might need some help with this

[sfsr]

Bought myself this the other week off fleabay:

As you can see it needs a few bits :shock: the wheel that came with it isn’t correct for the bike and neither is the chainwheel. The SunTour roller cam rear brake is there though and only needs new cam wheels (on-route from ebay usa already) and I’ve bought a Kalloy QR seat skewer as well.
My plan is to get it back to original condition so I’m on the hunt for either a donor bike or the parts, first hurdle is the forks as once I’ve got them I can get the frame and forks blasted and repainted and the stickers re-done. Target date is to have it done by next spring/summer

 

[sfsr]

had a few bits and bobs arrive so thought i'd add a picture or two.
1) a few small bits:

The saddle needs new padding and recovering and the seat post should be silver but it'll do until I find the right one.

2) wheel rims

a pair of correct Ararya rims wrapped in an old tyre.

a bit of research leads me to believe that the following were fitted as standard, so looking for those as well as a set of forks:
front brakes - Dia compe 983
stem - Nitto MT6? in black
rear hub - large flange sansin

edit - stem colour is black rather than silver

 

[coomber]

How are you going to deal with the rust near the top of the seattube? Powdercoat?

Interesting and large project you have here.

 

[sfsr]

shotblast and repaint will sort the rust.

and yeah, its quite the challenge for my first bicycle resto

 

[coomber]

Good way to learn the ropes though!

 

[sfsr]

A few more parts have been added to the project “pile” recently:

There are a couple of other bits but I’m still cleaning those up. There are 5 suntour spoke protectors there as it was just as cheap to buy 5 as it was one, so I’ve got a few spares.

The forks continue to be an issue; the 23” explorer frame has a 180mm headstock which isn’t common to any other frame size within the Muddy Fox range. The 21.5” frame (my MF roadrunner) has a 155mm headstock, the later 22” frame has a 175mm headstock (incomplete Seeker bought off ebay for parts) and the later 20” frame also has a headstock that is shorter.
If I am not able to find a set of forks off a 23” frame I am considering extending the steerer tube on a shorter set of forks to suit. As long as this is performed by a competent welder I see no issue with doing this but would welcome any arguments for and against. The bike will be used when it is finished but not for any major off road stuff.

 

[sfsr]

Zombie thread resurrection time!

In my quest to have a 23" framed MF explorer I ended up buying another donor bike:

This was actually just about good enough to ride, so it got used for awhile.

At this point there was 2 and half explorers (1 & 1/2" 23" framed and 1 x 21" framed). Life did the thing of getting in the way and eventually I gave up on all plans of restoring the bike myself.

so I asked for help: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads...e-to-restore-my-87-muddy-fox-explorer.449950/

and wadsy was one of the many folk who messaged me and after talking it through with him, I loaded the car up with 2 1/2 bikes, went to visit him and come home with a slightly emptier car.

The 21" frame explorer was sold and the rest of the bits were shoved back in the loft.

wadsy kept me updated with lots of pics of the progress until the bike was finally finished:
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/1987-muddy-fox-explorer-resto-build.468182/
Since bringing it home, I've added a NOS saddlebag and spent ages just looking at it.

I have yet to ride it (free time is non existent at the moment) but hopefully soon.

I still have the other 23" frame and probably enough parts to build it up but given how long this one has taken to get done...

 

[sfsr]

Because I'm partial to a branded accessory the bottle cage has been replaced with a Muddy Fox one: