A Very American Klunker

[Obtrusch]

Here is a little thread inspired by Yakboy’s quest to build a Very British Klunker for this spring’s ReytPack gathering in Dalby

I slung this together over Christmas but seeing has he has gone all fancy and lavished his steed with a fancy paint job, it’s now pulled back apart for paint.

I was going for outright shonky speed, but What’s the harm in a nice coat of paint?

It’s pretty late Repack spec… pre war DX frame, alloy UKAI rims on Phil hubs, Suntour gearing and brakes, TA cranks, repro Husky bars, billet seat post etc. I’ll go into a little more depth as it progresses

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I love a straightbar klunk. What fork is that? And the stem?

 

[Obtrusch]

So let’s start with the frame. Good frames are getting harder to find and prices are crazy. I had most of the parts for this build a decade ago, gathering dust. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel with this frame (which is where it’s been stored for the last 60 years looking at the rust). But is a proper DX and if you forget about shipping and tax, it wasn’t silly money. Yes it’s rusty, bent and cracked, but it’s a start.

 

[Obtrusch]

Before blasting and paint I straightened out the stays and spread them to fit the wider rear hub. Next step was to braze on some canti mounts (using mounts and a few mil of the stays from a scrap frame to act as a gusset) and tig weld on a rear mech hanger.

It’s now going into the last cabinet for a clean up before making a few more brazed repairs here and there.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Oh oh oh, I love this already!

 

[wtb_rider]

oh that is nice,....
started something similar but of course not that special:
but i like it:

 

[Obtrusch]

Thats really nice. I love the colour combo. How does it ride?

 

[Obtrusch]

I love a straightbar klunk. What fork is that? And the stem?

I cannot remember what the fork came off. Its some sort of Cooks/ Tange style BMX fork. I need to put some canti mounts on it before paint

The stem is a generic oldskool BMX number from eBay

I'll do a spec list at some point when I'm happy with the build

 

[Obtrusch]

It’s been a while since I progressed on this project. I’ve picked the frame up from the blasters and although it’s solid there is quite a bit of pitting that will need fettling before paint.

 

[Obtrusch]

Several hours later the frame is almost ready for paint. I gave it a quick skim of filler, sanded and several coats of high build rattle can primer. It’s had a guide coat and now needs flatting and a final coat of primer to cover the high spots that have rubbed through.
The first colour will go on this afternoon before carefully masking out the original darts followed by the main colour. Once done it will be allowed to harden off before a light scotchbrite and lacquer