And today I did......
- Thread starter kaiser
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velomaniac
MacRetro Rider
How gay, as in in the bright and cheery vane I hope Rob 
it looks close to a snakebelly but missing little details in some of the blocks, the second line are rotated 90 degrees, mould joins come from corners instead of centre and looks deeper too but that could be because it is aimed at mtb (or brand new).
cut and paste this for a bigger image: http://bmxsociety.com/uploads/monthly_0 ... 267613.jpg
cut and paste this for a bigger image: http://bmxsociety.com/uploads/monthly_0 ... 267613.jpg
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Today i had that rarest of rare things. A bike fixing half day. Hurrah!
Firstly i made a solid start on Klunker rebuild number three. First job was to sort out the frame alignment. It has been getting steadily worse since the GT/Inners double header a few years back. It got to the point where it was starting to scrub tyres. I used string around the head tube and back to the drop outs. Measuring to the seat tube i found 24mm on the drive side and a whopping 46 on t'other. Using my Tomy calculator and a grown up i worked out it needed to be 35mm on each side. Five minutes with Mr Planky and she was back within 1mm of true. I then re- bent the drop outs to square, tried a wheel in the frame and marvelled at the ease of rear wheel alignment.
Next job was to MIG up a few new cracks before a session in the blasting cabinet. Then I silver soldered up a few dents before tackling the frames joints. Many folk look at old Schwinns and think they are fillet brazed. Not so. They had big ugly electric arc welds which were roughly ground into shape. They then got lots of thick paint to cover the whole mess. Well times have changed and instead of thick paint we can now use fine grade finishing puttys and 2k fillers. I brushed a few coats over the joints, had lunch then added 2 more. Spent a happy hour or so hand sanding these back to leave really smooth faux fillet joints.
So its more or less ready for fresh paint now. Couple of coats of primer needed then on with the top coat. I'm pretty sure i will be going for cream and metalic violet again, but the darts are going to be replaced by one of the more intricate Schwinn designs. I just need to decide which ones and order the stencils from the US.
Back home now and hoping to do the last few jobs on the Cotic. Should be back out on the trails this week after too long in the shed Llooking really cool and very Retro-esque.
SJ
Firstly i made a solid start on Klunker rebuild number three. First job was to sort out the frame alignment. It has been getting steadily worse since the GT/Inners double header a few years back. It got to the point where it was starting to scrub tyres. I used string around the head tube and back to the drop outs. Measuring to the seat tube i found 24mm on the drive side and a whopping 46 on t'other. Using my Tomy calculator and a grown up i worked out it needed to be 35mm on each side. Five minutes with Mr Planky and she was back within 1mm of true. I then re- bent the drop outs to square, tried a wheel in the frame and marvelled at the ease of rear wheel alignment.
Next job was to MIG up a few new cracks before a session in the blasting cabinet. Then I silver soldered up a few dents before tackling the frames joints. Many folk look at old Schwinns and think they are fillet brazed. Not so. They had big ugly electric arc welds which were roughly ground into shape. They then got lots of thick paint to cover the whole mess. Well times have changed and instead of thick paint we can now use fine grade finishing puttys and 2k fillers. I brushed a few coats over the joints, had lunch then added 2 more. Spent a happy hour or so hand sanding these back to leave really smooth faux fillet joints.
So its more or less ready for fresh paint now. Couple of coats of primer needed then on with the top coat. I'm pretty sure i will be going for cream and metalic violet again, but the darts are going to be replaced by one of the more intricate Schwinn designs. I just need to decide which ones and order the stencils from the US.
Back home now and hoping to do the last few jobs on the Cotic. Should be back out on the trails this week after too long in the shed Llooking really cool and very Retro-esque.
SJ
velomaniac
MacRetro Rider
With talent like you on Retrobike I think there needs to be a site for retroduffers who cant restore a bike worth toffee so I dont feel quite so useless :shock:
Looking forward to seeing the rejigged clunker
Looking forward to seeing the rejigged clunker
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love to read about your work Si the clunker deserves a few more miles, BTW is the unicorn still on the cards?
Today I started training in earnest for my next triathlon - I have a nagging feeling that just under 4 weeks may not be long enough this time...
In bike news I've realised I'm very close to having my stable finished. I've built up the Sunn road bike now, am only a few bits away from having all the parts for the XChox, decided not to build up the 1 tonne Muddy Fox frame I have, and everything else is finished and rideable, so only tweaking required. Oh, apart from my modern road bike which will get new wheels and become a time-triall/triathlon bike. Feels pretty good, only thing I don't have is a tourer which leaves the possibility of future builds out there...
In bike news I've realised I'm very close to having my stable finished. I've built up the Sunn road bike now, am only a few bits away from having all the parts for the XChox, decided not to build up the 1 tonne Muddy Fox frame I have, and everything else is finished and rideable, so only tweaking required. Oh, apart from my modern road bike which will get new wheels and become a time-triall/triathlon bike. Feels pretty good, only thing I don't have is a tourer which leaves the possibility of future builds out there...
