I landed a Dirt Shark

[Proto2000]

I was looking for a dirt jumper for one of my sons and put dirt in the search on CL and a surprise for me, this showed up and nobody had made an offer to the seller. I ended up with it and only drove 15 miles to collect. I have stripped it down to the frame, like we all do with a new bike, so starting the bin parts search for some correct bits to slap on it. Unfortunately, the original fork is long gone, owner swapped in a suspension fork so the uni will stay until I get something a bit closer to what would have been on the bike and have it painted to match, I know a few custom painters who can handle the job. The Nitto bars will be replaced with the original fillet brazed cockpit at some point, had an ahead set up on it so need a threaded fork to do that. Some little cool touches are the inside TT cable routing for the rear brake and tiny screws on the rear dropouts to tune the alignment of the rear wheel. I will at some point before assembly, drill a small hole in the BB to the seat tube and Frame saver the interior of the tubes.

 

[Elev12k]

Too nice for dirt jumper Great score!

 

[TreaderSteve]

Looks great!

 

[Retro_Roy]

nice. good it comes with original stem/bar combo. no original fork?
looking forward to seeing how it turns out. what are your plans for the build?

 

[PhillB]

Nice find!!

 

[Proto2000]

My plans now are to use what I can from the bike as I got it and to add more period correct parts that I dig out of my bins. The fork problem is huge since I do not know what fork was used originally so I can only go off of pics I find on the internet, seems a Sunlite looks closest to what I've seen but will need to be manipulated to have the "fillet brazed" look. The front derailleur was the biggie, XT Deer Head were only offered in 28.6 size and this has a 31.8 seat tube so a Deore is there for now. BTW, Deer Head were produced in the size using endless band but like hens teeth and likely way more than I want to spend on a part that I already have. I did source a left shifter on eBay but really wanted the black version I have on the left already, again, more than I want to spend on stuff I already have.

 

[Thias]

Maybe you can find one of those bi-plane forks? Might fit the theme.

 

[Proto2000]

So this is my first attempt on matching paint on the fork. I found a color that's really close and will look darker once the clear is applied. I tore strips of tape to achieve the look of ragged edges and body filler on the welds to faux the brazing. This is not the fork that will be on the bike, just a test. Hard part will be the black accents, I have a Binks Wren so should be a home run once I dial it in. I think I have too much time on my hands...

 

[PhillB]

So this is my first attempt on matching paint on the fork. I found a color that's really close and will look darker once the clear is applied. I tore strips of tape to achieve the look of ragged edges and body filler on the welds to faux the brazing. This is not the fork that will be on the bike, just a test. Hard part will be the black accents, I have a Binks Wren so should be a home run once I dial it in. I think I have too much time on my hands...

Great job! It's fun working out how these paint jobs were achieved!

 

[Proto2000]

My second attempt at fake fillet brazing. The next one will be spot on.