Marin 1990 Bear Valley Rebuild - FINISHED !!! PAGE 38 !!!

Awesome skills keep it up this is ace :) I wish i could drill and polish stuff instead of just rounding bolts and breaking everything
 
The frame has been returned ...

What more can I say other than I am over the moon with the finish and the service provided by Windridge coatings :D :cool: The finish is very smooth and the tig welds (which were very good anyway) almost look like they have been brazed :cool:

They did forget to coat the inside with the wax treatment :( but as I suspect I will be sending another frame there soon I am sure I can come to some arrangement with them – will give Dale a bell tomorrow :D

So yesterday my friend accompanied me to the bike shop he works at, a big chain which I am not going to name as I don’t want to get anyone in trouble – They showed me where the (brand new park) tools were and let me use them FOC on the understanding that if I broke them I had bought them ... :shock:

So I managed to re-face the head tube, reface the crown race seat, press the headset in and re-cut the BB threads – and then treated my mate to a burger and a pint as a thank you :cool:

Once home I emptied half a can of ‘Supertrol’ rust preventative into the frame to swill it around and then for most of it to come out again on the kitchen floor :LOL: It still dripping out this morning ... :shock: Seems like great stuff as I didn’t even treat the head tube as the stuff coming out of the top & down tube vents crept along the dry metal surface and has completely wetted the inside of the tube all over.

Interestingly I seem to have a small problem with the forks – I didn’t know there are two sizes of 1” crown races and my fork are the small size and the XTR race is the bigger ... (There is very little in it – It doesn’t rattle but it isn’t a press fit) :?

It looks like the spinner forks have a shim shrunk onto them so if all else fails I will remove this and make one of the correct size. Before I do this though what are your thoughts about putting a thin smear of chemical metal on it before assembly ? We have some posh Ti chemical metal at work I could borrow so I was thinking of trying it on a dry assembly (while it cured) and then seeing what it was like before final assembly – Would you try it and do you think it will work ? :?

The steel stuff has now gone to the platers and the ally stuff will be going to the anodisers tomorrow – pending me leaving work at a sensible time ...

I will try and post some frame pictures tomorrow :D

WD :D
 
Just been reading this, sounds awesome, will be great to see the finished project!

As for the chainstay bridge - Ive been riding Oranges P7's for 11 years, they dont have one, so I wouldnt worry!!!
 
Pictures as promised :

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And the pile of anodizing has grown a bit … it’s getting dropped off tonight :

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as peter would say (possibly), that is freakin' awesome :cool:

i'm enjoying the picture updates, try not to finish it too soon 'cos then i'll have nothing to do. :LOL:
 
Get in! Thats coming on a treat. Great thread really enjoying your little updates and attention to detail.
 
Thanks for the comments :D

Just a few quick updates :

The replacement 26.4 M900 crown race has arrived so hopefully the headset will be assembled soon - which means I can get moving on the rest of the build :D

The plating came back and all looks good, well far better than it did before it went :LOL: :

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The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that not all these items are for this bike – I am sure you will see the others though some time in the future though … ;)

When I started to fiddle with the cables I had forgotten that the XT outers were thicker than normal and ferrules were awkward to get hold of that would fit both frame and cable outer well. I still had the old ones but they were looking a bit worse for wear and a quick look around the bike shops revealed nothing that suitably fitted both the frame and cable. Some stainless bar and the lathe came to the rescue :

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The two shorter (and smaller diameter) ones are to fit the brake levers, the others were made to be a push fit in the frame bosses. Hopefully these should now last the life of the bike :

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The hard anodizing should also be finished today so all going to plan I should have that back on Monday :D

From a conversation I had with them yesterday, I believe that it is looking well other then the headset lock which ‘dissolved’ during the process :shock: Note to oneself – must check that parts aren’t actually made from magnesium next time :oops: :LOL:

WD :D
 
Incredible attention to detail.

You are meticulous. Think its amazing.

I must add though ----> its only a "Bear Valley"....is it worth it for all the time spent on every nut and bolt?

...but I do know what its like to rebuild for nostalgic reasons rather than value etc.. :)
 
i think that because it's a bear valley that makes it even better. no-one else in the world will have a bear valley with the unique touches of this one, and yes you could have spent the time/money on a more expensive bike but i don't think that would have given the same satisfaction as giving a standard bike a way-better-than-standard finish.

i don't think that made much sense, but anyhoo. i like it! :D
 
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