My 99 Lobo Restoration and build

[Magsy]

Gonna be a long post and a long thread as I build this thing up. Probably going to get a bit boring but there will be plenty of pretty pictures to enjoy

Usual story, always wanted one, couldn't afford it and had a 97 LTS instead built from frame only by myself BITD. Grew up, bought a car and forgot about bikes, I just turned 30 and now I'm feeling old so I'm going back in time TBH I really wanted an LTS DH but I looked at the Lobo so much I was lovestruck

I bought this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250854148927&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Seller did not communicate much but it looked ok and given the other frame only for sale at the time went for £270 (I think?) to jimmy5willy it seemed ok value. I assumed given it had the Hope hub, brake and arm all intact it had at least been owned by people who cared. The plan was to strip it, replace bearings, sort the forks out and polish it highly.

Well, it came today and its a dog :? I was so gutted I needed to just walk away from it, have a big smoke and try to calm the f down. :twisted:
I've built a few bikes last couple months and I discovered anything from Pinkbike is guaranteed wrecked, stuff from here is always good and eBay mostly ok.
I like to clean, rebuild, tweak and polish and always expect second hand stuff to need some love, its a given. However this is passed that stage and I don't think I'm being over critical, there are some big jobs here and it is for sure not in 'good condition' and 'working'. The seller is unsuprisingly telling me to go away. Maybe I'm in the wrong, naive, just stupid, let me know cos I won't take offence

Here we go, sorry for so many pics but some of you will enjoy it! :


















1/4 inch play in BB, Boxxers make some funny noises and are in a total state, can't make the rear really compress at all, rear axle/spacing/brake is wrong and the wheel sits off centre and rubs left hand stay. Pedals are fecked as are all the pivots, dent in the tubes, broken spoke in front wheel and very bad tension. Rounded trunion bolts and dead headset.

So now I've calmed down I'm just going to get on with it. Money is (almost) no object and I'm going to finsh to high standard. If I can get NOS I will but I'll use whats available.
I didn't want to paint it but unless anyone can tell me how to remove the dents its gonna have to go back to its original white (thats the colour inside the tubes) so I can use filler to smooth it all out. I think I'm going to use a pearlescent white, with a 2k clear coat so it should be bodyshop tough, I might paint/stencil some of the decals on too. I can paint to a high standard btw
I am not going to stay completely retro but will try my best, my fetish for all things red and Hope is going to show through :O somehow he has fitted a no 3 is caliper to thr boxxers with some massive spacers? I already have a 6 pot ti for the front, can't change the rear but I'll get matching newer levers. Headset, QR's, hubs, bb etc will all be Hope.
Boxxers will go back to red. I had already ordered a full frame bushing rebuild kit for the US so that will go on. Can't find a new shock so I hope this one works!

Parts I need....if anyone has a source or idea please please let me know!

Boxxer 151 Decals, bushes (they wobble) and the bit that screws on the end of the axle (infact any 99 Boxxer info would be great, full rebuild needed)
Main pivot cover/bolt/washer thing thats missing (no chance I know)

Quick degrease :

 

[cyfa2809]

You should definitely try and claim some money back through paypal!

Your right about pinkbike but i have had some great deals on tehre, just be really careful with that site
Ask lots of questions and use paypal normal.

It has some fairly nice parts
Shame about condition (especially at that price, seller has no foot to stand on really - far from good condition!)

If money no object then consider getting aa brake mount brazed on?

Winsstanleys has d521 rims in silver which would go well on that
after that, you need to suggest what sort of partss you would be looking for

Im sat down for this

 

[dan robinson]

i would report seller to ebay because item is not as described, but on a good note you've still got alot of bike for the money, some good stuff on there and that frames a monster!

 

[Magsy]

I will deal with the seller somehow, I know I can get a full refund easy as Paypal are pretty harsh but I don't want to give it back. This bike needs some love and I'm not letting it go back to the council high rise it came from

Didn't get masses of time today but I stripped it some more.

The rear brake setup is fiddly and I'm not quite sure at what point it 'floats', there is a washer that can go in two places confusing it. It seems to cause a lot of stiction in the rear end as it goes through its travel so something is not right.

Had to drill out one of the disc bolts and the other four runined three allen keys but came out in the end. Didn't mark or damage the hub, bearings are good but freewheel is somewhat iffy. Don't have a chain whip so couldn't get it apart, job for tomorrow now. I already have a full set of bearings for the whole hub plus pawls and springs.

It has a massive 2.5 tyre on there which is too big, I'm aware they always had issues with rubbing plus the wheel sat off centre also which was due to the lower pivot 'tube' being slightly dislodged, pushed it back correctly and its centre in the upper stays but still a little off in the lower stay/swingarm. That said the swingarm is not symmetrical by design so perhaps this is normal.

Popped the shock spring off and happy to find there is actually rebound damping! Quite a lot too so hopefully it will run ok, no leaks and it has a full range of adjustment.

Not quite knowing how it should be or the exact order of fitment is annoying, bit overwhelmed tbh, so much to do I don't know where to start / can't focus / depressed. I do know though that before I paint or renovate a thing I need it working as GT intended. Found a few more dents so it is getting painted for sure now.

I have some spare wheels, the original Mavics or these? (Another bad deal, never told me he had used a rim brake on the rear, lesson learned)

 

[Magsy]

You should definitely try and claim some money back through paypal!

Your right about pinkbike but i have had some great deals on tehre, just be really careful with that site
Ask lots of questions and use paypal normal.

It has some fairly nice parts
Shame about condition (especially at that price, seller has no foot to stand on really - far from good condition!)

If money no object then consider getting aa brake mount brazed on?

Winsstanleys has d521 rims in silver which would go well on that
after that, you need to suggest what sort of partss you would be looking for

Im sat down for this

Pinkbike is great for price but some of the convos I have make me laugh. I had to wait 7 days for one guy to have his driving lesson so he could take a frame to the postie and another guy who delayed a delivery until he had a job interview in town.

I will make the orginal rear brake work, how well it actually prevented brake jack I don't know but for me its part of the design. I may take the anodising off the caliper and polish it up so make it a bit more spangly.

I really need a crank, I have no idea what to buy. I think an original AC will be too hard to find but it cannot roll with a Kona bashgaurd and a Truativ crank :roll: I will spend a bit but I find £200 for a crank hard to swallow, something with springs and pviots and oil yea, but a chunk of alloy?

 

[Aeronaut]

Dude, I feel your pain after reading it all! Could hear your cursing!!
I hope it all comes together for you though, and i'm sure it will with the skills and dedication I sense you have for it... and some effort of course.

Will be nice when this starts progressing in a more positive direction

 

[rosco84]

is that just dirt on the bb shell or has some shader scratched out the frame number? shame about the condition when u got it but at least its being saved!

 

[jimmy5willy]

Wow. Alot of work needed for sure!

Some stuff I found so far which might help you;

Max tyre width on the rear is listed as 2.2, although from what I've heard, that'll still rub...

AC still make the cranks, Holeshot rings and Postman layback adaptor. (well, it's listed on their website anyway)
if you click the "up" button there's some variations on the crank too.
http://www.adventurecomponents.com/loproxt1.htm

I'm still working on the seatpost. Have narrowed it down to somewhere between 31.0 and .4

 

[jimmylad]

This looks like its going to be a fun build, personally I prefare builds that have a bit more of a challange to them, the rewards of finishing it how you want it are worth it. Despite the negative points, it looks stella already. Am sure once you have done with her she'll be a stunner!
Best of luck with her and keep the pic's flowing as you move on with her.

safe trails

 

[Magsy]

Thats not dirt :roll:

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm happy with the mess now, I burn through hobbies like nobody's business, cars, bikes, computers, diy audio, home cinema etc etc but this will keep me focused for the summer at least! I'm a pretty decent mechanic and if I need help my dads the tool shed mad professor type

I've gotten £50 back, could of held out for more but he was difficult to deal with and I didn't want to be forced to send it back (which I can't really as its stripped )

Figured out the rear brake, the pivot was seized and now its all cleaned up its quite a cool system and I think all parts are present. Caliper needs a full rebuild but thats to be expected. I'm hoping I can run it with a later model Hope lever cos these levers are ugly as hell, it may not be retro but they cannot stay!

Stripped the Boxxers, pleased to find despite some chewed bolts all came apart ok. I've never seen oil like it, horrible pale grey bubbly mess plus there was not enough of it in there. One heavy one medium spring, rebound and compression assemblies seem to be intact and the seals on them look good. Missing a bottom out bumper I think and one of the upper plastic spacer type things with o-rings on them is longer than the other, lost track of which side it came from :roll: Bushes seem ok on second inspection, I will leave them for now and just replace the seals and wipers, plus some decent fluids and see how they are. Need a helicoil or two on the axle clamps, two are already enlarged without, one original and one missing with no threads.

I bough a full metal polishing kit for the rear, a red older style NOS Hope headset is on its way, along with some paint, 'Snow White' for the frame and 'Hot Salsa' for the forks. See here
May or may not use the salsa depending on the redness of it :roll: 2k epoxy primer (sticks to bare metal very well), 2k high build primer, 1k colour base and then 2k clear. Over £100 in paint here but I don't want it falling off as its gonna be a ton of work. I'll take a lot of pictures as I do this to show the process. Fingers crossed I don't mess it up, it's my first time with 2k products. I know I could have it powder coated for less but I don't completely trust my local places not to damage the heat treatment of the frame, plus I want to have a go myself and paint always offers some extra sparkle.

Looking for AC stuff is hard, nobody seems to sell it and not much on eBay, I'll keep looking although M950/1/2 XTR arms with MRP chain device looks pretty cool and maybe easier to come across at a better price.