RRBBO13 52 Pickup

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Gonna try my hand at one of these build-offs. I don't have any welders or tube benders, but I do have saws and grinders and nailguns! LOL

The project will be called "52 Pickup." Not the movie, or the band, or whatever, just the card game we played as kids sometimes.

This bike will be built from the pile of parts from 3 or 4 bikes and a bushel basket of new parts. Hence, 52 pickup. Plus, figuring on some playing cards in the spokes too! :bigsmile:

Here is the bike I am basing the build on. Bought at a local thrift store. A Huffy Cranbrook fresh from the beaches of North Carolina...
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I remember that game/joke.
Rip that thing apart and rebuild it. You have the technology.
 
Breaking out all the tricks on this one evening the nail gun . Not a bad idea , may have to use mine also [emoji6]


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Not much done today. Got the fork I want on the frame I want and the new bars on it to see how they will look. Similar style to the originals, but bigger. Going to put a 5-speed rear wheel on it from a Magna Glacier Point MTB (if that means anything!) and either a 2 or 3 chain wheel front sprocket. Doing away with coaster brakes means adding hand brakes of some kind. Well, not really, but it would be a more relaxing to ride with some brakes. Rolling chassis is on some old wheels I had so it's easier to move the bike in and out of the shed. Liking the front fork from the Magna bike. Still has the late model rounded shoulders, but from the side it's a lot more graceful looking than the water pipe like original Huffy fork. Will help with the vintage look I am after with this build. Liking the blue, red, and white colors. That will be the finished color scheme, but the front fork will get painted blue to hopefully match the frame. Don't wanna have to paint the frame. Will also have blue fenders with white tips and some red accents here and there around the bike.
Yep, a vintage cruiser looking 10 or 15 speed bike. That's the plan. With a few other cool goodies in the mix too. Hopefully there will be some wood work involved. Possibly some diamond plate. Found small thin sheets of the stuff at Homey Depot and it's become an obsession. Even put some on my car! LOL
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Spent some time mocking up the front brake. part of the reason to swap forks was the caliper set I had fit better on the red forks. If I use the caliper brakes I can use the mounting bosses for the original center pull brakes as part of a truss rod/fake springer set up. But maybe using the original brake that has been proven to work isn't such a bad idea. You can mix brake types can't you? I have to use a caliper in the rear. Can't be any worse than a coaster rear and a disc or drum front brake, can it?
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Here's my stash in the Shed where Bicycles got to Rust to Death. Mostly mountain bike looking things from late 90's early 00's.
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The 15 speed Magna I got for $10
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You've got a good rat vibe going with your source of parts! Keep em coming....and....RaT oN~!
 
Today was almost a lost cause. Headlight came in so I had to piddle around with that awhile. Actually it's part of a cheap pair motorcycle driving lights I ordered. the mate will go on another bike. If I can't find 6v bulbs that fit, I'll need to come up with a 12 volt supply. No big deal. I don't like riding after dark, but headlights are way cooler than reflectors!
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Broke out my new tire irons and set about swapping tires around to get some whitewalls on the rims I am using. Haven't changed a bike tire in like 35 - 40 years. Went pretty quick, pretty proud of myself. But when I aired them up, one tire/tube combo that was holding air before wasn't doing it now. Rookie mistake. LOL
 
Not much done tonight. Stripped some parts off the junkers in the shed, then went to town in search of tubes and brand new tires.

This whole build started because I saw a Schwinn 7spd cruiser for sale on Facebook. Told my wife I wanted to buy it, but they wanted $90 for it. She says you just bought that new black Huffy last year. I said okay, I'll build one.
$40 for Cranbrook
$40 the two good parts bikes
$20 for new handlebars....

Told her tonight it would've been cheaper if I'd just bought that bike off Facebook.
She says, yeah, but look at all the fun you're having!
Man I love that woman!

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FRIDAY!!!
All day long at work I was so anxious to get home and work on my bike. Once home, I sat down in my recliner and the next thing I know it's quarter to 7. LOL

Did manage to get the double chainring off one of the junkers and mounted it on the project bike. Still have the original 1 speed chain on it, but it looks like there won't be any issues with 10 speeds versus the 1 speed it originally had.
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The cool old Simplex stem shifter I found on eBay came in. Thought it was pretty cool looking, for a stem shifter. Bike's gonna have a 5 speed, plus overdrive! LOL
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That thicker chain probably won't fit thru a derailleur... But it may be using the thinner chain, I can't tell from here.



Carl.
 
After all the fuss getting the 5-speed rear wheel installed, I decided to change gears and work on the other end of the bike.
Started messing with ideas for a truss for the fork. Saw some stuff on You-tube, one in particular where a guy used the frame from a bike seat to make a fake springer front end. Thought I'd start with that and see where it went.
Well, not real sure about where I ended up. A few more tweaks, it might be the right answer. Or maybe not. Turn buckles probably too much.
Anyway, it sure is one humdinger of a headlight mount! LOL
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Tore onto the hubs this afternoon. They felt kinda gritty, but after cleaning everything looked pretty good. Then I slathered on some good bearing grease. I also swapped out the axles for some longer ones so there will be plenty of room for doodads if an opportunity for doodaddery presents itself. LOL.

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Didn't do much yesterday evening. Got to looking at the springer thingy and decided it wasn't the look I wanted. Made me think of the whimsical inventions of Caractacus Potts in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang movie.



Anyway, whimsy is not the look I'm looking for, so I removed it all and commenced to rummaging through my supply of 1/2" copper pipe and fittings.
Tonight, I spent some more time mocking up a new front truss from the 1/2" copper. So far I'm liking this new piece a lot more than the whimsical first attempt.
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Oh yeah! Dig the fork trusses. And that saddle should, well, keep you in the saddle !
 
Much better flow to the copper trusses.
The first one was too much of a random mix, this one is more cohesive.
Digging it.
 
Not much happening with the build the last few days Did a little detail work on the truss mount and tried out a bit bigger set of fenders from an old Huffy Good Vibrations...
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No work on this bike over the weekend. Had to get my wife's planter/yard art bike done for Mother's day. Also put the Cranbrook's cream colored fenders on my left over parts bike...
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Also found a new cool background for bike pictures.
The leftovers are screaming at me to put more time (and money) into them! Ah, but first I need to finish the build-off bike! LOL
 

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