Coast King

[hotfoot]

This morning I went out for a klunk on my '58 Columbia Newsboy Special, and I ran across and old barn in the woods. Never noticed it before, but while riding by I saw an old 3 spoke steering wheel pokeing out of the bushes. At first I thought it was a car, but after hiking up to it I realized the whole hill behind the barn was an old dumping spot! Jackpot! I found a bunch of old radios, car parts, beer cans, gas cans, but then I saw a tank bike peeking out from under a bush. I then proceeded to rip the bush to pieces, only to discover that it was a slightly mangled Coast King! It still had the tank, but the other side of the tank had some serious rust issues. The frame would of been okay, except for the bent rear triangle and somebody took a hack saw to a chainstay. The cranks and fork were rusted solid too. So based on all that, I re hid it. Maybe I'll go back and snag it and hang it up on a wall as art, because it was sadly too far gone to put any time into rebuilding it. Plus I think it was a 24". Check out how the bars are flipped, somebody had this thing hot rodded at one time!

Next time I'm going to sneak a peak at whats in the barn...

[roadmaster]

cool story and really cool find. years ago i found a 20" cantilever frame and forks in the brushs out in no mans land. made a nice little build up. who knows what a welder and some patience could do for that coast kind.

[hotfoot]

Well after some persuasion from some friends I hauled it out this morning. On my way out of the woods I met an old guy walking around who happened to be into old bikes, we discussed coaster brakes for awhile, then he told me where there were a couple more old bikes in the woods. Turns out after following his sketchy directions they were just lame cheap mountain bikes. Oh well.

I'm thinking that this will be eventually built up (probably not worth it, but it'll be a true rat rod then), but it's going to be a pain to get apart. Bars and cranks are rusted solid. Sawsall treatment is in order...

[thesuicideride]

nice score and cool story. ive been lookin for a full tanker for a while now. keep us posted with this one.

[deorman]

Say hello to Mr.Torchand Grinder, Mr. Bicycle!

[MarksA-C]

Don't go cuttin' just yet.
PB-blaster and a propane torch work wonders on rusty old bikes. Thats how I got "Rollin' Rusty" apart to work on for the buildoff.

Also, unless you already have, I would go back and do more searching. Could be many more hidden treasures!

[deorman]

Don't go cuttin' just yet.

Apparently someone didn't look at the chainstays too closely.

[hotfoot]

Well looks like I'm going to have to cut the crank, unless I grind off the weld where some numbskull welded the pedal on the right side on! So far all I've only been able to get the handlebars, seatpost clamp, and left pedal off. The rest is still soaking. Slowly but surely this will come apart!

[ratina]

is the rear stay just cut in half? if its straight I would just reweld it and get a new fork.

[drabe]

is the rear stay just cut in half? if its straight I would just reweld it and get a new fork.

Or keep the fork and get a really skinny front wheel!

[hotfoot]

is the rear stay just cut in half? if its straight I would just reweld it and get a new fork.

Yep, and while straightening the rear triangle I broke the weld on the upper rear fender brace. So there will be a bit of re-welding in order, but it's all easy stuff so no big deal. I'm also going to weld the dropouts in, as they're pressed in. I don't know about you guys, but every old bike that I get that I plan on riding daily I weld the pressed in dropouts to the frame, cheap insurance, as a few bikes ago I had a dropout that like to work it's way out of the frame while riding!

I don't know if they'll fit, but for wheels I'm planning on putting the 700c deep v's I have laying around. Those, drop bars, leather saddle, and rust everywhere should give it a good look.

[bikejunkie]

Man those 700s are gonna look dope!!!Cant wait to seeit all together.Shoot some progress shots.I have a set of 700s Im gonna go put on my Schwiin right now!haha

[backpedaler]

is the rear stay just cut in half? if its straight I would just reweld it and get a new fork.

Or keep the fork and get a really skinny front wheel!

AND MORE COW BELL!!

[cheesegrabber6]

I can't wait to see how this build progresses! Take a lot of pics!

[hotfoot]

This should start soon. I'm heading home for a funeral this weekend, but on the bright side that gives me a night in my own shop (with my own pile of parts and welder) to start on this thing. I'll start a build thread once things start progressing.