The "Stovebolt Special" Ring the dinner bell, its Done!

[rick74304]

Completed thread;
http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=18667

So i'm late to the build off, having a hard time finding a frame. Saw an online ad with this for sale, and wouldn't you know it; this is the exact same bike I started last years build off with, the new style schwinn cruiser 3 speed.
The guy I bought it from actually joined the forum after hearing me describe how great it is.(Thanks Sean )
So, now I need to do something radically different to it so I don't end up with a clone boardtracker.
I will come up with a decent name, I just need some quiet time to do so (which is hard to find when you're on-call)
Heres the meat of the sandwich;

Time to start grokking and sketching;
Rick

[Ratfink1962]

Sometimes the name comes after you start building. Just get an idea of what direction your gonna take, and the name will follow.

Right now since you reference the meat in a sandwich, some cheesy examples...

Rick's Ratty melt
Ratty Bologna
Rat Rod BLT
Reuben Rat
Ratty Dagwood

[Gold Street Customs]

You made reference to being on call and being late in the buildoff....your not late! you are.......RATON TIME...

[deorman]

Leave (leaf!) the red, make the silver parts white, and call 'er the Canuck.

[rick74304]

Leave (leaf!) the red, make the silver parts white, and call 'er the Canuck.

Nope, cant be red this time, thats what I did to the last one If you look hard, you can make out the maple leaf on the front fork. (came from a vintage norco)
Last years entry;

I think i've found some truly off the wall pieces to set this thing apart, been busy scribbling ideas and sketching. This is beginning to go places, trust me. I'll post a few teaser parts pics soon.
Rick

[rick74304]

So, our 1st long weekend of the year (in the warm season anyway) and I get smacked with a flu bug Slowed me down lots, but didnt stop me entirely. I wanted to use these forks, but the steer tube size is too big for the schwinn bearing cups, and the mercalli cups dont fit the inner diameter of the neck tube.

So, after thinking up the idea of buying a pipe expander to make the mercalli cups and rejecting it 'cause i'm cheap I decided to use what I have, which meant welding the mercalli cups to the neck tube.
Should have included the top in the pic, you'd see that there isn't enough stem sticking out to clamp a set of bars to


So, now I need to fix the problem I created, the neck tube on the frame has been stretched the lenght of 2 bearing cups, time to do the same to the forks steer tube.



Add a little 3/4 gas pipe and i'm back in business I hope.
It's pretty hard to get a decent weld going when you're constantly sneezing inside your welding helmet
Now for a teaser pic of a few mystery parts I plan to incorporate on this thing;
Have to use something off of this, but i'm not telling what just yet;

When I found these, I knew they had to find a home on a bike even though they were never designed for one;

(photo dark and out of focus on purpose)
Even the cardboard they're sitting on is a template for this build. I did a bunch of hand fabrication on the last build off bike, looks like this one won't be much different in that regard. I must be a glutton for punishment or something Stay tuned for more teasers and progress, and maybe even a name someday
Rick

[rick74304]

Spent the good part of Saturday figuring out how to build what I had in mind, started with the typical cardboard template of the frame, then transfered that to a scrap piece of plexiglas so I could see exactly where to line things up on the stove back.

Once things looked right, I drilled a couple of pilot holes, then traced out the cardboard template onto the tin.
Out came the cut-off wheel and snips


Mocked up my new tank panels with magnets, and while I had the cutting tools out, I also worked on some mounting systems for the vintage "mystery parts" , heres what 1 of them is;




I'm still considering more tinwork, and playing with templates as i'd like to make the headlight functional and have a battery to hide. Bought a 2 million candlepower spotlight as a parts donor, but if i'm not happy with the design of the new tins, i'll just convert to a small led set-up.
The seating also needs a re-do, and i'm not sure those bars or crank will stay either.
Decided on the name "stovebolt" because of the chopped up stove back, and the overall time period of the stovebolt chevys coincides with the bobber look i'm trying for.
Stay tuned,
Rick

[fenderhole]

thats one big headlight! freakin' awesome!

[CYRUS]

You magnificent beep, I was planning the same thing for my build and was looking for a metal shop to punch some aluminium plate. Now I gotta make a trip to the recycle yard for some stove parts. Thanx for the great idea.

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

this guy made my louvered tank plates for $50 from cardboard templates. I highly recommend him

http://www.hotrodlouvers.com/

[FLAT BLACK KUSTOMS]

Why didn't you just grind the cups to fit the diameter of the frame?
That's what I did on this bike! These forks are for an 1 1/8 compatible frame and I just ground down the cups until they fit snug in my frame. (i.e. RATRO HYBRID KLUNKER)


Your bike is looking good though! Can't wait to see the finished product!

[rick74304]

To reply in order;
Fenderbolt, it sure is big for a bike, but is actually the smaller size of the 4 I came across. They are old racing/ralley lights designed to fit on a mini cooper
Cyrus, thanks, dont think i've ever been called magnificent anything before! lol Like you, I wanted louvers, but had no way to punch them. Did a little research on the subject, and found i'd need a buck and die made to the size I wanted.
One day at work, I was repairing a stove, and realized the answer was literally staring me in the face
I.f.f.i.f.m, thanks, thats a link that might come in handy in the future!
Flat black, the diameter of the schwinn frame is the same diameter as the bearing cups I used, there wouldn't have been anything left to slip into the frame if I would have gone grinder happy, so the fix I used seemed to be the only possible solution.
Now, I need to free up more time to keep working on the bike, worked 7:30 to 4:30, came home for 2 1/2 hours then back to work till 10:30. If only I didnt need to sleep
Rick

[CYRUS]

LOL, didnt mean anything negative but I guess "bstrd" gets an auto censor, lol.... Way cool use of recyled parts, I'll be search the scrap yard or used appliance shops this weekend. Thanx again for the brilliant idea ! ! !

[rick74304]

Spent a few more hours chopping and grinding today as I wasn't happy with the stock seating set-up. Being the "frugal" guy that I am, I didn't want to spend any $$ on a bent seatpost. Started scrounging around, and decided to recycle some bent bananna bars and a piece of seatpost from an old excercise bike;



Then it was time to figure out the shifter end of things. I knew what I wanted to use, but not exactly how to adapt it to fit. I also ended up with an old mini cooper shifter along with the vintage driving lamps used for the headlight. I started with an old 10 speed shifter,then grafted on some funky hinge from a piece of ikea furniture.

Then I had to remove the old transmission ball end from the mini's stick shifter, out came the cut off wheel and torch;

I then found a proper sized piece of tubing that fit up in the stick shifter body, and over the hinge arm

I still cant decide if I want to run fenders on this thing or not. What do y'all think??


Rick

[rick74304]

Well, I had no feedback from anyone on whether to run fenders or not, so I went back to the drawing board.
I figured when in doubt, chop it !! Out came the cut off wheel and drill, and about 45 min. later I had bobbed fenders.
I wasn't all that happy with the lines the ape hanger seat post made, so I adjusted it as best I could, then decided to resurrect the seat I made for last years build off which didn't make the final cut back then.
http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=7302
I managed to get the louvered tins finally mounted, up until now I was using magnets to hold them in place during mock up. Spent quite some time trimming, fitting, trimming, fitting again, then more time with a hammer getting the tins to match the curves of the frame tubes.As you can see from the top shot, they fit pretty tightly.
Wouldnt you know it, right after I took out the camera, the front end flopped and the front right side louver got dented by the rubber fork stop Oh well, i'm not done with bodywork anyway.




Hopefully I can make some time today to swap out the crank and pedals for a better looking set-up, but i'm on call again, and it's fathers day, so it's iffy.
Rick