Kona Humuhumu-Nukunuku-Apua'a KLUNKER project

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TheHumongous

TheHumongous

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Aug 19, 2010
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Ever since I saw the movie "KLUNKERS" I knew I had to have one. Excelsiors and a lot of those "real" klunker frames are hard to come by in my area, so I decided to use an old Kona cruiser (Humuhumu-Nukunuku-Apua'a) frame I got in a trade with one of my buddies. I just got the last of the major parts in today. I built the wheels up with 2 Sturmey drum brake hubs (with a rear 5spd). I took some pics of the wheels and will get some more of the whole thing going together. Still going to need some paint. Probably going to be in the Excelsior 2 tone style, not sure on colors yet though. Pics coming ASAP.
 
Man, those are great frames. I've wanted one for the longest time. I think they changed the frame shape a lot over the years. That's gonna be cool.
 
Sweet. One of my favorite modern frames. I sold mine a few years ago and kinda wish I still had it.
 
Got the wheels and tires all set today. I used Strumey-Archer drum brakes front and rear with Sun Rhynolite rims. I laced these bad boys up in a four-cross pattern to keep the old school look. There is nothing sweeter than a high flange hub laced 4X. 8)
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Tires are Hutchinson Piranha 2.3's. They blow up pretty square-shaped and I think they go with the Klunker theme pretty well while still adding a more modern/aggressive touch. And by the way don't mind my blurry photos. I'm not the best photographer on earth and the lighting kind of sucks in the shop.
 
Wow. That wheelset is the business. Can't wait to see more.
 
Thanks everybody! Threw all the major pieces together this morning to get an idea of how it's going to look. I'm happy with it so far but I've got a bit of work still ahead. I'm thinking still of the Excelsior style paint job. Definitely going to be white up front and then turn into either Black or a Dark Green in back. And I'm going to somehow figure out how to paint those swirly things (featherheads I think they're called?) Anyway, here's some shots of the frame/overall layout.
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By the way, has anybody ever ground the V-brake posts off of a frame before? Is there any structural danger to it as long as you're careful? I definitely think it'd help the looks 10fold although it's a subtle touch.
 
I just ground the brake posts off a Specialized Hard Rock Sport. I used a Mikita 4" grinder with a metal cutting disc and then cleaned off the area with a 4" sandpaper flapper wheel. I can't even tell that they were ever there. Just go slow and you will be fine. Gary
 
Yeah, they'll come off easy with a grinder. You can saw and file them off also. I sometimes finish them with a file anyway. If the part is brazed on it's easy to see when you're into the brass, from there you can file down to steel, no problem.

Lookin' good so far, really looking forward to seeing the paint.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. And RatRod thank you for gracing my lowly thread with your presence! Those handlebars ARE pretty nasty. I'll have to see what she looks like when I'm done, those would definitely be a sweet finishing touch. And thank you cman I will all but certainly be investing in a stencil kit if I can't come up with some clever design of my own to paint on there. This weekend I'll be boldly going where I've never before and grind those brake posts off. They look to be tig-welded on so hopefully its not too crazy tough to get through. We'll see I guess. If all goes well I'm supposed to have nice weather, so if it works out I can probably get some primer on within the next few days.
 
Hey guys sorry I kind of fell off the face of the earth for a couple weeks. Got busy with the holidays and all that. I actually finally got around to getting those brakeposts off yesterday with a dremel. A little under-gunned but I suppose for my first time that's a good thing, keeps me from getting too heavy handed and screwing up the seatstays. Thanks for your pointers on that, came out just fine. I'll post a pic of it soon. Weather's not so hot for paint right now but I can run the heater in the garage and probably sneak a few coats on over the next week or so. Just didn't want anyone to think this project was forgotten! Hope you all had a good "ChristmaChanuKwanzica" and New Year. In the meantime I'm off to take down the Festivus Pole and pack it up for next year.


Regards,
The Lord Humongous
Ruler of the Wasteland
The Ayatollah of Bicycole-a
No more talk, we go in, losers wait, rumbling engines, loincloths made of old tires, and all that jazz.
 
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All hung up and ready for priming.
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Here's how my brakeposts came out. I ended up filling the few little ripples left over with metal epoxy and sanded it smooth. Not nearly as scary a process as I thought.
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Primer's on. Won't be long now....
 
So just a brief update/apology. This project is not forgotten. Lately the weather in my area/my schedule have been very incompatible with this project (up until recently). I should have had this thing done about a week ago. But it turned out after I finished nearly a week's worth of painting, waiting, masking, painting, and waiting some more that upon UN-masking my old school klunking paint job, my primer (or something in my paint) was bad. And big chunks of my sweet white-green rattlecan masterpiece came right off down to the metal.

Discouraging as this was, I took it in stride and stripped the entire thing, starting from bare metal again. About an hour ago I finished my white paint (meaning I've still got to wait 2 days/mask/paint/wait 2 days/unmask before I can build). I'd say I'll have a finished bike by this time next week. I don't have pictures of the first paintjob, the bare metal frame, or the paint process up until now. But I'll be sure to get some shots of the finished frame and the build process just as soon as I...find...my...camera... *sigh* :roll:

Thanks for your patience those who are interested in how this turns out. If I do say so myself, I think you're gonna like it! More than anything I can't wait to ride this thing. This will definitely be my new daily rider when it's done.
 
Nice. I want to use the same hubs what size spokes did you need. Bike looks cool.
 
Very nice these frames are sick I had one built up as a 26 bmx cruiser a few years ago very strong and hold a line good Its to bad Kona kept changing them over the years Great choice on the wheels cant beat a pair of rhino lytes and good choice on the spoke pattern I do belive this is going to be one b***ss ride
 
So I sprayed my green and unmasked everything today. I don't own a headset press so excited as I am I'll have to wait to completely build this thing. Potentially I can have it done sometime tomorrow, at the latest by wednesday. I'm going to need to take it to work to put the front end on/run the cables. I hope you guys like how it came out, nothing too fancy, but just enough to get it looking like a real klunker. I'm sorry I haven't posted any pics in a while so heres a bunch to make up for it.

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White completely masked.

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The white exposed but masking still on the featherheads.

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Freshly unmasked.

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Another angle.

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I threw the wheel in the dropouts and stuck the seat and cranks on just because I'm a little antsie. Childish maybe,can you blame me though?

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