When I am guiding a customer to their new bike, I often say,
"The sum of the parts on a bike is greater than the whole."
The truth is, it is all about the components; frame, fork, drive train, shifting and braking, wheels, tires, etc that individually contribute to what constitutes a 'good ' bike. And, if you took a tally of the cost of each individual part, it would be far greater than what a customer in a bike shop pays for that particular whole bike.
For us, building our own custom rat rod bikes, it really is all about parts. The mixing of bicycle related and other unrelated to cycling parts is what makes for an interesting build concept. And in our case, frequently we are working with vintage parts that are rusty, worn , broken, missing pieces; you name it!
Today I worked on getting the dents out, or at least making them less obvious, in the tank halves. It's a tin, so it's very pliable, and I used my mall mallet and a furniture tack hammer that has a nylon end on one side to tap and smooth the shape. I have a Park Tool rubber bench mat and lay my grease laden towel folded over once on that, in place of a sand bag. I also use my bench vise for the edge dents where I can rest it right on the vise under the dimple, and then tap it smooth into place. It's kind of an art. One I haven't mastered by any means, but was great for a couple hours I had available this afternoon.
Then I cut a couple of stove bolts and used acorn nuts and washers to hold it together on the frame. Another step in the right direction.
RaT oN~!
