1976 Schwinn Typhoon "KLUNKENSTEIN"

[us56456712]

At the fab shop I work in, we use a lot of patina finishes. Mainly they are Sculpt Nouveau products. The Birchwood Casey Gun Blue is very similar to Sculpt Nouveau Slate Black Patina. A beautiful rust patina can be achieved with Sculpt Nouveau Japanese Brown applied to a hot metal surface. Here are a few examples of patina finishes that we have done.

Japanese Brown, Hot, Satin Clear

Deep Brown, Cold, Satin Clear

Slate Black on Copper, Cold, Burnished, Satin Clear

Blended Mix, Cold, No Clear

Blended Mix, Cold, taped off the patina area first, cleared the deck, removed masking, patina applied, Satin clear over the entire surface.
Skateboard deck made with 1/8" mild steel.

wow, that's impressive. Here is my hot gun metal bike browning from a few years ago. I like the way it turned out.

 

[davemoneysign]

Patinas are fun, the variances can be surprising!

So my wheels came in on Monday, pretty basic black alloy rims, black spokes, black nipples and black hubs. I got some Bontrager XR2 26x2.2 tires on closeout so I couldn't pass that up. I also used presta tubes, I use them on all of my bikes except my BMX bike.

I had my friend who owns a motorcycle shop in town order me an Emgo #10 Dirt Track Racing Bar in chrome which looks awesome! Also, it comes in at 34.5" wide with a 4" rise. I had to compare it to my ENVE DH Mountain bar on my SS29er. Everyone gives me crap about how wide that bar is and this one beats it by a long shot!

Tape measure does not lie!

Got to throw it on the bike with some old ODI Ruffian lock on grips I had laying around. Also, I had a set of Wellgo magnesium pedals that I had on my Pugsley for a few seasons. They have quite a bit of wear but will work fine on this bike for the time being.

With all of it coming together, I had to throw a chain on it and give it a bit of a shake-down run to see what else I have to do before final touches and paint work!

With the chain on, I can see I have to do some more modifications to the chain guard to fit my new drivetrain. Also, I think I am going to re-locate the number plate and I have some ideas on that which will be addressed soon. For now, I'm pretty stoked about the direction it is going and I am excited for some more fabrication work!

 

[Araya51]

Cruiser looks awesome.!!

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

You had me at 'stein....[emoji106][emoji109]

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks good! Will you be raising the number plate up closer to the bars?

Luke.

 

[davemoneysign]

LukeTheJoker, yes, I want to showcase the head tube badge more and fit up along the bar a bit better. I have a few ideas on how to do it, you will see soon enough!

Had a great fabrication day after work today! The standard coaster brake arm and cheesy brake band are way too lame. I was originally thinking about just fabricating a slotted tab and welding it under the chain stay but that is a little too easy.

Went to the local performance automotive store and pieced together a LH thread male tie rod end and a LH thread female tie rod end to make a small turnbuckle with swiveling eyes.

Fabbed up a bracket with some speed holes and checked the location by holding it with a magnet. Tucking it up under the seat stay turned out to look pretty sweet!

The brake arm was too stock and needed some modifications.

The arm was shortened by about an inch, added speed holes, ground the logos off, tapered the top down a bit and cleaned it up. Before:

After:

I then shaped the bracket, determined a location and tig welded it on.

With the brake situation fixed, I turned my attention to finishing the chain guard. I loved the look but it sat too high with the new 32t chain wheel.

I chopped the front bracket, leaving only the vertical support and hacked the tail end tab. I then made some spacers to bring the chain guard out a bit to fit down over the chain.

With it sitting down lower, it didn't quite fit the profile of the crankset and chain ring.

I used a compass centered on the crank arm bolt to draw out a more fitting profile and cut it out. I finished it with the oscillating drum sander and I think it turned out quite nice. If it does not look like I did anything at all, I have done my job well!

Also, is it too late to enter in Build Off Ten?

 

[Araya51]

Very cool mods you did on your cruiser..

 

[LukeTheJoker]

This is awesome! The work you did on the brake and chainguard lift the bike to a whole new level!

Also, is it too late to enter in Build Off Ten?

Provided you build meets the rules and you did not start before May 1st!

Would you like me to move your thread for you?

Luke.

 

[davemoneysign]

LukeTheJoker, I picked up the bike May 12th and it will obey the rules, please move the thread to BOTEN! Thanks!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

LukeTheJoker, I picked up the bike May 12th and it will obey the rules, please move the thread to BOTEN! Thanks!

Done!

Luke.

 

[kingfish254]

I was trying to figure out how I missed this build off bike, then I realized it was just moved in.
AWESOME work going on here. My favorite detail so far is the speed holes on TOP of the guard.
Welcome to BOTEN! Great build.

 

[Fv2]

Ok just caught this one,I have an old 24" typhoons. Looks nothing like this is turning out,well done. Oh and welcome to the build off.

 

[Chad T]

Sweet build. Some awesome work on this one.

 

[chepe13]

Sooo much goodness.

 

[Funkme]

Gee I was thinking how can he be on page 2 already...
Now I get it.
Glad you moved in on the fun.

 

[Jake Sensi]

Scratching my head saying Did I miss something? Great work. Peace

 

[Vintage-Iron]

love the whole concept. esp the bluing idea

 

[OddJob]

In the process of making tabs to weld on for my tank insert. Also, putting some speed holes in the chain guard.

With some help from a friend, we tackled the seat post situation. The frame uses a 13/16" post and I didn't like my options for upgrade posts and I did not want to use traditional seat post guts so a custom seat post was created. I started with a solid 1" aluminum bar and a 27.2 mm Bontrager post I had laying around. We machined the 9.5" long post down to 13/16" for about 7". Next, flipped the stock around and machined it so the OD of the bar would fit the ID of the Bontrager post and machined grooves in it to help with glue adhesion. I glued the post together with Easton Hot Melt adhesive, formulated for aluminum arrow inserts. Next it was chucked back in the lathe and turned down to be one, cohesive piece.

Seat post is a piece of art! A new build to keep my eye on for the next two months....keep em' coming!

 

[OddJob]

This is rapidly becoming one of my favourite builds!
Really nice work!

Luke.

I'm with you Luke. The fab tools and skills are on the opposite end of the spectrum from my cut/paste/paint build; which is the really cool part about this forum and the people on here. The rat rod customization can take so many different forms and be approached from so many unique angles. What a diverse and integrated community we are here on ratrodbikes.com!

 

[OddJob]

Araya51, Handsome Cycles did their prototype Dirty Harry frame in gun blue, I saw it in person at the Handsome store in Minneapolis a couple years ago. I think they just did a wax finish on it but I'm not too sure.

Yes, I have seen that bike there as well! Dave, are you a Minneapolitan? I'm in Maplewood, east of lowertown St Paul...