city cruiser-ish 3-speed helkama

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my first thread here. i am building myself a somewhat customized commuter/citybike for the coming summer. the frame will be from a finnish company helkama and wheels will be from a newer model with 3 speed shimano hub. some ideas that might or might not get included are
-stick shift
-lace paint frame
-some diy pinstriping?
-front and rear lights as they are mandatory
id like to think that if a car equivelant for a schwinn stingray is a 1970s plymouth cuda this will be more of a early 60s impala ss. i am open for ideas to this build. sorry for my bad writing and rambley sentences.
 
Welcome aboard. That sounds like a good plan. The frame looks very solid.
The only thing I might change would be the shifter. I prefer the twist grip shifter on a 3 speed, just for the convenience in city traffic.
 
Got some work done today. I specifically wanted a stick shift as a feature so now i have it. Upon quick testing my hub is missing second gear(?) I find first gear and when i upshift it goes straight to third. There seems to be a "neutral position" between the two which might be the remains of the second gear. Also got creative and found this chrome strip off a volvo. And a piston which i might use for a tail light.
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A day off so i was plannong on what should i do next. Still thinking should i paint it nice or rat it out. Also thinking about a little chopper treatment lenghtened forks smaller front tyre, apes and a long seat. Well see about those. In finland there is a mandate that you have to have front and rear lights, front light will be a cheap retro led light ir maybe two. I was thinking about installing a generator for the real light. Lastly, send me ideas! I havent seen many bikes here with this frame style. Cheers!
 
Hi there. I have some diamond frames that I use for everyday stuff. I keep them as ratty as possible with rust and mismatched parts, barely running so they are not a target for the occasional thief. For a bike left often outside, where other bikes might scratch it a fancy paint makes little sense.
But I always think of what could I do with them if I could rebuild them pretty.
I quite like what you are starting with. I like the integrated rack. If you are tall enough you could perhaps install a seat on the rack. Sitting on the rear wheel is like the ultimate chopper feeling. Some good seat suspension would be highly advisable though, if you do that.
About your hub - it might be incorrectly tuned shifter, like on torpedo hubs, or maybe one of the hubs that are being adjusted in a different gear? I have a Shimano 3sp hub that is being adjusted in 3rd, and not 2nd as usual.
 
On your 3CC hub, maybe some light oil will free up the pawls and get second gear for you. Those don't have a port, what I did with mine was remove the bell housing and shift rod, then apply light oil right in the axle hole so it would get worked into the internal parts.
The bell housing should have an "N" sometimes in red, that lets you adjust second gear just right by aligning the circles.
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On your 3CC hub, maybe some light oil will free up the pawls and get second gear for you. Those don't have a port, what I did with mine was remove the bell housing and shift rod, then apply light oil right in the axle hole so it would get worked into the internal parts.
The bell housing should have an "N" sometimes in red, that lets you adjust second gear just right by aligning the circles.
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My shift rod mover, bell housing you call it? Is different from that. Mine had this weird mechanism that it would lock itself into gear. Weird detent and ball system. Remowed that so it would be with friction on the shifter.
 

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Were you able to get some light oil in the axle? On the older hubs I've had, it took a little while to get the oil worked in, but when
the pawls freed up, then they ran and shifted fine.
 
First test ride today. So, there is a second gear but not always its hard to find. Thought about making chainguard for it today gonna go look for the thread about them to get some inspiration. Decided to not chop it(for now)but i will give the handlebars a little more height as i am almost 2 meters tall😅
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Got some rattlecans from the shops. Primer and flake green. Will start sanding it and priming while i still have daylight.
 
So. The whole frame is pitted like this. Not a surprise since this has been a warehouse bike in a chemical company. Original idea was to sand-prime-metallic green... well my old primer cans went kaputt and i only got it halfway done and upon closer inspection i noticed the pitting etc. Then i decided to f it and go over the whole thing in chrome paint. I am pretty sure next step will be to strip this thing of all the paint and go the rusty way.
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