The Prowler

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A dimple precisely placed with a big o' ball peen hammer will help that crank clear. Is there a washer behind the race on the sprocket? Losing that would move the crank over too. Lastly, you could grind a bit of the back edge off the crank arm too. I've done all of those things and never suffered any adverse effects. Maybe a little bit of all of the above will be enough...

Carl.
 
A dimple precisely placed with a big o' ball peen hammer will help that crank clear. Is there a washer behind the race on the sprocket? Losing that would move the crank over too. Lastly, you could grind a bit of the back edge off the crank arm too. I've done all of those things and never suffered any adverse effects. Maybe a little bit of all of the above will be enough...

Carl.
If none of my other cranks fit this frame right, then I might just dimple the frame or grind off part of the crank. I'd really like to avoid that if I can help it, though. The only thing between the race and sprocket is that super-thin piece of cardboard.
 
Okay, this is a small, lackluster update, but I figured it was worth sharing.

First up, the bad: I tried using longer bolts and stacking washers to make the Schwinn sissy bar work, but to no avail. The clamps offer no room for the washers to lay flat like they need to. So my nicest sissy bar was pretty much useless for this bike.

The good: While I don't have a picture of it, I swapped out the crank for the one off of last year's MBBO entry, Poison Apple. At this rate, Poison Apple's going to be a donor bike. The crank cleared the Murray frame no problem, so I can pedal with confidence!

This past Thanksgiving weekend, I also met up with a friend in Missouri who I met at the Pleasant Hill Bicycle Swap Meet back in September. He knows how to recover seats, so I figured he could help teach me how to recover a banana seat. Not only did he give me some helpful tips, he even gave me some sample materials to help me find what I needed for the job. He even gave me a bunch of forks, mostly 20", for free!

I also bought another sissy bar off another friend for $10, which is in much better shape than any of the other sissy bars I have. It seems to be missing the clamps, but If I need to, I could just bolt the sissy bar directly to the frame.

I also bought some leather/pleather today for the seat cover.
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Progress on the bike has been slow this past week, but I'm still working on it. I'm feeling substantially better since the crash, though my wrists and my right arm are still acting up. I'm probably not going to make much more progress this week, due to some stuff I'm trying to get done around the house before this weekend. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick back up where I left off soon.
 
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I don't think so. This is my first repop Monark springer, so I'm a bit unfamiliar with these myself. That said, I tried assembling the fork like you said, but it spaces the dropouts too far apart to properly tighten the axle nuts. Assembled this way, the wheel axle fits right inside the dropouts. That said, I don't know why the lock nuts keep hitting the spokes. Is it an aftermarket issue, or are 20 inch wheels built wider than 26 inch wheels?
I haven't seen one in a while, but why would rotating just the bolt affect that? Even so, you could use a longer axle and spacers if necessary.
Like I said though it has been a while and I only had 2 original forks and none of the newer models.
 
Progress has admittedly slowed down a bit since my last post. Between the holidays coming up, the frequently, though not consistently colder weather, my wrists still acting up until recently, nagging ideas for my other back-burner bike projects, and a severe lack of energy/motivation to do much of anything these past couple of weeks, Prowler's been hibernating more than anything lately.

I have taken one small step tonight that should hopefully lead to more progress on this bike soon. I typed up a rough task list for this bike, so I could get most of my thoughts in order and figure out what I could do on my own, what I need help with, and in what order it would be best to tackle these steps.

One small but important detail I'm trying to figure out right now is how to paint some of my parts to look like chrome, without breaking the bank. Does anyone have experience with chrome/mirror spray paint, and what options yield the best results? If possible, I might run by one of the hardware stores tomorrow to buy some paint and test this out.
 
Dupli-Color ECS101007 chrome instant enamel spray sells at Walmart along with model CS101 chrome which I'm not familiar with. These paints work best on a glossy black base coat. Dupli-Color turns silver under clear coat unfortunately.
 
Dupli-Color ECS101007 chrome instant enamel spray sells at Walmart along with model CS101 chrome which I'm not familiar with. These paints work best on a glossy black base coat. Dupli-Color turns silver under clear coat unfortunately.
Turns out both of those Dupli-Color chrome paints are the same, one's just older. Got a can of it, plus some Rustoleum chrome since I saw it at the same store.
 
Tested out 2 different chrome spray paints earlier today: one from Dupli-color, one from Rustoleum. I applied a gloss black base coat over 2 white plastic spoons, then let that dry. I then applied a coat of each chrome paint to 2 spoons each, one with the black base coat, and one without. The Dupli-color orange-peeled almost instantly, while the Rustoleum came out smoother and clearer. I need to practice a little more, and probably check out a few other paints, but I think the Rustoleum chrome will work in a pinch if need be.
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My first bike was a Columbia ballooner of unknown age in the early 60's. On that bike the front axle was 1/4", not 5/16" and there were no lock nuts on the cones. One day while delivering newspapers that front wheel locked up because one axle nut had come loose. I took the bike to a bike shop and they replaced the broken axle and when I got it back it still did not have lock nuts. That is how they made them I guess. You are totally dependent on those axle nuts staying tight.
 
My first bike was a Columbia ballooner of unknown age in the early 60's. On that bike the front axle was 1/4", not 5/16" and there were no lock nuts on the cones. One day while delivering newspapers that front wheel locked up because one axle nut had come loose. I took the bike to a bike shop and they replaced the broken axle and when I got it back it still did not have lock nuts. That is how they made them I guess. You are totally dependent on those axle nuts staying tight.
I guess I'll need to find some lock nuts then. Thanks for the tip!
 
Sorry for the radio silence. Between the colder weather and some other stuff, I haven't had the opportunity to make any progress on my bikes as of late. I do have one small update that I meant to post almost a month ago, but I just never got around to it until now.

I applied a clear coat over 2 of the spoons I painted chrome. The clear coat dulled the effect on the Rustoleum chrome, but it turned the Dupli-Color chrome to a less-than-attractive metallic silver. So it looks like Rustoleum is the winner out of these 2. I know there are some other chrome paints out there I haven't tried yet though, so I'll probably want to test those out before I commit to anything yet. That'll most likely have to wait until the weather warms up again though.

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That's all the progress I have to report for now. Hopefully the weather will warm up long enough for me to make some real progress soon, but I'll just have to wait and see.
 

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