'53 Bel Airflow Shelby: The 7th Annual OddJob Awards! Pg 22!

Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
It's on, and it rides great! No shakes, no rattles...but it rolls!
IMG_20210625_161933_223.jpg

20210625_154427.jpg
20210625_154418.jpg
 
Thanks Jude! Good to see you popping up here. Hope all is well with you and yourn !
Doing great OJ; super busy trying to get my housing situation square.

completely remodeled our old house we used as a rental and sold it, now looking for another place to get out of our “temporary home”….. which is too small. we are also remodeling it for sale.

and of course, looking for a fixer upper…. Which will need remodeled.

hopefully I’ll be ready to rip and have a great space or shop for build off ‘22.
 
Looking awesome!!!
I see you hooked up the shifter too. Have you thought about rotating the rear housing and running the cabling along the chainstay/downtube?
 
I saw the "update 9" video you made, one thing that I saw I absolutely enjoy: Your coaster brake strap bolt is the perfect length, with the locknut. I can enjoy those mechanical details.

Great build so far, and awesome chainguard!
 
So, I met one of my main goals on this build. That was to get the chain guard on the bike, and affixed so that the bike functioned well with the guard in place. I'm very happy with that result! Stay tuned for more 'doo dads' to be added along the '53 Bel Airflow theme.

In the meantime, I have been working on upgrading / modifying / rat rodding our mini pontoon; the Mitey Toon 13' all electric pontoon. It came with the Minnkota 55 lb thrust trolling motor, and two 12 v batteries (for a combined 24 v power source). On a quiet morning or evening, with no wake and little boat traffic, it was perfect. But if you got 4 people on the boat, or the water was wavy at all, it just didn't cut the mustard.

After about 2 yrs of research, which is like an eternity for 'OC ' OJ, I decided to try some new technology; the propane powered outboard motor. This is made by Tohatsu, who makes all the Mercury motors that are 30 hp or less. As with everything these days, the supply is very limited. Add to that the fact that I needed an UL (ultra long) 25" shaft on my motor to achieve the best performance, and I ended up getting 1 of 3 of these motors currently available through the main distributor in Texas. My guy Barry who owns his own business right in the middle of the north woods in Wisconsin, located in a large pole barn on his property, set me up. I love doing business with a REALLY small businessman. As an official Tohatsu dealer, and a one-man operation, I got the personal service with a corporate back-up and support that I wanted.

Yesterday I made a 300 mile round trip including stopping at Barry's BD Marine in Stone Lake, WI to lay my eyes on the motor for the first time. A half hour later I was on the road to our campsite 45 mins away. After a couple modifications, I got the motor fit on the boat, devised a brace to support it and take a little pressure off the transom for our short 1/8 mile drive to the boat landing through the woods, and put it in the water for the first time. I'm on duty at the bike shop today again, so after some fun with the 'toon, I headed back home.

Here's a couple photos and a short vid of my day. Fun stuff! It's a lot like rat rodding our bike builds; we take things that weren't stock or original and add to what we have to make something cool!
208962722_349982719858567_1682467104025738175_n.jpg



207338420_1243936292727537_8765980926125592439_n.jpg




204557600_293405555804076_5674192958631102605_n.jpg





ToOn oN~!
 
So, I met one of my main goals on this build. That was to get the chain guard on the bike, and affixed so that the bike functioned well with the guard in place. I'm very happy with that result! Stay tuned for more 'doo dads' to be added along the '53 Bel Airflow theme.

In the meantime, I have been working on upgrading / modifying / rat rodding our mini pontoon; the Mitey Toon 13' all electric pontoon. It came with the Minnkota 55 lb thrust trolling motor, and two 12 v batteries (for a combined 24 v power source). On a quiet morning or evening, with no wake and little boat traffic, it was perfect. But if you got 4 people on the boat, or the water was wavy at all, it just didn't cut the mustard.

After about 2 yrs of research, which is like an eternity for 'OC ' OJ, I decided to try some new technology; the propane powered outboard motor. This is made by Tohatsu, who makes all the Mercury motors that are 30 hp or less. As with everything these days, the supply is very limited. Add to that the fact that I needed an UL (ultra long) 25" shaft on my motor to achieve the best performance, and I ended up getting 1 of 3 of these motors currently available through the main distributor in Texas. My guy Barry who owns his own business right in the middle of the north woods in Wisconsin, located in a large pole barn on his property, set me up. I love doing business with a REALLY small businessman. As an official Tohatsu dealer, and a one-man operation, I got the personal service with a corporate back-up and support that I wanted.

Yesterday I made a 300 mile round trip including stopping at Barry's BD Marine in Stone Lake, WI to lay my eyes on the motor for the first time. A half hour later I was on the road to our campsite 45 mins away. After a couple modifications, I got the motor fit on the boat, devised a brace to support it and take a little pressure off the transom for our short 1/8 mile drive to the boat landing through the woods, and put it in the water for the first time. I'm on duty at the bike shop today again, so after some fun with the 'toon, I headed back home.

Here's a couple photos and a short vid of my day. Fun stuff! It's a lot like rat rodding our bike builds; we take things that weren't stock or original and add to what we have to make something cool!
View attachment 163079


View attachment 163080



View attachment 163081




ToOn oN~!

#alwaysmodding
 
That is one Looney Toon OJ!!!
You need one of these on the back of it.

1625574577451.png


I've never heard of a propane outboard before, but I remember seeing a lot of old cars that had their engines retrofitted to run on propane.
Looks like you have good power with that too. Much better than any trolling motor.
I'm surprised you haven't renamed the motor the ToRATsu. :D
 
I think HIGHWOOD has a new song to add to their playlist now!!!
 
That is one Looney Toon OJ!!!
You need one of these on the back of it.

View attachment 163742

I've never heard of a propane outboard before, but I remember seeing a lot of old cars that had their engines retrofitted to run on propane.
Looks like you have good power with that too. Much better than any trolling motor.
I'm surprised you haven't renamed the motor the ToRATsu. :D
I LOVE that idea for the back end! Barb wanted to rename it, but her suggestion was kind of a boring, "Cruisin'" . I had all kinds of 'Loony Toons' ideas, she can't go for that, no-o-o-o-o, no can do. I guess since she bought the boat I can't throw her overboard; I mean 'overthrow' her. :wondering: :bigsmile:
 
Back
Top