W I D E & Loaded - OUT, unfortunately ☹️

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Played with the front fenders a little bit today. I think the last one is probably best, but it doesn’t hurt to try some other positions.

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Speaking of links, is that a pair of stubby vernier calipers laying on the floor next to the rear axle bolts? I have bot seen anything like that before......

You mean this thing?:
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It’s a sliding gauge to figure out the bolt pattern for wheels. It’s kind of the companion to the disc that goes over studs to measure the bolt pattern of an axle or wheel bearing. I like this one because you can either insert the pointed side into a wheel or flip it over and put the hollow end over studs. It measures 4, 5, 6 and 8 lug patterns. About $15, just search bolt pattern gauge on Amazon or Google.
 
You mean this thing?:
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It’s a sliding gauge to figure out the bolt pattern for wheels. It’s kind of the companion to the disc that goes over studs to measure the bolt pattern of an axle or wheel bearing. I like this one because you can either insert the pointed side into a wheel or flip it over and put the hollow end over studs. It measures 4, 5, 6 and 8 lug patterns. About $15, just search bolt pattern gauge on Amazon or Google.
Man, I needed one of them last year. I was searching junkyards and swap meets for a 15 x 7 GM small bolt pattern (5 x 4.75) steelie, which is harder to find than you might think. I had to 3D print three or four of these things before I got the measurements right.
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Man, I needed one of them last year. I was searching junkyards and swap meets for a 15 x 7 GM small bolt pattern (5 x 4.75) steelie, which is harder to find than you might think. I had to 3D print three or four of these things before I got the measurements right.
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Ironically, the best place to find one is at a swap meet. The last one I went to had a handful of vendors selling them.
 
No real updates to speak of, other than I think I’m still in the game after considering bowing out. I took a little break, and mostly since my last post I’ve just been doing minor things that weren’t really post-worthy. The main challenge has been getting the axle right after screwing it up a few times. It’s holding the rest of the process up. Thought I had it all under wraps, until I broke a tap off in it:

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This really felt insurmountable in the short term, but after regrouping for a day I figured out a way around it that still works, so I’m back in business:

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Now I should be able to get some fender mounts figured out and move on. I’m still going to finish this one no matter what, but it’s going to be close on the deadline I think.
 
Small update. I have been working on the bike, just not anything real picture-worthy, like trying to get the wheels not to wobble and finishing all the assembly on the toolboxes I skipped over to begin with. Nothing looks different, it’s just more complete now.

I did manage to get my fender cut into two pieces so I can widen it. That was a major hurdle I think. It’s not perfect, but it’s way more perfect than I thought I was capable of, so “go me” I guess. Anyone else ever wish they had a 4 foot wide belt sander to clean things up on?


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Unfortunately I’m going to have to bow out of this one, at least for the build-off. This build has been frustrating at every turn, and I’ve got to much invested in it to start cutting corners now just to make a deadline. I knew I was going to be short on time to begin with, but there’s still too much to be done to finish it off properly in time. It’ll still be done, I’ll post pics of the final result here someday.
 

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