πŸπŸ—πŸ‘πŸ• π”π§πœπ₯𝐞 π’π­π«πžπ­πœπ‘ 𝐂𝐨π₯𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐗𝐋𝐖𝐁 - BO17 Build Journal - Finished in 3rd Place - 1937 Uncle Stretch Colson XLWB

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I still had time on my lunch break, so I took her out for a spin. Had to remove the headlight for the ride. I forgot that I didn't have a permanent bolt in there yet.


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Winner winner chicken dinner


Yes. You did a lot of cool stuff with that ball bat, but the tank really works on the bike.

THAT’S what I’m talking about!

I know you put a lot of work into the bat tank but this one does flow better. Plus it's compound curves are pretty awesome and you'd have a hard time building it by hand. Two tone if you paint it to match....

Carl.

I love the baseball bat, and yes, I do have a ton of work into it, BUT this tank just flows with the skirts and build perfectly. Thanks brother Tankenstein!!!! That is the beauty of having other eyes than your own during these build offs.

In regards to paint. I think I am going to try and keep the original scallopped aged white Columbia section untouched. My thoughts are to tape it off and paint around it with the matte farmhouse slate blue. Creme or off white was already one of the accent colors I was considering. You can also see that there are different pressed out patterns in the tank. I may try to take advantage of those with paint scheme as well.

I'll also work up a filler panel between the tank front and headtube by using some trusty roof flashing.

As far as the missile baseball bat tank. I'll add it to my cool bike parts stash. I already have a few builds in my head that could use it.





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I love the baseball bat, and yes, I do have a ton of work into it, BUT this tank just flows with the skirts and build perfectly. Thanks brother Tankenstein!!!! That is the beauty of having other eyes than your own during these build offs.

In regards to paint. I think I am going to try and keep the original scallopped aged white Columbia section untouched. My thoughts are to tape it off and paint around it with the matte farmhouse slate blue. Creme or off white was already one of the accent colors I was considering. You can also see that there are different pressed out patterns in the tank. I may try to take advantage of those with paint scheme as well.

I'll also work up a filler panel between the tank front and headtube by using some trusty roof flashing.

As far as the missile baseball bat tank. I'll add it to my cool bike parts stash. I already have a few builds in my head that could use it.





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Good choice! πŸ‘
 
Got started on prepping the exhaust pipes and coming up with the proper bracketology to mount them up.

First I trimmed off the beginning of the pipes to be flush with the existing mounting tab.

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There are two mounting spots for these pipes. One up front and the brackets will be down near the kicstand area. The second is about halfway down the pipes and will be in front of where the rear of the fin crosses the seatstays.

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For the front bracket, I plan on using a couple of different mending plates.

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For the rear I am going to use this bracket piece from a Schwinn Exerciser that I parted out back in BO7. I'll screw it to the chainstay and let it ride on the wheel side of the seatstay. The connecting bolt for the pipes will basically sandwich the bracket and the pipes onto the frame. This is all I had time to prep before I was losing daylight in the courtyard. Just trying to get work done on the bike whenever a window opens up. After this I went a good hour exercise ride on Rockabilly Boogie.

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Excited to see the Columbia tank getting some love, I have the same ladies tank and have been pondering what fate lies ahead for it. I kind of like the use on the seat tube. Cool ideas. In fact, I would venture to say that I enjoy watching the loose creative process you have going for ya. Nothing written in stone, just what feels right.
 
Excited to see the Columbia tank getting some love, I have the same ladies tank and have been pondering what fate lies ahead for it. I kind of like the use on the seat tube. Cool ideas. In fact, I would venture to say that I enjoy watching the loose creative process you have going for ya. Nothing written in stone, just what feels right.

Looking back in my Kingfish Finds thread, it looks like I've had that tank since 2013 and bought it here on RRB. Guess it was about time for me to use it.
Glad you like my roll with the punches build process. Some years I may have a clearer idea of what my build will be like, but this year more than most, I've just been winging it. It's been a blast so far and I just love all the history around this bike.

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I always tell my students, creativity lies on the edge of uncertainty and just the other side of Instinct.

After doing (and watching) a few build offs, a little bit of that instinct starts to kick in now and then. Just like DrT's gut reaction was "how would that look as your actual tank?"
 
Man, that tank is the bee's knees. If it looks like it belongs there, you're on the right track. love it.

Thanks, I felt that way as I tested it in Queenfish's Courtyard, but it really hit home for me when I got it out in the wild and walked around it in different lighting.
 
Be Kool if you could find a cover that looked like the tank to go over the pipes where they come out of the mount...........Curt

Another tank would be too big for that space because of the chainline. BUT, I do have this bike part that I picked up at Goodwill on Friday just knowing that it would tell me what it was someday. :D :D . It's worth a try. :D Thanks for the idea.

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I had another productive bike session during my lunch break. More bracketology.

Got the rear exhaust pipe bracket mounted and attached the pipes. I need to find my shorter 1/4" screws.

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Then I partially mounted my front bottom plate and got the pipe mounting plate roughly marked up. I'll jump back on this after work.

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The heat shield napkin holder shows promise. I would probably recess the pipes into one side. And have the closed section on top

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In the end, I'm not if it adds much, but it was fun to make nonetheless. Guess I am now part of the hip holey BO17 crowd

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Once i pulled it off, i saw its functional purpose as well. To hide this cluster of Bracketology.


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