'37 Elfman Streamline Deluxe

[G-Matt]

Looking great nice metal fabrication..,


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[bikewhorder]

Whew! I've put in a few late nights this week but haven't had time to update the thread. Here's some recent progress. I originally thought I could keep most of the Bottom bracket section of the Elgin donor frame intact but once cut off the down tube i was left with a big hole and I wasn't too impressed with the sand cast bottom bracket shell so I decided to cut off the rear stays and go with this beefy shell from a bent middle weight frame I had. Once I cut the lower stays off the shell though I realized I had my work cut out or me reattaching them accurately. It took me a couple tries and I had to keep improving my jig before I had a set up that worked. I realized I could use the rear triangle from another bike to help line the parts up. Here's some pics of what I came up with. I had to assume the bike I used as a guide was straight but I think it was.





I should have cleaned the grease out first!



I feel much better about this bottom bracket shell.

 

[G-Matt]

Whew! I've put in a few late nights this week but haven't had time to update the thread. Here's some recent progress. I originally thought I could keep most of the Bottom bracket section of the Elgin donor frame intact but once cut off the down tube i was left with a big hole and I wasn't too impressed with the sand cast bottom bracket shell so I decided to cut off the rear stays and go with this beefy shell from a bent middle weight frame I had. Once I cut the lower stays off the shell though I realized I had my work cut out or me reattaching them accurately. It took me a couple tries and I had to keep improving my jig before I had a set up that worked. I realized I could use the rear triangle from another bike to help line the parts up. Here's some pics of what I came up with. I had to assume the bike I used as a guide was straight but I think it was.





I should have cleaned the grease out first!



I feel much better about this bottom bracket shell.

Rock on man your gaining ground, I like this build !


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[bikewhorder]

The next step was the seat tube which I thought I had all made up but I realized that the 13/16th seat post I planned to use was not going to fit very snugly in my 7/8 ID seat tube. I planned to have a long section of seat tube projecting beyond the top tube kind of like an early Elgin Robin frame.
I know that these were rumored to be weak so I wanted to have as thick a seat tube as possible. I went back down into my dump bike pile to find a suitable seat tube donor and was disappointed to find that most of them just had a short shim brazed in near the seat clamp to close the gap. I was running out of options when I discovered that a Schwinn Varsity had the seat tube i needed. I grafted the two to together and Viola!

Now I have a nice tight clearance for my seat tube and the curve I wanted.

 

[bikewhorder]

And last night I attached the seat tube to the bottom bracket and began the process of filling and grinding the joints. I used the same rear triangle I used before to help make sure my seat tube was square to the bottom bracket. A laser level would have been helpful here but I don't own one.



And tonight I hope to drill a hole in the top tube and attach these two sections.


I can see now though that my fender is going to need to be extended to get it to where I want it but I did some experimenting and found that as long as I was patient and careful I could weld the sheet metal as thin as these fenders are.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Great work! Looking very good!
Love your straightness test method ideas!

Luke.

 

[BackWoodCycle]

Don't stay in one spot too long though on those fenders. Real easy to burn through.

 

[kingfish254]

it's great watching an artisan at work!

 

[bikewhorder]

it's great watching an artisan at work!

Thanks! but I'm feeling more like a hack than an artisan right now.

So I finally got to put some time into the Elfman this weekend. I drilled the top tube and installed the lower half.





Unfortunately this step revealed that much of my previous work with the top tube, head tube and rear stays are in need of some serious realignment. I think i can salvage it but its going to take some major surgery. If I hold the head tube plum with the seat tube the center line of the top tube curves hard to the right and one side becomes higher than the other. The level in this pic shows just how out of whack the head tube is when I hold the top tube at the angle that makes a straight center line.





I'm going to buy a laser level tomorrow, I need one. My next target is to get the rear stays with drop outs done so I can make it ridable. Once I know its in good alignment I can proceed with wild abandon.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks amazing! Shame about the alignment issue, looks like you might be best separating the top tubes from the headtube and re-welding them?

Luke.

 

[bikewhorder]

Looks amazing! Shame about the alignment issue, looks like you might be best separating the top tubes from the headtube and re-welding them?

Luke.

I actually need to cut one side of the double top tube and about 12" of the center line seam and give it a twist because when the center line is straight one tube rises up above the other as it comes forward. Its a mess and it will drive me insane if I don't fix it. I also need to cut off the rear stays because they are at the same angle as the head tube but that's no big deal.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I love working with steel for just this reason, cut, shut, weld, fixed!

Luke.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

This frame is going to be gorgeous once you get it dialed in.

With your fabrications skills, you might be doing yourself a favor if you put together a simple jig before you start realigning things. There's a lot of info on bike jigs on the web.

 

[Walker]

I've found when it comes to making fenders work with a custom frame it can take quite a while to get them located just right. Take your time though, that frame is looking great so far.

 

[bikewhorder]

This frame is going to be gorgeous once you get dialed in.

With your fabrications skills, you might be doing yourself a favor if you put together a simple jig before you start realigning things. There's a lot of info on bike jigs on the web.

I know, I'm not big on doing my self favors for some reason. I seem to enjoy struggling. If I build another frame that will be my first step. Getting things lined up has been even harder than I thought it would be.

 

[bikewhorder]

Whew! I think I'm finally back on a forward progress track after pretty much cutting everything apart (sometimes 3,4, 5 times!). What I've learned is that I need to be way less cavalier when "fillin' it with metal" because the heat warpage even with tubing is dramatic. The laser level was essential, I really don't know how I could have done it without it. Here's some pics of my setup and the latest pics.

 

[tvc15]

amazing work here!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looking good!

Luke.

 

[G-Matt]

Not an easy project but it really taking shape , nice work


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[kingfish254]

Looking great!!! Maybe a frame jig would help too.
Awesome work!