Abner DONE!

[kingfish254]

Took some glamour shots of the No-Nose all dressed up in its new suit.

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Sexy Glamour Shots (at a mall near you)

But seriously, that tank came out SEXY!!!

I must say that it hurt just a little when I took the first swipe across the fresh glossy paint on the tank with a scotch-brite pad. But soon my trepidation turned to assurance as I proceeded to transform the infantile paint toward the venerable objective!

Two days ago:
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And here are all of the painted parts ready to be mounted to the frame.
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I will go over everything once more after all of the parts are mounted on the frame.
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For those taking notes, I first sanded the gloss away, then randomly scratched it all over and sanded it again. Then I lightly fogged it with brown rattle paint and wiped it with a mineral spirits soaked rag. At last I rubbed it with some polishing compound and finally added some more strategically placed scratches.

Awesome work on the tank and the fenders. It all blends so well now.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Thats a really good design solution.
Um errrrr, a tiny bit off topic but does your computer or app your using have the "Clone stamp" feature, if so learn it, its real easy and you could clone the tin shed behind the bike and stamp it over the rack, the pic would of come out perfect, only found this a few months ago, apparently its been around for yrs , only takes a minute, Grrrr

I know nothing about computer graphics. I'm so non-techy. All my computer has is Paint, and I have no idea if it has what you're referring to.

 

[ingola]

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdo...31T12&p0=1176&msg=Build+off+end+&font=cursive

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Well that countdown clock has got me feeling the pressure! There are still a few things that have been in the loose plans all along that suddenly need to be expedited!

Today I had planned to properly rivet the fender braces to the fenders. Neither one had its original rivets. The front fender was first. It was put together with machine screws sometime in the past and were rusted shut. Earlier this summer I cut all of them off so that I could work on the center hole for the fork. Since then they have been temporarily held in place with 8-32 machine screws.

I removed them one at a time and replaced them with original style rivets. I had previously rusted a few of these with vinegar for just such an occasion.

I'll need to 'tuck them in' so to speak, but they're in.

The rear fender will have to wait until tomorrow. I'll explain why after it is done.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Part II of the fender rivet swap.

Yesterday I started installing factory spec rivets on the fenders. The front was pretty strait forward but the rear had a surprise waiting for me. Who ever put it together last used 3/16" pop rivets which meant that the holes were too large for my original style rivets. So I switched to some rivet head bolts to finish the job.

I had some rivet head bolts that I had previously rusted but the only nuts that I had where new shiny zinc plated so I soaked some overnight in vinegar to knock the shine off. The extra day didn't change anything at this point.

This picture shows the old pop rivet on the right and the enlarged hole on the left.

Knocking the shine off of the nuts was probably not necessary for the underside of the fenders but I did it anyway just for good measure. I like using 'aged' fasteners for everything on a patina build like this.

To make sure there is not an issue with rubbing against the tire, I cut all of the bolts flush.

It looks 100 percent better than the pop rivets. But unless you are reading this now, you probably wouldn't even notice that I did this. Sometimes not noticing something is better than noticing something that is not right.

 

[metalchewy]

Part II of the fender rivet swap.

Yesterday I started installing factory spec rivets on the fenders. The front was pretty strait forward but the rear had a surprise waiting for me. Who ever put it together last used 3/16" pop rivets which meant that the holes were too large for my original style rivets. So I switched to some rivet head bolts to finish the job.

I had some rivet head bolts that I had previously rusted but the only nuts that I had where new shiny zinc plated so I soaked some overnight in vinegar to knock the shine off. The extra day didn't change anything at this point.

This picture shows the old pop rivet on the right and the enlarged hole on the left.
View attachment 241746

Knocking the shine off of the nuts was probably not necessary for the underside of the fenders but I did it anyway just for good measure. I like using 'aged' fasteners for everything on a patina build like this.
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To make sure there is not an issue with rubbing against the tire, I cut all of the bolts flush.
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It looks 100 percent better than the pop rivets. But unless you are reading this now, you probably wouldn't even notice that I did this. Sometimes not noticing something is better than noticing something that is not right.

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Those rivet bolts are new to me. Such a cool little part. Awesome work on these sweet fenders.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I spent most of this afternoon fitting the rear fender. It would seem like a simple job bolting a fender in place but when I mounted the rear wheel it was so out of alignment that the tire rubbed on both sides at different intervals. It turns out that the four curved braces have to be set just right to center the fender properly.
I ended up forcing the fender into submission using a board as leverage. I mounted a rim minus the tire to have room to shove a board under the edge of the fender and used the axel as the fulcrum point to pry it over where needed. The drop stand clip was my guide to check center. After some beer and sweat (yes it's hot here too!) I finally dialed it in.

This picture not only shows the fender centered up but also shows the cool little vintage stars and stripes license plate fastener that I added.

I hadn't thought about the little reflector until yesterday. I was thinking about putting a rivet bolt in the extra hole and then remembered picking the reflector up at an estate sale a couple years ago. The red, white and blue works perfectly with the paint scheme!

​

 

[hbn]

I spent most of this afternoon fitting the rear fender. It would seem like a simple job bolting a fender in place but when I mounted the rear wheel it was so out of alignment that the tire rubbed on both sides at different intervals. It turns out that the four curved braces have to be set just right to center the fender properly.
I ended up forcing the fender into submission using a board as leverage. I mounted a rim minus the tire to have room to shove a board under the edge of the fender and used the axel as the fulcrum point to pry it over where needed. The drop stand clip was my guide to check center. After some beer and sweat (yes it's hot here too!) I finally dialed it in.

This picture not only shows the fender centered up but also shows the cool little vintage stars and stripes license plate fastener that I added.

View attachment 241959


I hadn't thought about the little reflector until yesterday. I was thinking about putting a rivet bolt in the extra hole and then remembered picking the reflector up at an estate sale a couple years ago. The red, white and blue works perfectly with the paint scheme!

​

Funny thing with these builds, how one continues to imagine some jobs to be simple and straightforward, just to take a really long time. I experienced it yesterday, thought 'this is going to be a 10 min job'. 3 hours later still not done...

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The chainguard is a TRM Seedline guard that I had painted a few years ago to practice some aging techniques which just happened to be the same Shelby blue that I'm using on Abner. So I was happy to finally have a bike to use it on. However, there was one small problem, the bracket was positioned for a curved downtube frame and Abner is a straight downtube.

This bike with a curved downtube is the one that I made the molds from and is painted with the blue that I used for the chainguard.

I repositioned the bracket and decided to just leave the extra holes and fill them with more rivet bolts.

The extra bolts don't bother me since it is a survivor type restomod anyway.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

I must say that it hurt just a little when I took the first swipe across the fresh glossy paint on the tank with a scotch-brite pad. But soon my trepidation turned to assurance as I proceeded to transform the infantile paint toward the venerable objective!

Two days ago:
View attachment 241479

And here are all of the painted parts ready to be mounted to the frame.
View attachment 241474

I will go over everything once more after all of the parts are mounted on the frame.
View attachment 241475


For those taking notes, I first sanded the gloss away, then randomly scratched it all over and sanded it again. Then I lightly fogged it with brown rattle paint and wiped it with a mineral spirits soaked rag. At last I rubbed it with some polishing compound and finally added some more strategically placed scratches.

Looks SO real. Amazing

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Looks SO real. Amazing

Thanks!

I'm hoping to finish everything this weekend and have the last few days for photos. I also have an idea for a small fabricated part that I thought of a few days ago if everything goes smooth and time allows.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Anyone know anything about RIGA saddles? I'm thinking it is European due to the metric bolts.

Anyway, I bought this a while back and really like how it looks on Abner.

I'm always drawn to what I call 'farm fix' repairs on antiques. Someone it the past saved this one after the rivets apparently pulled through at the front. I love the random odd shaped washer that was used!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Abner is 99% done! I took it for a ride for the first time today!

There is a faint intermittent tire rub on the rear that I need to figure out. It doesn't do it on the work stand but some of the clearances are very slim so it just needs a little bit of adjustment somewhere. I also need to mount the head badge and I still have time to make the small one off part that I recently thought about. It's going to be nice to have over a week to finalize my pictures this year!


Here's the first corrugated wall shots after the shake down ride! I'm really loving this bike!!!

 

[Pondo]

Another beauty is born!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Here's another little detail that was a late arrival to the build. I've had this light/reflector for a while and remembered it while I was trying to decide what to do with the extra holes in the rear fender. I have no idea what it originally came on but it fits nicely in its new home!

 

[Uncle Shish]

Here's another little detail that was a late arrival to the build. I've had this light/reflector for a while and remembered it while I was trying to decide what to do with the extra holes in the rear fender. I have no idea what it originally came on but it fits nicely in its new home!

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Fabulous touch of detail and another fantastic build. Inspiring. Always.

 

[ingola]

Abner is 99% done! I took it for a ride for the first time today!

There is a faint intermittent tire rub on the rear that I need to figure out. It doesn't do it on the work stand but some of the clearances are very slim so it just needs a little bit of adjustment somewhere. I also need to mount the head badge and I still have time to make the small one off part that I recently thought about. It's going to be nice to have over a week to finalize my pictures this year!


Here's the first corrugated wall shots after the shake down ride! I'm really loving this bike!!!

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That seat is perfect on there use some leather renew (can find it at most farming stores) and rub it on it will soften it but bring out all the little imperfections that make leather so much fun. Then seal with mink oil.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

That seat is perfect on there use some leather renew (can find it at most farming stores) and rub it on it will soften it but bring out all the little imperfections that make leather so much fun. Then seal with mink oil.

Thanks, I was wondering what would be good to treat the leather with. I'll look for some of that today!

 

[ingola]

Thanks, I was wondering what would be good to treat the leather with. I'll look for some of that today!

You have Peavy Mart in the us.tsc in the us with the saddle stuff

 

[The Renaissance Man]

@ingola I looked at TSC online and there are a lot of choices. I'll have to look a little harder before I spent the $. Is it a bad idea just to skip the conditioner and apply the mink oil?