MBBO BAD INFLUENCE!

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.
Man, I'm glad I checked this now. I just ordered the laid back seat post that's 13/16" with the 7/8" top it needs. This should come in early next week and should allow me to finish in time. Tomorrow I can work on brake, shifter and cabling. Then figure out the pedal situation. šŸ‘
Roast Turkey Cooking GIF by Julia Child
 
I got to work on the Dragster a bit today. Final assembly is fun, you get to see it all coming together.
View attachment 283754

Rear fender sat too high in the back
View attachment 283755

I added a spacer at the upper mount that dropped it into a better spot
View attachment 283756

Getting the rear wheel set up with the spoke protector and outer trim disc really spiced it up. New chain and itā€™s getting somewhere. Then I put the drag forks on and it started to get pretty exciting.
View attachment 283757

Stem and bars, looking good
View attachment 283758

I put the brake lever on and wrestled with the grips for a while and, man, this bike is looking so cool!
View attachment 283759View attachment 283760View attachment 283761

Thatā€™s as far as Iā€™ll get today. I had hoped to wrap it up this weekend but I still need to install the seat, sissy bar, brake and shifter and then cable it up. Hopefully that will only take a few hours next weekend and I can get some finished pics. Iā€™m really digging this little bike. Itā€™s been a lot of work but a lot of fun too!
She is a beauty for sure

Ok, I just hit a major unanticipated snag. The saddle I have matches the bikeā€™s colors perfectly. In fact I chose these colors to go with the seat. But itā€™s a short seat and it will make the sissy bar lean forward, like a lot.
View attachment 283971

It should be a fair amount back
View attachment 283970

Any suggestions on how to remedy this? Iā€™m thinking maybe a bracket at the rear or front mount or maybe a leaned back seat post.
I donā€™t like my seat post either. Iā€™m close to finishing. But will need to cut and weld up the post at a different angle.
 
I made a little more progress today. I keep thinking Iā€™m almost done but thereā€™s a fair amount to do and everything seems to take a bunch of time.

I got the shifter cleaned up. The plastic is much less yellow after soaking in peroxide for a couple of weeks. Still not totally white but it is old so I think itā€™s ok. Ground down the limits so it can reach all 5 gears. New stickers and onto the bike.
IMG_2011.jpeg
IMG_2012.jpeg
IMG_2014.jpeg
IMG_2015.jpeg
IMG_2013.jpeg


I went to put the new adjuster into the derailleur and discovered the old one broken off in the hole. Nice. You really take your chances on eBay.
IMG_2018.jpeg
IMG_2017.jpeg


So I found this ferrule with a ā€™tipā€™ on it that fits thru the hole. That will be fine until I can repair this derailleur or get a better one.
IMG_2019.jpeg
IMG_2020.jpeg
 
Then I just added some cool caps on the frame tubes. Theyā€™re for a long frame Huffy but they look really cool on this one. And I added the neat valve caps. They add another white accent and are cool.
IMG_2022.jpeg
IMG_2023.jpeg
IMG_2024.jpeg
IMG_2021.jpeg


I also started fitting the brake caliper but I need my cutoff wheel and tap/die set to shorten the stud so that has to wait a few days. By then I should have the new seat post and be able to finish this up.
 
Man, I'm glad I checked this now. I just ordered the laid back seat post that's 13/16" with the 7/8" top it needs. This should come in early next week and should allow me to finish in time. Tomorrow I can work on brake, shifter and cabling. Then figure out the pedal situation. šŸ‘
Roast Turkey Cooking GIF by Julia Child
Order a shim. It's a Huffy. It's a 1" seat post. So a 13/16 will slip right through.

This is what I used years ago on a Rail. https://www.ebay.com/itm/191555271547

Then I just added some cool caps on the frame tubes. Theyā€™re for a long frame Huffy but they look really cool on this one. And I added the neat valve caps. They add another white accent and are cool. View attachment 284066
I had forgotten what I had done with those Jesse caps. I was looking for them! LOL They look really cool on there!!
 
The laid back seat post showed up so I got busy mounting it and the sissy bar today. This sissy bar is a real beauty custom built by Mark Stephens.
IMG_2031.jpeg
IMG_2032.jpeg


Reflector polished and attached with a new chrome bracket
IMG_2033.jpeg


I nearly forgot to show off this fantastic chain guard bracket kit made by and available from @CRASH , it comes polished to perfection.
IMG_2034.jpeg
IMG_2035.jpeg


The sissy bar is a little too upright for my preference still. Iā€™ll figure out a way to lay it back a bit eventually. Next up was the brake.
IMG_2037.jpeg
IMG_2038.jpeg
 
I used a Dia-Compe BMX brake mounted under the seat stays. I shortened the mounting stud so it wouldnā€™t stick out. New cable with white housing and it looks great!
IMG_2039.jpeg
IMG_2040.jpeg
IMG_2041.jpeg


I got some shiny chrome cable clips to finish off the cable runs.
IMG_2043.jpeg
IMG_2044.jpeg


Itā€™s been a long haul with this one. It has entailed a much larger investment of time, labor and cost than I had anticipated. But I just love it. Itā€™s such a cool bike. I raised the handlebars a little, they were looking too low to me. All thatā€™s left now is pedals. Iā€™m going to try to build my dice pedals in the morning and then get some pics in the sun to show off the sparkly paint and shiny chrome. Iā€™ve never built or owned a show bike before. Itā€™s been quite a process.
IMG_2045.jpeg
IMG_2046.jpeg
IMG_2047.jpeg
 
Bike is looking great! Justin case you forgot, the build off ends Saturday, Nov 30 at 10 AM PACIFIC TIME.
So maybe throw some pedals on it, get a couple good photos, and get it in a Finished Builds thread!
 
Bike is looking great! Justin case you forgot, the build off ends Saturday, Nov 30 at 10 AM PACIFIC TIME.
So maybe throw some pedals on it, get a couple good photos, and get it in a Finished Builds thread!

10 AM PACIFIC TIME

Actually, I thought we had until midnight Central time, my bad. Pedals and pics tomorrow. I don't have time for the dice pedals but I have some backup pedals, so it's basically done. :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top