Cheater Slick: my first muscle build

[CRASH]

I’ll leave the brace cutting to you. I did try to give it a spread with the brace on, but it’s not budging. I had another idea: you found dimple the stays. I wish I had one, but @GuitarlCarl made a simple tool, and I’ve been envious of it because it requires some welding. Maybe you could make one and simple the inside stays. I’m afraid if I try without the tool, I’ll flatten the outside of the stays.

So… you’ve got another challenge for the list on this bike. Let me know when you want to come pick it up!

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Hmm, maybe I should source a few decent sized vice grips and fab some for sale...

 

[Pondo]

I’ll leave the brace cutting to you. I did try to give it a spread with the brace on, but it’s not budging. I had another idea: you found dimple the stays. I wish I had one, but @GuitarlCarl made a simple tool, and I’ve been envious of it because it requires some welding. Maybe you could make one and simple the inside stays. I’m afraid if I try without the tool, I’ll flatten the outside of the stays.

So… you’ve got another challenge for the list on this bike. Let me know when you want to come pick it up!

Cool, yeah that will be a fun challenge. I did see a post with the tool that @GuitarlCarl made I think. I'll look back thru and try to find it. I think I'll be back down that way weekend after next so that might be a good time to pick it up. Thanks again for all the work on the wheels. I'm looking forward to getting busy on it!

 

[CRASH]

Pondo has taken delivery of his project bike today. You all may now mercilessly hound him for updates.

 

[Pondo]

Pondo has taken delivery of his project bike today. You all may now mercilessly hound him for updates.

Oh, yeah!!! Super cool meeting you today, CRASH! If you haven't met CRASH he's a super chill guy and a really dedicated muscle bike restorer. I won't divulge any details, but his current build off bikes are looking really good. Some really super KOOL going on there. I got to see a couple of CRASH's previously completed bikes too and I have to say the level of detail work is utterly amazing. I am really looking forward to seeing the results of this build-off's bikes. There's some great stuff in the works!

As for my Cheater Slick, CRASH did a first class job of building the wheels and getting together a bunch of parts that work really well together. I'll get it out of the truck, get some pics and begin working on it tomorrow, 7 hours in the truck today! The 3" rear slick is incredible and coupled with the 16" front wheel is going to make this build look really cool. Several details to nail down yet but I'm pretty exited to get going on it!

 

[Pondo]

So the Cheater Slick is here!

Here in my mobile work shop you can see the basic project. Frame, forks, seat, bars, etc. The rear wheel is a 20" with a 3" slick and coaster brake; front is a 16" Slingshot wheel. Both wheels beautifully restored by @CRASH . Also visible are my seat options, the black that came with the bike or the red glitter one I got at a swap meet last summer. The black one needs a new cover so I may use the red one. Or maybe a new one. You can also see the paint colors I'm planning to use on the rattle can caps.

In these pics you can see the Liberty Belle chainguard, cranks and the other set of forks:

The chainguard will be painted to match and have 'Cheater Slick' decals of some sort. The green fork is from a 27" road bike and has been curved forward a bit for a nice raked look. I'll be using this fork on the build, probably sans fender tabs.

First task is going to be getting the stuck stem and pedal free so I can completely disassemble. I'll also need to dimple the seat stays to clear that huge slick, but it's so cool!

 

[Pondo]

Some mock-up shots:

Aside from the wheels all the chrome needs to be polished up. The reflector brackets are going away. I think it already looks pretty cool. Should be a neat little bike when it's done.

 

[rgrrbt]

This is going to be great. My vote is for recovering the original seat. Nice chainring!

 

[Pondo]

Some more views of that awesome slick

 

[rgrrbt]

What tire brand is the slick? Looks good on this bike.

 

[Pondo]

This is going to be great. My vote is for recovering the original seat. Nice chainring!

Thanks man! I like that idea too. I haven't done a seat before so I'd like to learn. We'll see how it goes time wise. I may have to do something temporary if I get in a pinch.

 

[CRASH]

What tire brand is the slick? Looks good on this bike.

Innova.

 

[CRASH]

@Pondo there were two fasteners in the box. Rusty, but original fasteners for mounting the chain guard.

 

[Pondo]

What tire brand is the slick? Looks good on this bike.

Innova

 

[Pondo]

I might use these repro Schwinn pedals that I got at the swap last summer

 

[Pondo]

I can't really make out which head tube decal this is

Some options I'm considering:

Or maybe something like this:

Or a custom decal like this:

What do you guys think? I like the idea of original badging. I even looked for a vintage Huffy or Huffman brass head tube badge, no luck so far. The dog badge is just cute. The gold glitter H would compliment some custom stickers I'm thinking about for the chain guard.

 

[Pondo]

Speaking of which:

I really like the shape of this Liberty Belle chain guard. It's different from the original but has a better style I think. Here's an original:

Here's the paint scheme I like for the bike:

I've got some metallic dark gray (or black?) and metallic copper paint. And then maybe hit it with some of this:

I need to figure out how to do the chain guard. I could do it one color or the other, or I can 2 tone it like the frame/fork. Or maybe paint it one color and then fog around the edges with the other.

The original style chain guard stickers are available in white and also in black:

I also like the idea of doing some custom stickers for it, specifically these in this gold glitter:

I need opinions here. I haven't bought any decals yet. They are a little pricey or I would just buy them all and actually lay them on the chain guard to decide. What to you guys think?

 

[Pondo]

@Pondo there were two fasteners in the box. Rusty, but original fasteners for mounting the chain guard.

That's what those are for. Cool thanks!

 

[Brian macumber]

I like the original

 

[CRASH]

My vote, but I'm traditional.