Class 2 - Silver Angel

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Yes, duplication of a custom part is always the hardest 'part'.

Glen, that brace is very well done. And with it being actual tubing, it should add some dimension to the bike as well. Lightweight, strong, and beautiful. You can't ask much more than that.
 
17/10/2018

Today’s a bit of a sad day for me... my sister passed away in 2002 and today is her birthday. She would be 67. This bike is for her great-granddaughter.

:angelic:

With her in my mind, I did the other fender brace...

59_FenderBraces.jpg


As I feared, it’s not quite as good as the first one. I was a bit overzealous with the squishing of the tube and it cracked a bit around the curvy part, which can be seen in the photo :blush:

Still happy with it though and it should still be strong enough for the job. :nod:

Glen.
 
Glen, in the custom bike rat rod business we call that 'aging the brace'. Perfection has no place on a rat rod bike. :grin:
 
Forgive me members, for I have sinned... it’s been a whole week since my last update. :angelic:

I assembled the rear hub and realised it’s missing the dust cap for the left (reaction arm) side. The new internals didn’t have dust caps included so I had to improvise with a plastic lid...

60_RearHub.jpg


With that done, I laced the wheels...

61_Wheels.jpg


62_Wheels.jpg


The wheels were originally laced in the cross 2 pattern and the replacement spokes I had for these wheels were fine for cross 2 on the rear, but because they're all the same length and the front wheel flange is a bit smaller, I had to go cross 1 on the front. I have a couple of other donor wheels which I checked for the correct length, but they were wrong. I’m happy with the cross 1 on the front and it keeps the spokes the same... the other spokes are older/dirtier looking and wouldn’t have looked as good. :nod:

Here’s a closeup of the rear hub dust cap...

63_RearHub.jpg


Does that dust cap look ok silver or should I do it black or the glitter purple? :39:

I was going to have a vinyl sticker head badge in the style of the ‘winged A’...

00_SilverAngel_v2.png


I was also going to have some vinyl pin-striping, but I’ve decided to keep it simple with the ‘less is more’ mentality. Therefore, I will probably just add this ‘A’ head badge and leave it at that...

64_HeadBadge.jpg


The ‘A’ stands for Angel as well as my great-great-niece’s name, Astrid. I wanted to have the name ‘Silver Angel’ on it somewhere but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it well enough... we’ll see. :39:

I am, however, considering the addition of some striping like this...

65_Stripe.jpg


I’m thinking on the fenders, slightly off center... would that look ok? o_O

Glen.
 
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Glen, I like the rear hub as it is now. Nice balance of purple and silver. And, that's the thing about purple, it's so impressive and eye catching, that you don't need much of it to make an impact.

Consider that ^ for all your future add-ons.

Just my .02
 
Glen, I like the rear hub as it is now. Nice balance of purple and silver. And, that's the thing about purple, it's so impressive and eye catching, that you don't need much of it to make an impact.

Consider that ^ for all your future add-ons.

Just my .02

Thanks, that's what I thought too and why I went silver first... just second guessing myself. :rolleyes:

I keep thinking that it would look cool with the 'twin stripe' over the fenders and even perhaps the thin stripe around the wheels... but then I think it's probably overdoing it. :39:

Glen.
 
I did a bit more on the convertible top tube by welding on some mounting tabs...

66_TopTube.jpg


67_TopTube.jpg


Not the prettiest thing, but it’s been sprayed with primer and looks a bit better now that it's covered in paint. It'll look even better once the silver goes on... promise. :nod:

Glen.
 
Ok, I went ahead and took the front brake apart to clean...

72_FrontBrake.jpg


I don’t think this bike ever had a front brake before, but I want to add one for Astrid’s safety :angelic:

Then I made some more things silver.

I started with the stem by sanding the black off the aluminium top clampy bit and painted the rest.

Here it is before...

19_Stem.jpg


And after...

73_Stem.jpg


Then I painted the inside of the fenders.

Before...

74_FenderBefore.jpg


After...

75_FenderAfter.jpg


The rear one looks just the same... no need for another photo :dontmentionit:

Glen.
 
Glen you are showing your diverse bike building ability. Your ratty rat rod you built for RRB BO 13 was rat-isfying indeed; and now this shiny build is getting the fine touches and smooth finishes required for a 'like new' presentation. Well done! :thumbsup:
 
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