MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Pretty cool trick to "fake" the frame mods. I like it.
I have a question though.
What happens if a fat dude rides in the bug?
I have a question though.
What happens if a fat dude rides in the bug?
BO15 Dumpster Diamond (Formerly "First Ever Build Off with a Postwar Hawthorne")
- Thread starter Bike from the Dead
- Start date
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As for the fat guy in the bug, my guess is it'll still scrape, but the guy'll say it's supposed to do that.
Same
Since I won't be able to make any further progress with my Hawthorne until Monday, I decided to work on one of my other bikes yesterday. I got this AMF-built Western Flyer Sonic Flyer as a gift from my grandpa 2 years ago, and while I had made some progress on the mild "rustoration" in that time, I had not yet disassembled the whole bike so I could wash, wax, and regrease all the individual parts. Amazingly, I was able to disassemble everything with ease, except for the last 2 bolts holding the rear fender to the frame, which have gone soft, and, oddly enough, the bearing cups. Hopefully, another round of PB Blaster and some elbow grease might get the job done. I haven't disassembled the coaster brake yet, but that needs to happen since the brake is virtually nonexistent. I just need to research how to do it all properly, since I've never done this before. There are a couple other things that need to happen with this bike before I can call it "finished," but thankfully, I should be able to knock some of those things out this weekend.
One question is, do you have a replacement seat tube on hand? Like one from a similar frame? Because you will want the tubes to be the same diameter at least.
And as was said earlier, you definitely don't want to cut the tubes at the brazed BB joint, especially with that nice sleeved joint you have on your bike.
Personally, you have an awesome rat-ina look going with the frame right now! I would just clear coat the main frame and call it good! If you want to paint it, and not have to get every little bit of surface rust off before you do, use this as a primer before your paint goes on. I've used it a couple times on rusty frames, and the rust does not come through and is inhibited by this primer.
And as was said earlier, you definitely don't want to cut the tubes at the brazed BB joint, especially with that nice sleeved joint you have on your bike.
Personally, you have an awesome rat-ina look going with the frame right now! I would just clear coat the main frame and call it good! If you want to paint it, and not have to get every little bit of surface rust off before you do, use this as a primer before your paint goes on. I've used it a couple times on rusty frames, and the rust does not come through and is inhibited by this primer.
I do, actually. If you look at the 1st picture from my last post, you can actually see the donor frame, among 2 others, that I'll be robbing the seat pole from. They're both 1" diameter on the outside, but I need to remove the seat post from both the donor and my Hawthorne to measure the inside diameter. Yeah, if I can save the original brazing, that'd be the way I'd want to go.
Funny enough, before I had the frame, ahem, "straightened,"I was just going to use the original rusty red paint the bike already had, but once about a third of the paint burnt off, that's when I switched gears. I've thought about keeping it patinated, but I've fallen in love with this bike so much that I want it to look nice and painted. If I liked the current patina on the bike, I'd leave it alone, but I honestly just don't like how it looks. I'll definitely check that stuff out. Do you know if it's possible to apply Bondo over it? I want to make everything as smooth as possible before I start painting.
I'd do the bondo first, then apply the Rust Reformer. That way, if it's still not smooth enough for you, you can refill a little in spots, and go straight to paint.
Awesome, thanks!
TL;DR at the bottom for those who don't want to spend 30 minutes reading my essay of a post.
Well, today went a little differently than I planned. Despite the fact that I need to get this bike partially disassembled for the welder guys before Monday, I decided to figure out the chain length on my Hawthorne. That soon turned into "hey, I know there's only 50-year-old residual grease in these bearings, and the bottom bracket bearing cups are rough as can be, and the frame is still bent at the seat pole, and most of the nuts and bolts are somewhere between finger-tight and not-tight-enough-to-stay-together-while-in-motion, but let's take this bike for a spin!"
I wasn't able to film the first two test runs, as I was home alone and had no one available to hold my phone, but I did get the third run on video. I'm going to try recording again tomorrow, as the video didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. The only piece of evidence I have to show for it is this shot I took after the fact.
First impressions:
-Despite the near-absent grease, the bike pedals surprising well. I know that clean bearings and fresh grease will make it even better, though.
-I have got to extend the threads on the fork so I can fully tighten the top bearing cap. If I had pedaled any faster than 10mph, this thing would've death wobbled like a Jeep with a bad lift kit!
-The left crank arm sometimes taps the kickstand when pedaling. Probably just need to tighten the bolt holding the kickstand to the frame.
-I can't get the nut on the handlebar stem tight enough. The handlebars keep rotating down because I'm pressing down on the handlebars while riding, and my entire neighborhood's roads are essentially potholes and patches with few smooth spots, and the darn nut threatens to go round if I turn it any more to the right! So, I guess I'll have to get a new nut for the handlebar stem... because that's about all I can do for that!
-Surprisingly few squeaks or rattles despite how cobbled-together everything is. The worst of the noise comes from the loose front fork, but that's about it.
-The seat's comfy for the short distance I've travelled so far.
-I am NOT using those puny pedals that are currently on there. My big fat size 13 feet can barely stay on those stupid short blocks.
-I seriously want to get this bike DONE!
After I had my fun giving the Hawthorne its first shakedown runs, I decided to stack parts on one of my other bikes that I've neglected for some time. But this isn't just another random bike in my collection; it's the bike that STARTED this whole hobby for me: my 1950-ish Schwinn DX bike, Project Quick-Change, Subject: Schwinn Dixie.
Just to provide some brief backstory: I won this bike at an auction back in March 2018 for $65, so I could learn how to wrench on something, no matter how basic, and so I could have a fun way to lose some weight and get in shape. My plan for this bike eventually morphed into creating a bare metal bike on which I could quickly change parts whenever I got bored with how it looked or rode, hence the name, Project Quick-Change. The reason I call it Subject: Schwinn Dixie, as opposed to just Schwinn Dixie, is because I want to build a similar bare metal straightbar that will swap parts with this bike.
I've been working on this bike on-and-off throughout all this time, and while it's been close to rideable for quite some time now, I stalled on it because I wanted to do it "right." I wanted to get rid of all the rust that had formed on the bike since I stripped the paint, and I wanted to give the bike a good, clean, satin clear coat. But, like David Freiburger from Roadkill once said, "...as soon as you paint something (or in my case, want to paint something) and have expectations of it being 'nice,' the whole project just pretty much just falls apart at that point."
That's why, after slapping on a bunch of random, mostly rusty parts on my DX frame, I've decided that I'm going to leave the rust alone for now, and just focus on getting this bike rolling. Turns out, I have plenty of good parts to make this bike look like a grownup Sting-Ray! So, while the Hawthorne and The Old West(ern Flyer) are at the welders' shop, I'm going to try and get this bike fixed up and riding again.
I think this is the best application for this speedo I've had laying around for a while now.
I could easily just use one of my other coaster brake wheels for this project, but I've been dying to use this Shimano 3-Speed Click-Stick shifter and this Shimano 3-Speed Coaster Brake hub. I don't know if I'll be able to do the hub swap myself, as I doubt I've got the right spokes for the job, but I can take everything over to one of the local bike shops if need be. At least, I hope so; there aren't many bike shops around here that work with old bikes. I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.
Well, that's all the news for August 1st! Stay tuned for more, and feel free to let me know what you think of my build so far, or what I can do to improve my bike!
TL;DR: I took the bike I'm building for the RRBBO for a few test rides, and I've got another project in the works...
Well, today went a little differently than I planned. Despite the fact that I need to get this bike partially disassembled for the welder guys before Monday, I decided to figure out the chain length on my Hawthorne. That soon turned into "hey, I know there's only 50-year-old residual grease in these bearings, and the bottom bracket bearing cups are rough as can be, and the frame is still bent at the seat pole, and most of the nuts and bolts are somewhere between finger-tight and not-tight-enough-to-stay-together-while-in-motion, but let's take this bike for a spin!"
I wasn't able to film the first two test runs, as I was home alone and had no one available to hold my phone, but I did get the third run on video. I'm going to try recording again tomorrow, as the video didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. The only piece of evidence I have to show for it is this shot I took after the fact.
First impressions:
-Despite the near-absent grease, the bike pedals surprising well. I know that clean bearings and fresh grease will make it even better, though.
-I have got to extend the threads on the fork so I can fully tighten the top bearing cap. If I had pedaled any faster than 10mph, this thing would've death wobbled like a Jeep with a bad lift kit!
-The left crank arm sometimes taps the kickstand when pedaling. Probably just need to tighten the bolt holding the kickstand to the frame.
-I can't get the nut on the handlebar stem tight enough. The handlebars keep rotating down because I'm pressing down on the handlebars while riding, and my entire neighborhood's roads are essentially potholes and patches with few smooth spots, and the darn nut threatens to go round if I turn it any more to the right! So, I guess I'll have to get a new nut for the handlebar stem... because that's about all I can do for that!
-Surprisingly few squeaks or rattles despite how cobbled-together everything is. The worst of the noise comes from the loose front fork, but that's about it.
-The seat's comfy for the short distance I've travelled so far.
-I am NOT using those puny pedals that are currently on there. My big fat size 13 feet can barely stay on those stupid short blocks.
-I seriously want to get this bike DONE!
After I had my fun giving the Hawthorne its first shakedown runs, I decided to stack parts on one of my other bikes that I've neglected for some time. But this isn't just another random bike in my collection; it's the bike that STARTED this whole hobby for me: my 1950-ish Schwinn DX bike, Project Quick-Change, Subject: Schwinn Dixie.
Just to provide some brief backstory: I won this bike at an auction back in March 2018 for $65, so I could learn how to wrench on something, no matter how basic, and so I could have a fun way to lose some weight and get in shape. My plan for this bike eventually morphed into creating a bare metal bike on which I could quickly change parts whenever I got bored with how it looked or rode, hence the name, Project Quick-Change. The reason I call it Subject: Schwinn Dixie, as opposed to just Schwinn Dixie, is because I want to build a similar bare metal straightbar that will swap parts with this bike.
I've been working on this bike on-and-off throughout all this time, and while it's been close to rideable for quite some time now, I stalled on it because I wanted to do it "right." I wanted to get rid of all the rust that had formed on the bike since I stripped the paint, and I wanted to give the bike a good, clean, satin clear coat. But, like David Freiburger from Roadkill once said, "...as soon as you paint something (or in my case, want to paint something) and have expectations of it being 'nice,' the whole project just pretty much just falls apart at that point."
That's why, after slapping on a bunch of random, mostly rusty parts on my DX frame, I've decided that I'm going to leave the rust alone for now, and just focus on getting this bike rolling. Turns out, I have plenty of good parts to make this bike look like a grownup Sting-Ray! So, while the Hawthorne and The Old West(ern Flyer) are at the welders' shop, I'm going to try and get this bike fixed up and riding again.
I think this is the best application for this speedo I've had laying around for a while now.
I could easily just use one of my other coaster brake wheels for this project, but I've been dying to use this Shimano 3-Speed Click-Stick shifter and this Shimano 3-Speed Coaster Brake hub. I don't know if I'll be able to do the hub swap myself, as I doubt I've got the right spokes for the job, but I can take everything over to one of the local bike shops if need be. At least, I hope so; there aren't many bike shops around here that work with old bikes. I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it.
Well, that's all the news for August 1st! Stay tuned for more, and feel free to let me know what you think of my build so far, or what I can do to improve my bike!
TL;DR: I took the bike I'm building for the RRBBO for a few test rides, and I've got another project in the works...
Looks like I'll have to wait to post a test ride video until I get the bike back from the welders' shop. All that I did with the bike today was get it all ready for the welders tomorrow and figure out what size I want the number plates to be. Hopefully, I'll be able to get this bike back and ready for Bondo, primer and paint soon.
By the way, I've heard that there's a guy either here on or The C.A.B.E. who sells these bolts that look like rivets for mounting the braces to fenders and stuff. Anyone know who that is, and how to reach him?
By the way, I've heard that there's a guy either here on or The C.A.B.E. who sells these bolts that look like rivets for mounting the braces to fenders and stuff. Anyone know who that is, and how to reach him?
He's the founder/owner of the CABE. I just bought a set off of him. His name is Scott and his user name is sm2501.
Oh wow! I didn't realize it was the top dog of The C.A.B.E. himself! Okay, great, thanks. I'll definitely want to see if I can buy some of those rivet bolts from him, then.
Dropped everything off at the welders this morning. Now it's basically a matter of waiting...
WOW! Today was one big surprise for me! I dropped off all this stuff at the welders' shop this morning at 8:30am, and it was all ready by 3pm! (Well, except for 2 number plates I wanted them to touch up for me, but those should be ready by tomorrow.) I thought for sure this would take until at least Friday to get done, but the guy who did all the work had it done in just a work day!
I won't get too descriptive on stuff this time, but here's what was accomplished today:
1. The seat pole was repaired
2. The... for lack of a better word, forks of the fork were straightened out
3. The front axle was shaved down to fit the forks properly
4. The brass blob was removed from the right dropout
5. The chain guard was trimmed a bit where it mounts to the rear
6. The rear fender was bobbed
7. The number plates were cut (two just needed some tweaking)
8. One of my pedals were straightened back out
9. The rear fender and bearing cups were removed from my Western Flyer frame
10. The weird green thing on the left of the top picture (which might have once held my neighbor's flower pots or something, I don't know, it was on its way to the trash when I got it) was modified to rotate, as I want to use it as a bicycle parts hanger.
The only thing my welder guy couldn't do was extend the threads on the fork. He didn't have the tools, but I'm sure one of the local bike shops might be able to help. Total cost for today's service: $200! More than I expected to spend today, but the quality and speed of work done today justifies it, I think. Bad news is that the total amount spent on this bike so far is a whopping $421!!! I really wasn't planning on spending this much, but at this point, I'm just going all-in and building this bike for myself. It may not be the most financially-responsible decision, but I'm having fun bringing this bike back from the dead, and I want to go all the way with this build.
Anyways, I'll stop talking and just show some pictures of today's progress.
I won't get too descriptive on stuff this time, but here's what was accomplished today:
1. The seat pole was repaired
2. The... for lack of a better word, forks of the fork were straightened out
3. The front axle was shaved down to fit the forks properly
4. The brass blob was removed from the right dropout
5. The chain guard was trimmed a bit where it mounts to the rear
6. The rear fender was bobbed
7. The number plates were cut (two just needed some tweaking)
8. One of my pedals were straightened back out
9. The rear fender and bearing cups were removed from my Western Flyer frame
10. The weird green thing on the left of the top picture (which might have once held my neighbor's flower pots or something, I don't know, it was on its way to the trash when I got it) was modified to rotate, as I want to use it as a bicycle parts hanger.
The only thing my welder guy couldn't do was extend the threads on the fork. He didn't have the tools, but I'm sure one of the local bike shops might be able to help. Total cost for today's service: $200! More than I expected to spend today, but the quality and speed of work done today justifies it, I think. Bad news is that the total amount spent on this bike so far is a whopping $421!!! I really wasn't planning on spending this much, but at this point, I'm just going all-in and building this bike for myself. It may not be the most financially-responsible decision, but I'm having fun bringing this bike back from the dead, and I want to go all the way with this build.
Anyways, I'll stop talking and just show some pictures of today's progress.
Oh yeah, almost forgot to post this gem! I saw this out in the Walmart parking lot when I went to get the cash to pay the welder (and some candy for me.)
Nice job on the repairs can't tell where they even replaced the seat pole (except for the bare metal.
Yeah, I'm glad Dad recommended them.
Not much happened with my build today. I picked up the other two number plates from my welder for an additional $5, then got some parts out of storage for the Hawthorne and Schwinn DX, and then just tried to find somebody who could extend the threads on my fork by the end of this week. Not much luck there.
Total $ spent so far: $426.
Total $ spent so far: $426.
Welding work is top notch! I like the look you have going, except for the saddle. It has a low, lean, track racer look, until you get to the seat. Just seems too bulky. Do you have another option that might be more 'racy' ? You really are getting this dialed in, I think a different saddle would take it over the top! 
