The 'Franken' part of this is misleading. There's nothing monstrous about this build! Some coke bottle grips, and some kind of seat cover, and you'll be cruising main on a Saturday night!
FRANKENSHELBY ! - a little newer that I first thought..
- Thread starter horsefarmer
- Start date
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- build off 14 eagle shelby
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Got bike assembled and a short test ride. 
Rides great!
Chain guard test fitted but needed touch up before final install.
Flea market find Testors paint (from 1986) still good!
Leather grips from Ann Arbor swap a pretty good match for recovered vintage saddle.
Rides great!
Chain guard test fitted but needed touch up before final install.
Flea market find Testors paint (from 1986) still good!
Leather grips from Ann Arbor swap a pretty good match for recovered vintage saddle.
Nice way to finish it off!
Thanks O.J.
Debating polishing up the brass head badge or leaving it with patina.
Frankenshelby ! - RRBBO#14
PARTS LISTING
Original parts: Factory manufactured 1932 Shelby "scimitar" frame and truss fork, bars, and goose neck.
Recycled parts: Seat, seat post, crank and chain ring, chain guard, chain, fenders (came from swap with cool repaint that I kept and touched up.) exercise bike pedals, vintage teardrop generator headlight, super heavy duty wheel set (Worksman ?),
wide whitewall tires and tubes, paint and hardware all scrounged from the stash.
New old stock parts: Leather grips, Wald reflector.
New parts: 2 cans "Easy Off" oven cleaner, 1 roll of red pinstripe tape, 2 chrome acorn nuts for truss rods.
Debating polishing up the brass head badge or leaving it with patina.
Frankenshelby ! - RRBBO#14
PARTS LISTING
Original parts: Factory manufactured 1932 Shelby "scimitar" frame and truss fork, bars, and goose neck.
Recycled parts: Seat, seat post, crank and chain ring, chain guard, chain, fenders (came from swap with cool repaint that I kept and touched up.) exercise bike pedals, vintage teardrop generator headlight, super heavy duty wheel set (Worksman ?),
wide whitewall tires and tubes, paint and hardware all scrounged from the stash.
New old stock parts: Leather grips, Wald reflector.
New parts: 2 cans "Easy Off" oven cleaner, 1 roll of red pinstripe tape, 2 chrome acorn nuts for truss rods.
Got chain guard mounted and more paint touch up yesterday. No pics. 
Pretty un-glamorous stuff, turned out mounting screws on headlight bracket were stuck and I had to heat them and pb blaster them and even then they almost didn't make it! So they are soaking overnight in vinegar. Other fun projects yesterday included working on replacing rusted brake line on farm truck and replacing tractor fuel pump (electric !).
Had to evict a spider which was living inside the lens / reflector and spider "poop".
Fun part was I got another test ride in to post office after chain guard install, and it rides nice. Slight wobble in crank / pedals may get it replaced someday but functional for now and I like the looks of 'em.
I found this illustration that seems like what we do here reanimating old bikes in our garages and workshops...
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was just 18 years old in 1816 when she wrote, "the story of a mad scientist assembling a collection of human body parts into a "hideous phantasm of a man" and reanimating the corpse". Yikes! I didn't intend anything hideous.
Of course, the late Peter Boyle showed us the monster could be refined... so in the final hours, a name change?
Pretty un-glamorous stuff, turned out mounting screws on headlight bracket were stuck and I had to heat them and pb blaster them and even then they almost didn't make it! So they are soaking overnight in vinegar. Other fun projects yesterday included working on replacing rusted brake line on farm truck and replacing tractor fuel pump (electric !).
Had to evict a spider which was living inside the lens / reflector and spider "poop".
Fun part was I got another test ride in to post office after chain guard install, and it rides nice. Slight wobble in crank / pedals may get it replaced someday but functional for now and I like the looks of 'em.
Still pondering the name of this build. The "Frankenstein" part just seems too harsh, especially since it rides so well. Yet, in reading this, https://hub.jhu.edu/2018/10/29/frankenstein-200-years-experts/
I found this illustration that seems like what we do here reanimating old bikes in our garages and workshops...
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was just 18 years old in 1816 when she wrote, "the story of a mad scientist assembling a collection of human body parts into a "hideous phantasm of a man" and reanimating the corpse". Yikes! I didn't intend anything hideous.
My favorite Frankenstein was Herman Munster! LOL
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
GetErDun
Oh yeah, got photobombed by my cat...
.
.
Second photo shows off the bike well against the green grass. This turned out super clean and so well balanced!
Maybe since you are a horse guy, you could change the name to something like:
"Stud Shelby"
Or keep your nod to Frankenstein:
"Shelley's Shelby"
Maybe since you are a horse guy, you could change the name to something like:
"Stud Shelby"
Or keep your nod to Frankenstein:
"Shelley's Shelby"
Love the red fenders with the whitewalls. Turned out really sweet. Nice pic with the cat.
Trying to decide on voting picture, any help appreciated.
and a couple of neat close ups...
Last edited:
#2 or #3
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Agree. 2 or 3 should be your first shots, as first is used for voting. Following those with 6, 8, or 8 won't hurt to sway the jury, along with the bling jewelry shots.
Apologies to all. It has been pointed out by @RustyGold and @SILVERKINGPC that the bike can't be a 1932 due to details re: the balloon 26" tires and front fork / truss rod details. I thought I read that the 1st 2 digits of the serial number = the year built for shelbys. I did find this chart on the CABE, which seems to indicate a "B" first character in the serial indicates a mfg. date of 1938.
Also another thread on the CABE with a similar bike probably was built 1939 to 1941.
I stand corrected and will go with 1940 as a mfg. date. Still a nice bike, but a little newer that I first thought.
Also another thread on the CABE with a similar bike probably was built 1939 to 1941.
I stand corrected and will go with 1940 as a mfg. date. Still a nice bike, but a little newer that I first thought.
Easy mistake to make HF. 
Prewar Shelby serial numbers have not yet been figured out..we are working on it though, and have your cool bike for future reference. I would guess late 30's, pre-40. Good work on your build. I like it!
Prewar Shelby serial numbers have not yet been figured out..we are working on it though, and have your cool bike for future reference. I would guess late 30's, pre-40. Good work on your build. I like it!
I'm not happy with the crank. I think in the heating and twisting of the crank I caused the threads which the cones ride on to become misaligned. It's impossible to get a nice running bottom bracket because there is a tight spot where the bearings bind and 180 deg opposite it has some slop. So I will replace it.
