Freeliner with 3 x 1 gearing is GO!

[JA331]

I decided to smooth out the welds at the ends of the top tubes with spray filler/primer. A little more tomorrow and its done. I didn’t apply filler to the welds at the bottom bracket.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Bike is looking great. Brazing and body work came out probably better than the factory! The mustang races look epic…. But I sort of like the forklift too!!!! Is that your shop?

 

[JA331]

Thanks. It took a heap of work to get all the welds at the top section of the frame smoothed out. The factory used lead filler in those areas in the 1930’s and most of it was blasted out when the frame was stripped.

The downtube also had a slight bend and a heap of dents which i repaired with filler. It came out surprisingly good and looks much straighter than before.

The forklift is an electric Toyota we use at work. Its very simple to use and has a top speed of 8mph. It has done over 20,000 miles.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Thanks. It took a heap of work to get all the welds at the top section of the frame smoothed out. The factory used lead filler in those areas in the 1930’s and most of it was blasted out when the frame was stripped.

The downtube also had a slight bend and a heap of dents which i repaired with filler. It came out surprisingly good and looks much straighter than before.

The forklift is an electric Toyota we use at work. Its very simple to use and has a top speed of 8mph. It has done over 20,000 miles.View attachment 216768

Sweet…. We have a propane Toyota at our shop. (Electronics manufacturing)

 

[JA331]

I have been waiting for the primer to cure this week before giving it a final rub today with 1000 wet and dry. We should be getting a decent day later in the week so I can begin painting.

 

[JA331]

We had a very wet spring and start to summer down south in Australia. However the weather has improved the last few days so today I began spraying the color on the frame.

I sprayed the white for the accents on the front part of the frame. I will wait a week before applying the stencil kit and spraying the final color.

 

[JA331]

Masked the accents today on the frame and hope to paint the main color later in the week.

 

[JA331]

The paint is finally done. Mother nature provided me with a perfect day for spraying, so I grabbed the 2 cans of VHT Mopar engine orange I ordered months ago and left them in the sun for a while. I sprayed out the color and then around 20 minutes later I got started on the arduous task of peeling the tape. I used an arts and craft knife to lift the masking tape off at the thin ends and it worked well.

I’m really happy with the final result and will leave the paint to cure for a week before reassembling the bike.

Have a great New Year everyone.

 

[twojs.bike]

Looks great!!

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

That looks AWESOME!

 

[JA331]

Looks great!!

Thank you.

 

[JA331]

That looks AWESOME!

Thanks Doc

 

[JA331]

First task this morning was to fit the original B.F. Goodrich head badge. Now i am off for the last ride of the year.

All the best for 2023. JA

 

[Captain Awesome]

 

[JA331]

Got in the last ride for 2022 and now I need to rush back home to make coffee for the Mrs.

 

[twojs.bike]

That’s a cool building!!

 

[JA331]

We have had a few very hot days downunder this week which has helped the paint to cure so this morning I started to reassemble the bike.

First task was to go over the bright yellow Maxxis branding on the DTH tires that I got in a recent swap with some tire black. It dried quickly and seems durable.

Next I fitted the fork using a new Tange MX-2 headset but swapped the 26.4mm crown race for a 27mm one. The YST bottom bracket conversion kit for the 3 piece crank set took some time to set up and spins nicely. I will use Loctite on the bolts once I get the bike on the ground. Lastly I serviced the front hub and cleaned off the brake pad residue frm the Araya rims.

I still have a heap of stuff to do but hope to get the bike done by the end of the week so I can take it on some trails and shoot some photos.

 

[JA331]

All sorted. Quick ride around the car park at work and everything seems to work fine. It rides smooth, picks up the gears easily and brakes well. I'll try and get out for a long shakedown ride tomorrow.

 

[JA331]

First ride of the year and shakedown ride for the Freeliner. I bombed all over town and it rode flawlessly with the only issue being a little play in the bottom bracket.

It tracks well and I found the gears to be much closer than those in a Nexus 3 or new Sturmey Archer 3 speed. In top gear (48/18) it is quite fast and feels
more direct than an IGH. The combination of the Changstar front canti brake setup and SA rear drum pulled the bike up easily on a few steep downhill runs.

I really am surprised with the transformation. I remember doing a quick build of this frame in 2020 with a traditional longhorn bar and its original short stem and it was terrible. The stiff front fork, long mtb stem, Electra bar and long seat post have transformed it into a great bike to ride even for someone as tall as me.

The weather is heating up tomorrow but I hope to get another ride in over the weekend on a local trail. I also need to catch up on everyone’s builds.

 

[Son of Kradus]

Bike is looking great. Brazing and body work came out probably better than the factory! The mustang races look epic…. But I sort of like the forklift too!!!! Is that your shop?

Im so jealous of that forklift!!!
Man thats turned out great! good clean machine! really nice pic overlooking the Yarra!