Great Ball Of Fire!

[Jake B]

Ok,

This build is something I have had in the pipeline for quite some time, it may seem nearly finished but there's still a long way to go!

Let's start off with a fireball frame which arrived to me a few weeks ago!

Because I knew it was coming, I had time to dig out the bits from my spares!

Had to buy one of these

Because I knew I was going to go down this route, I needed to get the shifter sorted, so I took a 5 speed chopper friction shift

Cut the same thread on the pin of a 3+2 shifter

And ended up with a 'bloated 10 speed' shifter

And with the window being no use anymore

I filled it with dayglow orange!

But after getting it home, what was the first thing I did? Started chucking bits on loose!

 

[Jake B]

Realising the crank didn't fit, I thought to myself that all this effort had gone to waste, a few whacks with the hammer later, problem solved!

 

[CRASH]

Just watch that clearance when you put weight on cranking it. You might want to shim that out a bit too.

Great start!

 

[Jake B]

Next up is the rear wheel,

Was gonna use this lovely thing

After greasing he bearings and making the wheel centre with the derailleur set up I thought great, but the axle was too wide, and I thought I'm not bending the frame out after pressing the bit for the crank!

So after a few hours work I managed to de spoke a 3 speed wheel and somehow re lace it as a derailleur!

 

[Jake B]

So yet more cobbling together, and I primed the yellow bit at the front, and cut the chain guard bracket off!

It was road test time!

This is how it stands now, mechanically sound

I'm currently thinking endlessly what colour do I want it to be, and what colour seat. And as to whether or not I have black or white cables

The next step is now going to be sourcing a set of 69 handlebars, and replacing for shinier parts where possible, hopefully a fresh paint job, just there's a massive dent on the down tube that needs looking at!

 

[CRASH]

All in one day? That's impressive.

 

[Jake B]

Just watch that clearance when you put weight on cranking it. You might want to shim that out a bit too.

Great start!

Cheers mate,

I over did it a bit, so there's room to spare, I bodged it so good it looks like a factory finish lol

 

[Jake B]

All in one day? That's impressive.

When you wait a month for a frame to come, what better can you do than gather up parts! Lucky it's all bolt on

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Very cool!
So when did you actually start on the build?

Luke.

 

[Wildcat]

Another entry with cottered cranks! Looks a lot like the chain wheels on my vintage Hercules 10 speed. Some lucky person got my Herc for 50 bucks.

 

[Jake B]

Very cool!
So when did you actually start on the build?

Luke.

Its been an idea I've had in mind for months, I started to assemble it last week when i received the frame, as i had a few days off work. For me a whole bike is easier to store than a pile of parts


Thats the chainwheel, just the short arm variant is found on the 10 speed Chopper and is worth a few $$$, lucky i had a spare one

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Shame you started last week and not this one!
Unfortunately to meet the rules of the MBBO no work must be done before the start date, test fitting parts is fine, but you have done a lot more than that...

Still want to follow along as you build it though! Keep posting up pics and progress!

Luke.

 

[Jake B]

Oh man, fancy me being a week too early on the build up, i suppose i am just too eager to make my builds rideable as soon as possible

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Keep on building and posting though, the thread has been moved to the builds section so everyone can still follow along!

Luke.

 

[Jake B]

Seeing as I've been in a 10 speed mood over the past few weeks, and am waiting for parts for my Build Off Shopper!

I dug this out again, got fed up looking at the primer, I don't really like repaints! so took it all off!

Patina Rulez OK!