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I think it must be a Y that the tail didn't quite get stamped.
That's my thought also. Many of the older numbers, especially the first single letter when separate from the numbers. With the number of frames made daily, someone had to go through and stamp hundreds at a time., and it's a round surface.
 
Got the frame painted yesterday. Today I played village smithy but didn't have a spreading chestnut tree. I did have a chunk of I-beam, small sledge, Mapp gas torch and some steel from Home Depot.
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With some 5/8" rod and some 3/4" OD tubing I replicated the original seat post, only the new tubing fits tighter in the frame than the old seat post. And I made the top portion about an inch longer with a shim to help with mounting the seat.
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Also cleaned up the crank and truss rods and sprayed them with Rustoleum Dark Steel paint. Also cleaned up the fender stay. Sorry, it was getting ready to storm and in the rush to put stuff up I didn't get pictures.
 
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Made some more progress tonight. Looking more like a finished bike.
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Played with an idea rolling around in my head for some skirts made from 1/16" sheet styrene, but may be a little too Uncle Stretch for this build-off. Probably not enough time to do them now anyway.
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Also got the tank and shifter mounted tonight. I think the two tone tank will liven up the basic brick red paint.
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Made some more progress tonight. Looking more like a finished bike.
View attachment 206969
Played with an idea rolling around in my head for some skirts made from 1/16" sheet styrene, but may be a little too Uncle Stretch for this build-off. Probably not enough time to do them now anyway.
View attachment 206970
Also got the tank and shifter mounted tonight. I think the two tone tank will liven up the basic brick red paint.
View attachment 206971

The bike and the shop are looking great!
I think your skirts idea is great and will flow well with your build. We've had plenty of skirts in build offs, so please don't let the fact that I have some keep you from following what the bike is telling you it wants. Listen to the build!
 
Looking great!
I envy the dedicated shop space (working on resolving that myself).
I say, if you want/like/have time to make the guards, go for it!
I must say though, that shifter gate idea is cool, if you see it in the future on one of my builds, take it as a compliment 😉
Build on!
 
Well, y'all talked me into it...
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Decided to continue the "cooling fin" streamline deco look on the guards. Strips of 1/16" Styrene laminated together and worked with a file and sandpaper.
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Attached with more plumber strap. That stuff is awesome for clamping pieces on bike frames.
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When the red dries I have a "chrome" paint marker I will use on the faces of the "fins."
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Need to get some #6 acorn nuts...
 
Those are gonna flow great with the build!
 
Got the drive train back together tonight. Had to add a few links to the new chain. I tried to find the longest chain possible and it wasn't long enough. I guess new chains are sized for modern bikes with short chain stays.
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Brightened up the crank with a light spray of Rustoleum Dark Steel. Also found a nice pair of old pedals of a more appropriate vintage than the Huffy parts I had been using.
 
I brightened up the old gooseneck with more Rustoleum Dark Steel and filled the grooves with red acrylic craft paint. Here's one of the guards with the "chrome" speed lines. The other needed a respray of brick red due to a paint pen malfunction.
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I like how the skirts turned out.
Killer build all the way around!
 
Lots of inventive custom touches here! Make sure you include some 'process' photos in your Finished thread.
 

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