La Fugazi

[JA331]

BEAUTIFUL!!!

I’ll take some more photos this week. Been lazy, just chilling.

 

[JA331]

The weather has cooled off on the island the last few days causing some rough conditions on the beaches. Loving it here but keen to get home in a week and a half to get my build restarted.

I have changed the name of my build to La Fugazi inspired by a scene in the movie Donnie Brasco where Al Pacino tries to sell Johnny Depp a fake diamond ring. In Italian/American slang a Fugazi is a fake. My build is based on a 98 Trek frame made in Taiwan but most of parts on it are taken from several old American made bikes to make it look like one, hence the name La Fugazi.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Fantastic film? I forget about it.

 

[JA331]

Came across this old Ford tractor today on the way back from the supermarket. Cool, but check out the Lamborghini. Imagining a Ford v Lamborghini battle……..

Forget about it!

 

[JA331]

R.I.P. Paulie

Forget about it!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I liked that guy, he was a good fella

 

[kingfish254]

I like the name change, but I can't have much sympathy for your "rough conditions"

 

[JA331]

Last night we went for drinks at an awesome bar at the top of a mountain and then later for a meal at a tavern back in town. Today we spent the afternoon at one of the beautiful beaches on the island.

 

[JA331]

We have a few days left before flying home on Friday. Yesterday we hired a small boat and went around the Island of Meganisi. We went inside the Papanikolis cave where the Greeks would hide the submarine it is named after from the enemy.

We also stopped at some small beaches on the island for a dip in the beautiful clear water and a bite to eat.

 

[JA331]

We returned home Saturday evening and I've been hanging to work on La Fugazi.

I messed around with the skirt and chain guards from an Elgin. The left side will definitely not work as the chain stays on the Trek are much shorter than the Elgin. I can fit the skirt guard of the drive side but part of it would be obscured by the chainguard. I would need to make a new bracket for the front of the chainguard but the hole at the end of it lines up perfectly with one of the original Trek rack mounts! I would blank off the larger hole for a cleaner look.

 

[kingfish254]

It's always a challenge to make all of the pieces play together nicely between the frame, fender, skirt, chainguard, etc. You can always try a different chainguard too.
I don't understand why the left side won't work. That should be the simpler side.

 

[JA331]

My best guess the reason why the skirt guards don’t fit well (other than them being from a different bike) is the rear fender sits quite low and the chain stays are shorter and at a different angle than the Elgin.

 

[JA331]

I dropped everything off to the sandblaster this morning. Hoping the weather improves soon so I can get started on paint.

I fitted the left side skirt guard and doubt I can make it fit without major modifications so I’ve decided to leave it off. The chainstays on the Trek are much shorter than those on the Elgin the skirts were originally fitted to.

 

[JA331]

La Fugazi came back from the blaster this morning and everything looks pretty mint. The blaster couldn't believe the fenders, chainguard and skirt guard were from prewar bikes as there is no pitting at all.

I got started on fitting a new bracket to the front of the chainguard. I cut the original bracket off the Elgin chainguard and modified a bracket from a Chwinn guard in my pile. Amazingly the hole at the back of the chainguard locates perfectly with one of the rack mounts on the Trek frame.

To make it all work, the chainguard has to cover part of the skirt guard as the fender is designed to sit higher than it does on this frame so I sliced a little out of the top of the chainguard. I'll begin priming everything tomorrow.

 

[Tallbikeman]

This is my first build off entry. 17 is a special number for me as my birthday is on the 17th of April, shared with my favourite car the Ford Mustang and the number used on the numerous Fords raced in Australia by my favourite race car driver Dikk Johnson.

I had planned to use a reproduction luxury liner frame that was in mint condition and a bargain at $25 (not including shipping) but the seller was content to just throw it in a box with minimal packing. Experience and 2 other damaged frames tells me it would never have survived the long journey downunder.

Looking for an alternative frame to build I dug out the remnants of this unique 1998 Trek classic cruiser. I bought this as a complete bike last year. It had been left in the weather, the seat post was stuck, the back wheel was badly buckled, the whitewalls on the tires had been refinished with household oil paint and the chain broke a few minutes in to the first test ride. Fortunately the frame and fork were straight and after a good service and a heap of new parts it was a decent bike again. Over the last 12 months I altered it with different wheel sets, bars, etc but the frame always felt small for me so it was stripped of its good parts for other bikes in my stable.

Regardless of the treatment I inflicted on it, I always liked the design of this frame with its unique oval top tube continuing past the seat tube reminiscent of a heap of vintage Columbias and the straight down tube that bends as it nears the bottom bracket. The frame is beautifully welded, light and responsive to ride. It has the same long head tube as my 1939 Roadmaster Supreme and the arrangement of the 2 top tubes is surprisingly similar too.

I didn't use the original Shockmaster fork and fenders when I built the Roadmaster and the thought crossed my mind to combine them with the Trek. As I expected the fork fitted perfectly. It will be a simple build and I plan to use parts I already have. I would usually paint it myself with VHT spray packs but we're approaching winter in Melbourne so I will most likely get the frame and fork powdercoated. The fenders need a few repairs and I will paint them myself.

I’ve named the build the Twrekmaster. I'm looking forward to sharing the ride through my first build off with you all. Let the fun and pain begin.View attachment 191776
The LL frame I let go.
View attachment 191777
The Trek as I got it last year, its whitewalls repainted with household oil paint.
View attachment 191778
The sweet marriage of the Trek frame and prewar Roadmaster Shockmaster.
View attachment 191781
The fork and fenders for the build are from this 1939 Roadmaster.

That is a sweet Trek imagining of a ballooner bicycle from back in the day. Really nice job putting it together. Looking forward to your Twrek build now.

 

[JA331]

That is a sweet Trek imagining of a ballooner bicycle from back in the day. Really nice job putting it together. Looking forward to your Twrek build now.

Thanks man.

 

[JA331]

I built this bike a couple of years ago and loved the Ford dark engine blue I painted it. I sold it to mate and have been hankering for another bike the same colour. I'm still undecided on the colour of the rims and have a set of alloys with a chrome look or a set of pale gold rims from an Electra. The gold rims would give it unique look with the dark Ford engine blue which in certain light looks almost black. The gold rims are the ones I had on the bike when I assembled it early on in the photo below.

 

[OddJob]

There is something really intriguing about this photo. Is there a primer on this, or is the lighting making the bare metal look like a skeleton color?

Looks like the skeleton of an ancient crustacean that was dug up on the beach in an archaeological dig!
Predecessor to this....

I get that you are a fan of the Ford Engine blue. But there is something here that might be really cool too; your bike parts spanning the years of bicycle heritage melded together....could you play off of that? Somehow retain this look of the frame and parts with a Dead Flat clear and then selectively add your wheels, hardware and moving parts?

I'm seeing something very unique here.

 

[JA331]

There is something really intriguing about this photo. Is there a primer on this, or is the lighting making the bare metal look like a skeleton color?

View attachment 202301

Looks like the skeleton of an ancient crustacean that was dug up on the beach in an archaeological dig!
Predecessor to this....

View attachment 202302

I get that you are a fan of the Ford Engine blue. But there is something here that might be really cool too; your bike parts spanning the years of bicycle heritage melded together....could you play off of that? Somehow retain this look of the frame and parts with a Dead Flat clear and then selectively add your wheels, hardware and moving parts?

I'm seeing something very unique here.

Thanks for the input. The finish you see is the result of the blasting process with silica leaving a mildly pitted surface giving great adhesion for primer.

I contemplated a bare metal finish but decided on a sleeker look for the bike inspired by this custom Rolls Royce built by Belgian coach builder Johkheere and now located in the Petersen musuem. It has to be one of the most amazing cars I’ve laid my eyes on. Would you believe it was discovered in a wrecking yard in New Jersey of all places?

 

[OddJob]

Do the photos look as 'skeleton white' to you on your device? They don't even look like bare metal. I was thinking like a 'bone white' matte finish. The RR is cool though.