Looking good! You are doing a great job bringing a neglected and abused survivor back!
Luke.
Luke.
(MBBO Class 1) AMF Avenger 5, dead stock to speed demon.
- Thread starter greenephantom
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Loving the Avenger build so far, going to be sweet. ( have one in my build que, but going to be restored ).
Semi off topic, but would love to see the tote cycle pics, were they posted here on RRB or someplace ? ( as I have a tote I've been tinkering with also ) .
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Green Dragon, I don't have pics anywhere of my Tote Cycles, I'll pull the dialed one out of the catacombs and snap a pic or two. It has some neat non-stock fenders on it. Once I swap out the ridiculous Huffy cranks and stiffen up the guard mounts (and maybe move the shifter to the handlebars) it'll be really ready to rock.
Banana seat came back pretty well. Bottom pan took the brunt of it, top pan only had shallow upwards dent. Used hammer and then vise and then needle nose pliers to bring the pans back into shape. Tossed the flat wheels on the fender roller and smoothed out the bottom pan a bit more. It's not perfect, but it's close enough. As long as I keep the rubber side down no one will notice. The little tear on the side of the seat puffed out a stream of rust dust when I was compressing the vinyl top, so that's a good sign, right? At least the bottom pan is rust-free.
Original seatpost was roached. Was lucky to remove it. Used 1/2 threaded rod and some sacrificial frame tubing and a big wrench to convince it to leave. Replacement post is from a Schwinn Exerciser. Sissy is an aftermarket generic that is essentially a Schwinn clone. The original seat post clamp flared out when I tightened it down. Might well use a chrome Schwinn one, but would involve Dremeling some fairly hard metal. But a bit of chrome there would be nice. So here it is, mocked up. Got the krangs out of the front fender, but won't bother to install it until after I overhaul the headset with loose balls. Hopefully the chainring will be here by the weekend.
Not completely thrilled by how the gold grips tie into the rest of the look. Not sure if they are original, although it's certainly plausible as they do tie into the faded gold on the headbadge.
Cheers, Geoff
Banana seat came back pretty well. Bottom pan took the brunt of it, top pan only had shallow upwards dent. Used hammer and then vise and then needle nose pliers to bring the pans back into shape. Tossed the flat wheels on the fender roller and smoothed out the bottom pan a bit more. It's not perfect, but it's close enough. As long as I keep the rubber side down no one will notice. The little tear on the side of the seat puffed out a stream of rust dust when I was compressing the vinyl top, so that's a good sign, right? At least the bottom pan is rust-free.
Original seatpost was roached. Was lucky to remove it. Used 1/2 threaded rod and some sacrificial frame tubing and a big wrench to convince it to leave. Replacement post is from a Schwinn Exerciser. Sissy is an aftermarket generic that is essentially a Schwinn clone. The original seat post clamp flared out when I tightened it down. Might well use a chrome Schwinn one, but would involve Dremeling some fairly hard metal. But a bit of chrome there would be nice. So here it is, mocked up. Got the krangs out of the front fender, but won't bother to install it until after I overhaul the headset with loose balls. Hopefully the chainring will be here by the weekend.
Not completely thrilled by how the gold grips tie into the rest of the look. Not sure if they are original, although it's certainly plausible as they do tie into the faded gold on the headbadge.
Cheers, Geoff
Good looking bike!
Luke.
Luke.
Coming along nicely!
that's sharp. I'm ok with the gold grips.
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Chainring arrived. 48 tooth, 5 arm star design. Clean look. Pedals are some NOS ones I've had knocking around, waffle block, German made with rebuildable bearings. Dropped some heavy oil in and tossed them on. Chain is a lightly used Sedis, chrome outer plates, black inner links. Found a cast seat clamp that works and is low-key.
Here's a better shot of the drivetrain. Not sure why I took the shot all wonky. Will have to do some adjustment on chainguard fit as the chain rubs the guard in 5th. And will have to run a slightly larger sheet metal screw where the guard mounts to the chainstay, as the hole is hogged out. Sheet metal screws, sheesh.
Not sure if I like the triple reflectors or not. There's also a tiny red white blue reflector mounted on the old brake hole. I believe this one is a much earlier reflector, but it's low-key and kinda cool.
Next hurdle will be finding or kludging a cable for the shifter. The stock cable was frayed and has a head like a small can, but turned sideways like the ones on brake cables. Will have to do through my rat's nest of derailleur cables and see if I happen to have one of these old style ones around.
Cheers, Geoff
Here's a better shot of the drivetrain. Not sure why I took the shot all wonky. Will have to do some adjustment on chainguard fit as the chain rubs the guard in 5th. And will have to run a slightly larger sheet metal screw where the guard mounts to the chainstay, as the hole is hogged out. Sheet metal screws, sheesh.
Not sure if I like the triple reflectors or not. There's also a tiny red white blue reflector mounted on the old brake hole. I believe this one is a much earlier reflector, but it's low-key and kinda cool.
Next hurdle will be finding or kludging a cable for the shifter. The stock cable was frayed and has a head like a small can, but turned sideways like the ones on brake cables. Will have to do through my rat's nest of derailleur cables and see if I happen to have one of these old style ones around.
Cheers, Geoff
Should be a fun bike! Love that sprocket + chain guard.
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For all practical (as well as impractical) purposes this bike is finished. Think I'm going to run linear (non-compression) housing for the shifter, and the headset loosened / settled in on today's maiden voyage, but this bike is essentially there.
Added an early '60s CEV light that I'd had knocking around for a bit. In the distant past a kid put a bunch of model plane decals on it, and I just didn't have the heart to scrape them off. But the decals seem to tie the light into the bike nicely, real pleased with how it looks. They don't much show up in the photos.
The pile of rear reflectors was too cluttered, much cleaner with the one big one and the small accent one.
Had to swap out the original Shimano 333 pie plate for a Simplex one. Something about the interface between the hub and the pie plate caused the Shimano one to try and invert itself when the freewheel got tightened down which turned the bike into a 5 speed fixed gear. Easily resolved with a pie plate swap.
Anyway, here's pics by the river today. Yeah, I don't miss the midwest.
And another for good measure.
Cheers, Geoff
Added an early '60s CEV light that I'd had knocking around for a bit. In the distant past a kid put a bunch of model plane decals on it, and I just didn't have the heart to scrape them off. But the decals seem to tie the light into the bike nicely, real pleased with how it looks. They don't much show up in the photos.
The pile of rear reflectors was too cluttered, much cleaner with the one big one and the small accent one.
Had to swap out the original Shimano 333 pie plate for a Simplex one. Something about the interface between the hub and the pie plate caused the Shimano one to try and invert itself when the freewheel got tightened down which turned the bike into a 5 speed fixed gear. Easily resolved with a pie plate swap.
Anyway, here's pics by the river today. Yeah, I don't miss the midwest.
And another for good measure.
Cheers, Geoff
Looks good! How does she run?
Good work!
Luke.
Luke.
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Rides pretty nice. The riverfront was still kind of busy, so didn't really open it up, but it's a quick and responsive bike. The 6.5 inch cranks make a real difference. If the weather holds and I'm able to ride this bike into work in the next couple weeks, then I'll get to find out if the high gear is high enough.
As much as I like the original shifter, I'm not a big fan of reaching that far down to shift. One of my earlier (and not as of yet realized) intentions was to install a discreet thumb shifter on the bars and then just leave the console shifter in place as a dummy. Might still do it, but weighing the aesthetic costs with the ease-of-use benefits.
Cheers, Geoff
As much as I like the original shifter, I'm not a big fan of reaching that far down to shift. One of my earlier (and not as of yet realized) intentions was to install a discreet thumb shifter on the bars and then just leave the console shifter in place as a dummy. Might still do it, but weighing the aesthetic costs with the ease-of-use benefits.
Cheers, Geoff
Well, there was a reason they were popular (aesthetics) and a reason they were outlawed (safety). I love the original look and feel. But at the same time I can appreciate modern upgrades. I'd say: Go for it!
The bike looks great! Well done!
The bike looks great! Well done!
6.5 cranks are a great idea. My next build is going to have 6.5s on it.
I thought about doing something similar on my thumb shift muscle bike. I actually wanted to run the cable through and pinch it onto the shifter so it would move as you went through the gears. Didn't want to pop for a '69 Schwinn Stik just to do that though. Thumb shift is nice.
Nice job on the bike. These things are a blast to ride with some upgrades.
Yeah I didn't like my four on the floor either...so I swapped it out for a three on the tree....
Merle.
Merle.
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I like it!! Looks great!
the color is very reminiscent of early Hurst Shifter logos. I dig it.
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Thanks for the kudos. If I get a chance I'll get so photos of the non-drive side as well to try and show off the double drums. The selling point for me on this bike (besides the originality, and the fact that I love to buy bikes at swap meets) was the frame was set up for the 6.5s. One simply can't run anything longer than a 5.5 on a stock Sting-Ray, and I've been craving a longer crank throw.
Cheers, Geoff
Cheers, Geoff
This one really came out classy!!!
