PROGRESS!
Started by widening the bottom bracket axle using some heavy wall pipe, note the air breather hole to vent out while it is being welded:
Widened it by 67mm (well I made a mistake the first time and widened it by only 57mm and had to start again...
) The reason I like using 67mm is that it clears all but the widest tires I tend to use and it means I can just split a bottom bracket case and weld the two halves to each side of the original BB, makes it very easy to get the correct widths, offsets and everything straight and level!
While waiting for the BB axle to cool out slowly, I welded on the disc brake mounts, sat it on top of two welders magnets and sat the wheel on top ready to weld from the backside:
Worked great on the front wheel, came out straight and level on the first attempt!
Not so great on the back wheel, came out way off, enough to see by eye that it is wrong, must have bumped the magnets while doing the first tack weld... Fix it next time I guess...
Brake disc looks good on the front:
Assembled the BB to be able to check for clearance while redoing the rear stays to bring the wheel closer in to the bike:
Had to find a pair of cranks to use on it, I had some nice ones with a 36 tooth sprocket put aside for the build, but can't find them now, so using some others I had to strip from a bike for the mock up and check clearances...
Rear stays tucked in much closer to the tire:
As it sits now, the front will sit higher than that when it is finished, the forks will be extended to 26" style ones and still have to finish the seat stays, but happy with the progress today!
Luke.