(MBBO4 Class 1) SixtyNine Spyder: All Done!

[CRASH]

Yes I am. It's a green primer, as you can see in the first pic. But, as I'm smoothing it out I keep finding small imperfections in the metal. I saved this bike from going to scrap, so I think it saw a rough life. I'm giving it some long needed love.
Besides the dings and flaws in the metal, the frames were hastily built I think. There was a lot of welding bead drips all over the frame I had to attack with a file. Those, and the dings, weren't something anyone would really notice, especially you guys only seeing pics. But... I have this perfectionist issue. I know it would have flaws. I'd know where they would be. I would stare right at them for long periods of time. I can't have that. So... this frame is getting a lot of work.
Once I have it all smoothed out I'll build it up before I start hitting it with another coat of Etch and 3 or 4 coats of Build primer. Then more sanding... THEN the paint.

 

[OddJob]

Well, you might be north of OC, but I believe you are right in the middle of OCD; like me! Just looked up Visalia on the internet. Looks like beautiful country you live in....

 

[Fv2]

Yes I am. It's a green primer, as you can see in the first pic. But, as I'm smoothing it out I keep finding small imperfections in the metal. I saved this bike from going to scrap, so I think it saw a rough life. I'm giving it some long needed love.
Besides the dings and flaws in the metal, the frames were hastily built I think. There was a lot of welding bead drips all over the frame I had to attack with a file. Those, and the dings, weren't something anyone would really notice, especially you guys only seeing pics. But... I have this perfectionist issue. I know it would have flaws. I'd know where they would be. I would stare right at them for long periods of time. I can't have that. So... this frame is getting a lot of work.
Once I have it all smoothed out I'll build it up before I start hitting it with another coat of Etch and 3 or 4 coats of Build primer. Then more sanding... THEN the paint.

I have the same issue with a lot of stuff. I once repainted a frame 3 times and still wasn't satisfied. All because a tape line didn't lay perfectly straight.

 

[CRASH]

After about 4 rounds of finding small dings and hitting them with bondo and sanding, I finished this afternoon. I figured it was time to dig out all the parts. I don't know about you, but projects go into bike boxes. In the case of this Spyder it has been in a box since I bought part of it in 2012. I've been acquiring parts ever since.

I've realized I'm missing a couple things. Like, I'm missing the Lark derailleur. After about 2 hours of searching I realized that I grabbed it and threw it on a parts Spyder that I sold to Roadwarrior because I thought he would need one for his restoration. Turns out he did a very trick custom for BOTEN and didn't use the Lark... and he sold it. So... I have to hunt for a derailleur now. (Hopefully he feels the shame he should! )


Here's most of it laid out.

You may have noticed the amount of brakes I have. Well, I just noticed that too. In the past 3 years I've known I needed brakes (the bike didn't have any) and I apparently forgot I got some at some point. For some reason I really, really like finding parts. That's part of the joy of this restoration hobby for me. I'll get a project in my head and I'll start looking for parts, even before I have the project. (I've already started collecting parts for a Huffy Super Stock... and I don't own one!)

So, this is what all my brake stuff looks like.

And because I'm a month behind, even though it really doesn't look like anything, here's the frame for your enjoyment.

 

[CRASH]

I was going to set up the brakes first because I never have and wanted to make sure they were GTG. But in order to do that right I need to mount the rear wheel. In order to do that in the right spot I need a derailleur. THAT's when I realized I was missing it... so this is going to be a slooooooooow process.

 

[Fv2]

Looks like a little liner frame.

 

[CRASH]

Looks like a little liner frame.

Yup, it's identical to a 24" Spaceliner frame. Obviously the parts on the table make it look a little different.

 

[Chad T]

Looking forward to watching this awesomeness unfold.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Hope you find your Lark quickly!

Luke.

 

[CRASH]

I'm doing this for the Super Slingshot too, but I'm just posting the "Lark Recovery Center" in this thread.

First, if you haven't visted Kevin Murphy's page on Ebay, you ought to. I've done a lot of business with Kevin and he's a great guy and an RRB member to boot! If you contact him directly he'll hook you up with a good deal! His Ebay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Bike-Parts-Unlimited_W0QQsspagenameZL2QQtZkm
His direct e-mail: [email protected]

Kevin had two derelict Larks I bought off him. Combined with parts I had from other derelicts I was able to build a couple. I decided to go ahead and do the work and build up everything I had. I would have given me 4, but fate stepped in.

A lot of times they are really rusty. Kevin gave me a partially rusty one, and a really rusty one. (They look better in the pictures.) The bottom one was mechanically jacked up, and the top one... well, *shiver*

So I break them down to parade rest. I beat the rust back as much as I can and polish the heck out of each part including all the little hardware.

Then I put them back together.

Unfortunately, one of the units that I couldn't get the frame hanger off of snapped it's spring. The mounting bolt is stripped and seized in the hanger. I'm going to try to screw out the bolt to free the hanger, but if I'm successful I'll still only have 3 good units. (The heavily rusted one will sacrifice itself to the better body of the seized one.)

But the good news is I now have two decent working Larks, one for each of this year's MBBO. So... moving on....

 

[Chad T]

Nice! That Lark looks happy as a lark.

 

[Old Scool]

What timing, I have 2-1/2 Lark's I was breaking down and cleaning last night so I could start rebuilding them. I was trying to figure out where to get some replacement parts so the info is appreciated, I think I will need a third donor to make two complete ones. I haven't rebuilt a derailleur before so this is kinda fun, love tearing stuff apart and putting them back together.

 

[CRASH]

Nice! That Lark looks happy as a lark.

 

[CRASH]

What timing, I have 2-1/2 Lark's I was breaking down and cleaning last night so I could start rebuilding them. I was trying to figure out where to get some replacement parts so the info is appreciated, I think I will need a third donor to make two complete ones. I haven't rebuilt a derailleur before so this is kinda fun, love tearing stuff apart and putting them back together.

I've done several, so if you have any questions let me know. Make sure to include pictures.
Hint: The less you break it down the better in the long run because the less chance you will mess something up. But, if you do take it all the way apart like I did, just remember where stuff goes. And be gentle with the face plate, as the metal holders inside the derailleur body are thin and weak.

 

[CRASH]

I got some work done tonight. I started putting the rear end together. These parts have never been on a bike together, so I had no idea how they would fit. I installed the derailleur using the clamp for the drop out. The problem I found with this is it pushed the wheel too far forward, and the axle was right on the edge of the drop outs.

Here's the inside of the clamp that butts up to the back of the drop out slot, but causes the wheel to sit forward.

Here's the right axle about to fall out of the drop out, even though it's tightened down. Sorry for the dark pic. I should have used the flash. (Yes Chad, all those spoke heads are pointing out. For some reason the dish required for this wheel forced me to lace it like that.)

And you can see all the room behind the axle. This can't be correct!

Even though it's wrong in the drop outs, it's correctly positioned under the fender, as far as I can tell.

Well, I foresee bad things happening with teetering axles, so I decided to ditch the mounting clamp. You see that hole behind the clamp bolt? I decided to use it.

The derailleur has a grove that allows it to snug into the drop out slot.

So I got a screw that would fit well, tapped out the hole and mounted the derailleur farther back. Fits better here...

And even though it's slightly farther back I still think it works fine under the fender. Once I get the tire on it, it will fill out the space a lot more.

On to the sheet metal! This is where I spent most my time tonight. The rear fender and chain guard had never been mounted together and took a fair amount of tweaking, and I had to get the correct hardware to fit in the correct places. As you can see, there were a bit of space as the top of the guard didn't mesh up well with the fender.

It was a bit of a hack job, but I'm hoping some serious polishing smooths out the shine. But at least the curves conform better.

I threw on a few more parts and this is what I came up with.

You may notice the fork. Since this is the first time I've ever put the fork on the bike I realized after I stepped back that the fork blades are bent backwards! No wonder this bike was abandoned! Luckily I know a guy... So hopefully I can get those straitened out soon.

I need some ideas. Below is the grip from the shifter. It's supposed to be white, but apparently the original yellowed from time, then someone sprayed white over the yellow, and now the white is dirty and chipping away revealing the old yellow beneath. Should I:

1) Remove the handle, strip the paint and restore the white with a proven technique that you're about to share with me?

2) Paint the handle with a paint that will stand up to hands grabbing it over and over. You'll be sharing that type of paint with me, of course.

Lastly, this race is shot. In fact, the 3 other ones I have are shot as well. Does anyone have a new drive side race from a murray bottom bracket? Or maybe a whole NOS bottom bracket they could sell me?

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks like good progress!
There are paints available that can stand up to constant wear and touching. Usually a 2 pack anti-graffiti paint is the go, but it might be hard to do that on just the one small part...

Luke.

 

[Chad T]

(Yes Chad, all those spoke heads are pointing out. For some reason the dish required for this wheel forced me to lace it like that.)

And you can see all the room behind the axle. This can't be correct!

Roadwarrior had the same issue with his Ramcharger Spider. I think he noticed it when the brakes wouldn't line up.

I need some ideas. Below is the grip from the shifter. It's supposed to be white, but apparently the original yellowed from time, then someone sprayed white over the yellow, and now the white is dirty and chipping away revealing the old yellow beneath.

Maybe strip it then sand and polish the plastic?

 

[CRASH]

Maybe strip it then sand and polish the plastic?

I'd be scared of ruining it. I couldn't replace this if I screwed it up.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

I'd try rubbing it down with some semichrome polish, or maybe something with a bit of tooth in it like McGuire's cutting polish....
I see you always rebuild Lark's, what about Eagles? I have 3 raggedy ones, are they worth rebuilding?

Carl.

 

[CRASH]

I see you always rebuild Lark's, what about Eagles? I have 3 raggedy ones, are they worth rebuilding?

"Worth" is in the eye of the beholder. Larks came on Huffys and Sears for the most part, so I need them for those builds. I used an Eagle on my first MBBO bike, the AMF Renegade, so it was definitely worth it for me to rebuild it. It really isn't rocket surgery if you want to tackle the project. Just take it apart carefully and slowly and remember what went where and how. If you remove anything that is tensioned in with a spring just know you're going to have to fight that tension to get it back together... without destroying the spring. Polish everything, clean everything, and oil everything.