BO15 Mudd (my name is)

[Couch tater]

I didn't snap any photos but Mudd is moving along. The truss brackets and rods had been painted silver with a brush (but of course) so I left them in a heated parts washer for 8 hours. They came out paint free but the chrome on the brackets had split for the coast a long time ago and the rods were flaking out and pitted. Both are now gloss black keeping with the rest of the parts. The weather yesterday gave us torrential rains and tornado warnings so nothing got done. Today, Mudd got nearly completely stripped of brushed on paint (but of course). Today was a mix of sandpaper and Roloc discs to make paint vanish. The paint in the nether regions of the bottom bracket and fender stays was very difficult to remove and then in a mad fit of frustration I spritzed it with carb cleaner and it dripped right off. Wish I had known that earlier. Under the paint all over is much pitting and rust. Tomorrow Mudd gets an acid bath (vinegar?) and some primer. I need to get the old lump back in the fun stages of the build.

 

[OddJob]

..." the chrome on the brackets had split for the coast a long time ago and the rods were flaking out and pitted." <---- That phrase! Dig the '60 - '70s era personification.
From your description of the weather, you must be in the Midwest / Central part of the USA?

Your painstaking work yesterday will lead to the fun stuff coming up. Turn that "old lump" into a gem!

RaT oN~!

 

[Couch tater]

..." the chrome on the brackets had split for the coast a long time ago and the rods were flaking out and pitted." <---- That phrase! Dig the '60 - '70s era personification.
From your description of the weather, you must be in the Midwest / Central part of the USA?

Your painstaking work yesterday will lead to the fun stuff coming up. Turn that "old lump" into a gem!

RaT oN~!

Midwest for sure, far enough south of Chicago & the burbs that none of it bothers me. I was a child of the '60s and '70s I and can speak it fluently.

Late start today, my mailbox went to the great beyond so I had to plant a new one. Time for some lunch and back to the Skunk Works!

 

[sandman]

Midwest for sure, far enough south of Chicago & the burbs that none of it bothers me. I was a child of the '60s and '70s I and can speak it fluently.

Late start today, my mailbox went to the great beyond so I had to plant a new one. Time for some lunch and back to the Skunk Works!

My mailbox wanted to get a better look of my brothers truck belly earlier this year .

 

[Couch tater]

My mailbox wanted to get a better look of my brothers truck belly earlier this year .

My new mailbox is one of them big honkin' rural ones so I can order more stuff for Mudd. I mean, any BMX bike is heavy duty simplicity at its finest but I sure seem to be hitting the "buy it now" button way more than that would suggest.

 

[Couch tater]

The weather has been perfect here if you happen to be a tilapia. Very little forward progress. Parts have started trickling in so I can do a mock up and tweak what needs tweaking. Most post war bikes have a 5 1/2" long head tube, but not Mudd, it's sporting a 5 3/8" like a prewar bike. I want to be able to use the fork on both lengths so I ordered shims to make that happen before cutting it. Mudd also has a 5/8" seat tube which means replacements don't exist. The seat I am using is 7/8" so I got a 14" long 5/8" solid 304 stainless rod and stuck a 7/8" bushing on the end. Painting weather is in the forecast for this weekend so I am going to get Mudd all hued up before the weather weirds out again.

 

[Couch tater]

Today my locale is a rain sandwich, remains of a tropical depression approaching from the east, cold front approaching from the west, my town is the Spam in the middle. So, I'm going to whip out my fork. About that..... I wanted a chrome BMX type fork for this build. Sunlite is cheap, readily available, and has some of the sketichiest looking welds on the dropouts in the history of forks. I found a set of Fenex forks on Amazon, dropout welds I could live with, but the sketchiest seller on Amazon that made me wait three weeks for nothing and ultimately getting a refund. SE landing gear have a slash cut on the bottom that I don't like. Atomic Cycles came to the rescue with a really nice fork. I'm going to cut them to fit my Heavy Duti and use a 3mm shim on Mudd as per my prior post. So, before everybody falls asleep from my blather, here is my fork and home brew seatpost.

 

[OddJob]

As Yogi Bear once said, "If you come to a fork in the road, use it to eat a pic-a-nic lunch left behind by Mr. Ranger, sir."

Looks like you 'pick-a-nicked' the right one. Cool custom post too!

RaT oN~!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

"Smarter than the average bear, Boo Boo!"
Good choice on Atomic, looks killer. Rev106 (Paul) seems like the real deal, a good hombre.

 

[Couch tater]

"Smarter than the average bear, Boo Boo!"
Good choice on Atomic, looks killer. Rev106 (Paul) seems like the real deal, a good hombre.

Yep, before turning a wrench I did a lot of research and Paul popped up often. He seems down to earth and lives the life, not just looking for a profit.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

He's a member here too, occasionally posts about events he hosts, they look like a hoot, and the poster designs are killer!

https://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?members/rev106.1547/

 

[Couch tater]

He's a member here too, occasionally posts about events he hosts, they look like a hoot, and the poster designs are killer!

https://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?members/rev106.1547/

I like his website, navigating it can be a little tricky but it's worth it for all the nuggets. If I was younger and nearer to South Cali there is no doubt I would do a coaster challenge. I raced motorcycles off road for 25 years so it would be a natural fit.

 

[Couch tater]

I don't want to ride Mudd aimlessly in downtown Squaresville so I went deep into the fiery bowels of my Skunk Works for some tech that would get me to Paradise City where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Valve stems. Nothing commercially available could get me there so I hitched up my britches and dug deep. The solution was pencil toppers. I found some that are cooler than a polar bears hiney. The orifice of a pencil topper is slightly smaller than a valve cap, therefore I heated up a metal valve cap and rammed it into the aforementioned orifice effectively bonding them together. Now I'm the mayor of Wayoutsville,

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Thumbs up.

 

[toro1978]

Very nice!

 

[kingfish254]

pencil top erasers are a good place to shop for valve cap ideas.

 

[Couch tater]

Remember a few posts back where I was rambling on about forks? Well, I ordered a headset to use with the Fenex fork train wreck and the crown race doesn't fit the Atomic forks. Caught me snoozing at the wheel. We have until September, right?

 

[Couch tater]

pencil top erasers are a good place to shop for valve cap ideas.

Crazy amount of variety and some pretty sweet ones too. I got a six pack of the thumbs ups so I'm set for awhile.

 

[OddJob]

Brilliant idea for valve caps!

 

[kingfish254]

Crazy amount of variety and some pretty sweet ones too. I got a six pack of the thumbs ups so I'm set for awhile.

Got these sign language eraser caps from @eparsons years back.