Wellp, its been a long few months since I've had the time to visit this site, or to even sit down with my own projects... but wouldn't you know it, necessity being the mother of invention... my car is on its last leg, and with a commute thats too close to drive and too far to walk (at least, not considering I get out of work at 3AM), we've decided to become a one-car family... so I'll FINALLY be going the rat rod gasbike route.
And, of course, I could use some pointers... mostly with silly little things that might help save me a buck here and there.
I've decided, since its the most rideable of my projects, to just charge through rebuilding my Shelby Rex.
Right now its got these impossible-to-replace 26 x 1.375 wheels. On a whim, and knowing nearly nothing (haha!) I thought I'd try to pop my Rollfast 2.25 wheels on there, but its just too narrow. S'okay... I found a pair of 1.75" wheels on ebay, should be here in a few.
Then... tires? There's a new one on me... I haven't really bought anything more than Bell replacement tires for my road bikes. Any suggestions on brands? (Or aesthetics, even? I'd love to get something that looks boss, white walls or something, especially for this ol' piece, but right now I need to settle for utilitarian; something that will last a while.)
Handlebars are my next piece...
You can see that a large portion of the original handlebar is completely corroded away.
Here's where I've hit a snag. Being a first-timer and knowing not-so-much about what I'm doing, I thought it wise to just replace the bars, not the stem. So on a suggestion from a friend I snagged the Origin8 "Tiki" bars with a 26.0 clamp diameter. Unfortunately it is too wide for the stem.
Now, it fits my Schwinn Speedster bars perfectly... would anyone know offhand the correct clamp diameter I should be looking for?
(I'd keep the Speedster bars on there, but there's just something so classy about the mustache bars.)
Here's the fun stuff, I suppose...
My recent ebay scores... two chain guards and a rack.
No idea what they're originally from, but, well, they were cheap! haha...
The black guard to the far right was on my Rollfast when I got it... I'll probably put that one on for now... but I think I might strip, sand, and rattle-can the green one instead once I have some time.
Down the road, I just spotted this fella on ebay... With the pinstriping a near-perfect match for the rest of the ride, I think its a must (although by not pinstriping myself, I kinda feel like its cheating)...
I have a friend bringing me a front cargo rack (in exchange for some guitar repair work haha). I'm really tempted to find a pair of old wine crates, lacquer them, and mount them for cargo.
Finally... the engine.
Okay, its not here yet... but I'm just souped on this project (moreso on ditching my car!).
I've done some two-stroke work in the past when I owned a Lambretta, but I'm rusty as heck. So I thought I'd go the easy route and just get a BoyGoFast kit. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm prepared to take heck for it... but whatever, I'll slug through it. I've got some buddies that run their BGF no problem, and I know a little more about two-cycle engines than they, so I'm not TOO too worried.
So, thats the start. I hope I'm making this post correctly... I'm really excited about FINALLY going gung-ho with this build!
And, of course, I could use some pointers... mostly with silly little things that might help save me a buck here and there.
I've decided, since its the most rideable of my projects, to just charge through rebuilding my Shelby Rex.
Right now its got these impossible-to-replace 26 x 1.375 wheels. On a whim, and knowing nearly nothing (haha!) I thought I'd try to pop my Rollfast 2.25 wheels on there, but its just too narrow. S'okay... I found a pair of 1.75" wheels on ebay, should be here in a few.
Then... tires? There's a new one on me... I haven't really bought anything more than Bell replacement tires for my road bikes. Any suggestions on brands? (Or aesthetics, even? I'd love to get something that looks boss, white walls or something, especially for this ol' piece, but right now I need to settle for utilitarian; something that will last a while.)
Handlebars are my next piece...
You can see that a large portion of the original handlebar is completely corroded away.
Here's where I've hit a snag. Being a first-timer and knowing not-so-much about what I'm doing, I thought it wise to just replace the bars, not the stem. So on a suggestion from a friend I snagged the Origin8 "Tiki" bars with a 26.0 clamp diameter. Unfortunately it is too wide for the stem.
Now, it fits my Schwinn Speedster bars perfectly... would anyone know offhand the correct clamp diameter I should be looking for?
(I'd keep the Speedster bars on there, but there's just something so classy about the mustache bars.)
Here's the fun stuff, I suppose...
My recent ebay scores... two chain guards and a rack.
No idea what they're originally from, but, well, they were cheap! haha...
The black guard to the far right was on my Rollfast when I got it... I'll probably put that one on for now... but I think I might strip, sand, and rattle-can the green one instead once I have some time.
Down the road, I just spotted this fella on ebay... With the pinstriping a near-perfect match for the rest of the ride, I think its a must (although by not pinstriping myself, I kinda feel like its cheating)...
I have a friend bringing me a front cargo rack (in exchange for some guitar repair work haha). I'm really tempted to find a pair of old wine crates, lacquer them, and mount them for cargo.
Finally... the engine.
Okay, its not here yet... but I'm just souped on this project (moreso on ditching my car!).
I've done some two-stroke work in the past when I owned a Lambretta, but I'm rusty as heck. So I thought I'd go the easy route and just get a BoyGoFast kit. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm prepared to take heck for it... but whatever, I'll slug through it. I've got some buddies that run their BGF no problem, and I know a little more about two-cycle engines than they, so I'm not TOO too worried.
So, thats the start. I hope I'm making this post correctly... I'm really excited about FINALLY going gung-ho with this build!
