Re: OCC Stingray gets a second lease on life
For those of you who read the backstory on this build, thank you. My wife talked to the friend who we suspect has MS, and she says the specialists are 90% sure she has the disease. I'm attacking it with fervor now, I'm sure I'll be able to raise the money to ride the bike in the MS Tour for Cure in October. I want to ride the Chopper a total of 150 miles when it's all said and done. I'm not trying to break records, just want to be able to make it. I'm starting training rides tomorrow, and will do my very best to be ready for it. The sooner I get the bike done, the sooner I can start putting miles on it, and working the kinks out.
As for the bike, I started cleaning the fork crowns this weekend. I chased all the crown bolts through a die, but I'm still missing one... I might just pick up a whole new set to be on the safe side. I got a confirmation on some items I'm going to sell to fund this build, but t will be 3-4 weeks before I get the money. I may buy the parts now so I can finish it in time, and just recoup the money later.
The frame is done. The bottom bracket is ready to go back in, the headset top cap/race is extremely pitted and rusted... I may just replae that one part so I can slap the fork back together. I'm tossing around the idea of using the MTB rear wheel, re-truing it with zero dish, and using the 7-speed freewheel on it. It's cheap, I have everything needed, but will need a little more work... or I could go with the Sturmey 8-speed rear hub with drum and all the coolness that goes with that. I'm still planning on putting drum front hub on it, and giving it a special lacing pattern... I've never done a non-standard laced wheel before, and this is the perfect time to give it a shot!
I found some padded imitation leather (a kid's detatchable jacket hood, actually... I live in southern Louisiana, no need for it) which I will try to recover the seat with. The original pedals are in great shape, just going to shine them up. Those, and the BB and crank/chainring will go on this week, and I'll order the parts to finish the seatpost, and start work on the wheels. The wheels, by far, will take the most time and work, but it will totally make the difference when it's done. I've never seen a drum front wheel done with a 3-leading, 3-trailing spoke pattern.
I know it's uncool to post updates without pics, but I thought the update for my motivation warranted it. As soon as I get some hardware, you guys will get the whole shebang!
