Did the fiddly stuff today.
Started by welding on the new 1 1/8th headtube to suit the forks, decided on 69.5 degrees in the end.
Next step was always going to be fiddly, I had to make a joint for the chain stay to connect to in the very crowded area between the chainwheel, cranks and the oversize tires that are far further forward than normal due to the short chain stays. Started out with some 5mm flatbar and made up these stepped plates:
Notice the one on the left has an extra amount of clearance ground into it at the weld to allow the chainring locator bolt to clear, that is how tight the clearance is! The slots at the other end are where the chainstays will slide in and be welded.
Inserted the cranks with the 30 tooth TuffNeck chainwheel to get everything checked out and tacked the plates in place:
They will end up getting fully welded both sides once everything is checked, notice I have bevelled the outer edges where it meets the bottom bracket, that is so I can get a good weld in there and sand off any excess without effecting the strength of the weld.
Here is a pic to show the clearance issues and how close everything is even with these adapters in place:
Can't get much closer than that! Glad that back wheel trued up nicely, or I might have had issues! Glad it is super strong too, don't want it going out of true on a ride, no clearance!
Anyway, that was the progress for today, annoying, time consuming stuff, but the next step is a cool one, welding in the rear triangle and top tubes, that will be a fun day's work!
Running ahead of schedule on this build, but that is good, looks like summer is heating back up here again and that will mean more 'total fire ban' days that make it illegal to cut, grind and weld outside.
Luke.