Pre-war Elgin, a new project begins

[yewhi]

Geez my friend! I'm going to have to start hitting garage sales.

TCN

PS. saw you a couple days ago commuting on the Merc on Calle Cristobol. Would've honked, but I didn't want you to jump out of your skin. Bike looks great!

 

[sandmangts]

Geez my friend! I'm going to have to start hitting garage sales.

TCN

PS. saw you a couple days ago commuting on the Merc on Calle Christobol. Would've honked, but I didn't want you to jump out of your skin. Bike looks great!

Yeah, I love that bike. It won't win any races but it has been very reliable and low maintenance so far. I am going to the bike swap in long beach on Sunday so let me know if there is anything you want me to be on the lookout for.

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Dang ...even your parts bikes look good :shock: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[yewhi]

Yeah, I love that bike. It won't win any races but it has been very reliable and low maintenance so far. I am going to the bike swap in long beach on Sunday so let me know if there is anything you want me to be on the lookout for.

Ithought Long Beach was mostly for moto's, but Thanks a ton never-the-less. I'm getting close to getting most of the parts put together. I just snagged the stem this week have a seat, seat post and chainring that are supposedly in the mail. Really just need the appropriate handlebar. Been watching a few on the 'Bay but I hate that place with a passion. It's a last resort.

Most of the parts I've scrounged together have been in bad shape and it's taken a lot of time to restore them. Hence the reason this is currently dragging. Still working on it dilligently, but the little parts are time consuming with little to show for the effort.

Have fun in Long Beach and May your Karma continue!

 

[sandmangts]

You are right Tim, the swap meet is mostly for motorbikes, but they had some cool vintage motorbikes and I picked up some motocross bars and levers. Thanks to Jwesty I have scored my white whale and it will be on its way to me soon. I will finish this bike first but it looks like those nice Ukai rims will have a home soon. I have polished the Arayas and the headbadge is almost done. This bike is going to be a show stopper!

 

[sandmangts]

More shiny bits, my hands and forearms are killing me from sanding and polishing. I have almost all the parts. Still looking for a nice saddle. In the end I think the bike will be a bit more flashy than most Klunkers/bombers but still show where the inspiration came from. Besides, I have a proper 41 Excelsior on the way to do a true Klunker build on.

 

[yewhi]

Aaron,

Did you strip the Anodizing before you polished these? I have a NOS but water stained set of BMX rims that I've been thinking about stripping and polishing but that can be intimidating.

Also, I sorta' see where this is going. I have a NOS set of Red anodized MKS pedals that might match. If you're interested let me know. Looking very nice.

TCN

Edit: pedals- never mind. Been so long since I looked at these I forgot they are 9/16 not 1/2. My apologies. TCN

 

[sandmangts]

Polishing was a massive pain in the butt. I got these rims from the other Tim, Aemmer. They actually looked pretty good in the beginning but the chrome turned out so good putting dull rims would have been wrong and I did not feel like getting chromed or steel rims. I used a bench grinder with course compound to get the coating off and then just buffed from course to fine to jewelers rouge. The pics don't do them justice. Would I do it again? Not sure. I am going to put a coat of clear on them and see how they look. I have seen others polishing aluminum and then clear coating with great results.

 

[yewhi]

Polishing was a massive pain in the butt. I got these rims from the other Tim, Aemmer. They actually looked pretty good in the beginning but the chrome turned out so good putting dull rims would have been wrong and I did not feel like getting chromed or steel rims. I used a bench grinder with course compound to get the coating off and then just buffed from course to fine to jewelers rouge. The pics don't do them justice. Would I do it again? Not sure. I am going to put a coat of clear on them and see how they look. I have seen others polishing aluminum and then clear coating with great results.

They Do look very nice. I tried this with an old BMX stem about a year ago just to get a feel for it. I stripped the Anodizing with Drain cleaner (AKA Sodium Hydroxide) and then sanded and buffed it to a nice polish. This was pretty beat and I didn't even try to pull out the dents and dings. I will say the clear coating may not be necessary. After a year of being on my son's BMX bike, it still looks nice. If it starts looking a little hazy a bit of aluminum polish pulls it right back. The stem was a pain. Can't imagine doing it to a set of rims, thought about it but that's as far as it got. No guts.

Again, Nicely done!

 

[yoothgeye]

Did you replace those allen screws or clean them, if so, what is your trick for getting the rust out of the heads?

 

[yewhi]

Did you replace those allen screws or clean them, if so, what is your trick for getting the rust out of the heads?

Nope, they are the same screws. I soaked them in white vinegar over night and then scrubed them lightly with a small brush to get into the nooks and crannies. That was primarily surface rust that comes off pretty easily and the white vinegar won't harm the color.

 

[yoothgeye]

Nope, they are the same screws. I soaked them in white vinegar over night and then scrubed them lightly with a small brush to get into the nooks and crannies. That was primarily surface rust that comes off pretty easily and the white vinegar won't harm the color.

Cool thanks, I was just soaking a chain in regular apple cider vinegar last week, and it did wonders for it. It was either throw it away or experiment, now I get to reuse the chain.

 

[sandmangts]

The paint turned out nice. The pics are not very good because of bad light. After the cleaning and media blasting you can see how the frame was constructed. the bottom bracket and wishbone stays are actually made from two separate forged pieces that are brazed together and then brazed to the frame.

 

[masterpoop63]

sooo smooth :shock:

 

[1manta]

Wow! :shock:
That paint looks great and all of your parts are class A .Can't wait to see what's next.

 

[59punk]

I can see myself in the paint!!! :lol: :lol:

 

[sandmangts]

I decided to let my LBS guy build the wheels and he is working on them now. Hopefully after my birthday and Christmas I will have the right tools for wheel building. This bike is proving to be one of the easiest builds I have done but certainly not the cheapest with the chrome, paint and additional parts. I think I will end up spending way too much but I am very happy with how it is turning out. It is funny, my next build which is my ultimate, white whale dream build will probably end up costing me less. This bike is all about the look, family rides around the bay need a bit of style. Even my wife likes the bike. Usually when I show her a bike she just says "yeah wow, another bike, big deal" but today when she saw this one she said "Wow, That's slick. Could I ride it?" Anyway, sorry for rambling, I have been working on her and polishing my Excelsior all day and I pounded a few brews while I was at it. It was an awesome day.

 

[Jsheetz]

Great job so far!! its looking killer! Cant wait to see it finished!!

 

[masterpoop63]

:shock: :shock: 8) chrome on black=awsome :shock: what kind of grips and pedals you plan on using?

 

[Lonewolf]

This thing is so good it hurts my feelings.



I want an apology!!!