Slow cooked burrito

[feuerdog]

My first build wasn't much of a build, but it was a learning experience for me.

I took the lowrider parts off a lowrider frame, mounted them to an old bmx frame, and then washed it all down with some red and black spray paint.....
http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30163&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

....but the bike I really wanted to build was a burrito.
Thanks to guys like Stretch, Kota, Diceman, and others found here and over on the Freak Bike Nation forums, i've had plenty of inspiration to get me going through the winter.
Unfortunately however, life has got in the way of many of my plans, so I missed the winter burrito build, and the FBN burrito build, but now i'm through with excuses. The weather is geeting nice, and i've got a new welder to learn how to use...

Thanks to my GF and Harbor Freight for this $99 christmas toy.

This bike is now in many many pieces....

You might notice that the bottom bracket, albeit out of focus, is attached to the original top tube in this pic....

And in this pic you'll see I have some practicing to do with my new welder...

On later inspection, I was inconsistent with my postioning, and too cautious too. The depth of the weld is sketchy at best, but the view from the inside shows I did manage to penetrate the thickness of the tube most of the time. I'll need to play a bit more with the welder to get consistent.
I had to turn the wire speed way way down to about 2 using .030 wire, and at times I still had excess wire feeding out. I hear .035 wire is better to use too, but obviously haven't tried it yet.

Assuming I don't have too many welding mishaps, several feet worth of the additional frame(EMT) tubing should ride within 2" of the ground. The overall length of the bike should easily exceed 9' long.

I'll try and get a mock-up pic posted once I have a better feel for the of measurements of the cockpit and get those EMT sections cut.

 

[KOTA]

Watching!

 

[Philphine]

so am i. i have a couple of diamond framed bikes i want to figure out how to stretch.

 

[feuerdog]

The basic layout....

The seat post will actually lean back a bit closer to the rear tire, which will put the bottom of the frame alot closer to ground level. I'm aiming for about a 2" ride height max.

The cockpit will be a little tight, so I might have to raise the seat up a bit.
My welding is,....well, not improved.
However, I do know one thing, i'll never work with EMT again. Not that its thin, but stripped the galvanized coating off is hazardous and difficult to boot. Any little bit of remaining coating practically refuses to take a weld too. On the plus side, I learned to fill today, so maybe my welding is getting better.

I should have more progress next week.

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Looks good

 

[OUTLAW]

what happen to this build? i want to see it done.

Outlaw

 

[feuerdog]

I did warn you it was going to be "slow cooked".......but seriously, i've been short on time and tools.

Keep in mind i'm a noob at welding, and this is my first modified frame build. It's not rocket science to be sure, but i'm still making mistakes.

I mentioned I was running into issues with stripping and welding the EMT conduit,....well, I picked up a better heavy duty stripping tool that should get me to bare metal faster and more consistently than the wire brushes i've been using.
To keep things safe I also got a better respirator to keep those galvanized coating chemicals out of my lungs.
I spent two evenings measuring and hand tooling an angled joint that needs to be stout and welded well. long story short its measurement is off by about a 1/8" on one side, so I have to redo it. Lesson learned though, i'll be making cardboard tube templates first before I make the next one. In addition, I picked up some thick grinding disks to help me shape and form the joints more quickly.

iRacing, E3, my second job, and the weather have been keeping me busy elsewhere, but I hope to be mocked up into a rolling chassis in the next few weeks. Sorry for the delay.

 

[OUTLAW]

thanks dog, was hoping you didn't back out of this. will be watching for more

Outlaw

 

[stretch]

Lookin pretty sweet! i always go for gas pipe on my builds when i need lengths of straight tubing. its cheap, very weldable and very strong, compared to emt

 

[Big_Daddy_Sloth]

Moar!

 

[feuerdog]

I haven't taken pics this past week, but I did get some welding done.

My welding is getting worse, not better though, which I hope won't cause problems later,....we'll see.
In an effort to "go with the flow" i'm embracing my terrible looking welds as a "feature" of the bike,....and they will hopefully inspire comments like "Did you train a monkey to weld?" and "How is that thing still in one piece?"

Anyways, the front subframe is welded up, and it just needs a little stripping done. The rear stays and false bottom bracket are next.
Once thats done its only three more welds to finish the frame itself.
From there i'll wait and see what it wants me to do, leave it unfinished, rattle can it (maybe in a mottled green), or maybe even weld some frame gussets. I'm about 250lbs so its gotta be sturdy no matter what.

I'll try and get some pics up before next weekend.

Happy Independence day!
Semper Fi

 

[stretch]

welding gets better with practice, just go slow and dont be afraid to adjust the volts and the wire speed.
semper gumby!

 

[feuerdog]

My progress so far, the top tube and seat post are not welded in yet....

Looking down the front tubes at some sketchy welds....

I hate blurry pics, but i'm too shaky with my phone.

I haven't cleaned these up, but they came out terrible regardless. I'll probably have to lay some extra welds over and around this rear area.

The problem was compounded by poor access, bad angles, and a very big difference between metal thicknesses.
I had tried using the higher power on the welder too, but just ended up burning through the EMT too fast. The welds weren't penetrating the thick bike frame rear stays.
Hopefully it'll hold and I can grind down the sides and fill/cap the ends for strength.

Next up is welding the top tubes, and weight testing for flex. If I have to gusset then so be it.
Other than that, it's a new front tire, seat post and handle bar fitting, and then a chain.

 

[YOUBUGME2]

I've found when I'm welding something thicker to something thinner that it doesn't burn through if you start on the thicker metal and flow the metal down to the thinner stuff. Give it a try on some scrap, see if you can get a technique that works.
Jonathan

 

[feuerdog]

I've seen some youtube welding videos that suggested the same, and I did give that a try.
It also seemed to work better with the ground clamp on the bike frame end as opposed to the EMT side.

I did manage to drag a few nice puddles on another bit of EMT that I had messed up dimension wise. Doing that boosted my confidence a bit cause they looked like proper welds. It also helped me realize my wire feed was too slow which was the reason I kept breaking contact with the puddle. Thats what made all the mess on the lower frame weld, not only was I at a higher power setting, but the weird angles wouldn't allow me a consistent bead.

The only other problem I forsee is i'm using the cheap .030 wire that came with the welder. Everything i've seen suggests upgrading to the .035 wire. So i'll have to relearn my speed when I change wire.

I'm pretty sure I can lay a nice flat straight bead, but welding around corners of various thickness thin wall pipes ain't easy.

 

[FatBoy]

I use the same welder and it is a pain to get it down especialy if you are used to a welder with shielding gas...Anyway when I weld the thin stuff I found doing small circular tacks with a pause between to let the metal cool just abit works well and looks like a normal weld with good penetration.I use the low power and speed between 4/6 and it does fine for bicycles and sheet metal.Good luck and hope it helps get that burrito on the road!

 

[NumbaFo]

The .030 wire should be fine for what you're doing. Looks like you should just practice more. Good prep work is also needed. Make sure you get the metal clean. Also if your going to reweld what you have done grind down the previous welds some. It'll make filling the holes a bit easier. Gas welding is a bit easier imo. If your welder can be converted it'd be worth it.

 

[feuerdog]

I've adjusted the speed of the wire again, but kept the power at 60 and improved my welds.
I think I had too slow a feed and too fast a technique for the lower power.

I still have some ends to fill and I might still add a couple of small gussets, but the frame passed my bouncing 250lb rolling test without even a creak.

I'll need to break the tires and wheels down again to clean the rust out.
I'll also need to figure out my brake situation and cabling, the old stuff was shot.
Rattle can colors inbound will be brown/beige I think.
The only other major change I want to make is a higher offset stem or wider/longer bars.

 

[MyJuliet]

i think i should thank you very much for you can waste lot of time to write this post .....

 

[Willg]

I like this, I am currently a beginning welder looking to do a first custom frame project, and I will probably try something like this. Nice job!