~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ The Finale. p13

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Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Messages
300
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Location
Sunny So Cal - Inland Empire
Well, I've been loitering around here for almost a year now after getting my first vintage bike; a 1952 Monark 24" Boys Deluxe. I'm not 100% sure on the year and model, but I was told here that it should be a '52 based on the serial # and it doesn't check out as a Rocket/Roadster or any other model. I really love the look of the fat heavy weight bikes. Just like I like old tubbed 40's/50's trucks and cars. The chain guard is the same as the "Super Deluxe" chain guard. I found another Monark here that is exactly like mine, with the same type chain guard and the owner of that bike told me his bikes chain guard just says "Deluxe" on it. Never saw a 24"- "Deluxe", but apparently, I have one here.

I got this bike off of CL. It was in Big Bear City way up in the mountains here in Southern California (about a 80 mile one way trip for me). I took the long drive because I got it for a decent price (decent as far as west coast prices are concerned :roll: ). The owner said it was an original paint bike, but after I got it home, I discoverd a whole bunch of layers of rattle can paint over the original maroon paint.

In keeping with the name of this site, I'm gonna attempt to make a true Rat Rod Bike out of the ordinary vintage roller. Not something bright and shiny that I'll be afraid of scratchin. I'm gonna draw on my previous lives in art, graphic design and auto body repair to give this dude some '50's greaser 'tude!

Hopefully when I'm done with this guy, the name I picked for it will fit it right based on what I envision. A bad boy. The kind that would take your milk money. The kind that would pitch pennies behind school. The kind that the girls wrote about on the bathroom walls. The kind that would get caught... ~~"Smokin' In The Boyz Room"~~

I probably won't win, but I really got to like old Monarks and vintage bikes and general and I know I'll enjoy the end results! Good luck :mrgreen:


The 1952 Monark 24" "Deluxe": Before.

Up in the crisp clean air of the mountains. Coming back from Big Bear City with my "new" Monark!
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The seat isn't og right off. Nice day for a drive in the mountains.
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Back home in the low lands of Southern Cali.
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The "Super Deluxe" style chain guard.
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Startin' to investigate the paint situation.
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Decades of colors over the original maroon.
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Fenders have lots of coats too!
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I.D. tag.
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The ratty beat up head badge.
Untitled.jpg


New Departure.
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Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~

EastOfEastLos said:
I probably won't win, but I really got to like old Monarks and vintage bikes and general and I know I'll enjoy the end results!

Hey man, this is anybody's game and you sound like you have a skillset and idea to give us all a run for our money. I bet you could restore that headbadge.

Good luck, can't wait to see how this goes.
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~

Gold Street Customs said:
Cool bike, is that your Monte in the background ?


Thanks GSC. Yeah brutha, that is my old neighbors Monte Carlo. Looks like a '71. I like those. I don't live in that neighborhood anymore...part of some of the drama in the past few months of my life. Hopefully, building out this ol Monark will be a good creative outlet for some of the crap I've got going on right now.
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~

yoothgeye said:
EastOfEastLos said:
I probably won't win, but I really got to like old Monarks and vintage bikes and general and I know I'll enjoy the end results!

Hey man, this is anybody's game and you sound like you have a skillset and idea to give us all a run for our money. I bet you could restore that headbadge.

Good luck, can't wait to see how this goes.


Hey YTG. Yeah, I remember back in my illustration class in college (...community college :lol: ), my illustration teacher would tell us not to put down our skills or our work before it's presented for critique because then, you'll prejudice your audience into lookin at your work in a negative light. I violated that rule, didn't I..lol!

Seriously, I think I'll do alright. I'm pretty creative and artistic but I lack some fabrication resources and knowledge that many others here have in spades. I've seen some awesome builds here. I'm just lookin forward to learn and compete with the rest of this like minded community. 8)

P.S. -- I kinda like the worn head badge. It' shows the life this bikes gone through in the past 60 years. Haven't decided if i'll re- do it or leave it.
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~

tin machine said:
hey man !!! thats a sweet ride you got there ...lets see what you can do with ....yeah baby bring it !!!! :wink:

Thanks bro! Gonna try!
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~

Peatbog said:
Wahoo! A 24"er.*




*I think 24" bikes are cool.


Haha! I drove all the way to where this bike was under the impression it was a 26"...to my surprise, it was a 24". I'm 5' 11", but i'll make it work! :mrgreen:
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~

Great Name!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~

Dr. Tankenstein said:
I'm big fan of 1950's 24" Monarks too. Gonna be watching this one.

Cheers,
Dr. T

Peatbog said:
Wahoo! A 24"er.*




*I think 24" bikes are cool.

I'll try to do this 24" oldie justice Dr. T


NewOrleansFlyer said:
Great Name!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks NOF. When I'm done, this boys bike will be a mixture of a leather jacket, ducktail, dippity do and a bad attitude!
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ Update #1 - Nudity!

...What kind of nudity did you expect? I was decent enough to cover it's shame.. :mrgreen: Seriously, walmart stripper makes quick and deadly work of old paint. Burns your hands/skin really quick too, I found out the hard way. Careful! Use gloves, long sleeves/pants and eye protection when working with this stuff! OG maroon paint coming through decades of paint cover up.
strippedmonark.png
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ Update #1 - Nudity!

I hit the frame and forks today. I have a lot more to go on the frame but the forks came a little too clean. I wound up taking ALL of the paint off, that's not what I was going for... :(
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20-2011-08-01175459.jpg
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~

Peatbog said:
Wahoo! A 24"er.*




*I think 24" bikes are cool.
What he said. Great bike! Rock it!! Peace
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ Update #2 - Parts/Progress

These are some of the parts I've collected so far. Probably won't get too fancy with rare parts cus budget restricts me... oh wait, that's what a Rat Rod Bike is all about! 8)

Ratty metal seat I bought from Double Nickel a while back.
2011-09-19103803-1.jpg

2011-09-19103841-1.jpg


Old Stimson green dot reflector came in today. Thanks TwoWheelFan.
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Continued the stripping. Walla!! Original faded red fenders with white pinstirpping!! Keeping that!
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Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ Update #2

Nice bike! 24"ers can be a little small for me at 6 foot, but with a layback seat post,it can be comfy. I ride 20" more these days' but banana seats and ape hangers help with that.

Depending on the paint there are various ways to remove it, if you want to save the original paint beneath. I have a 71 datsun 510 that someone spraypainted camoflage over the original paint. Acetone seemed to just eat through the spraypaint, and left the original goodness beneath. I felt like indiana Jones, uncovering a treasure. It is a lot more work scrubing with scotchbrite and acetone + wetsanding- than the spray 'aircraft' paint remover, but more gentle. There are a few spots where I got impatient and used a little spraycan remover, and the original paint got bumpy under there.
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ Update #2

Fisch said:
Nice bike! 24"ers can be a little small for me at 6 foot, but with a layback seat post,it can be comfy. I ride 20" more these days' but banana seats and ape hangers help with that.

Depending on the paint there are various ways to remove it, if you want to save the original paint beneath. I have a 71 datsun 510 that someone spraypainted camoflage over the original paint. Acetone seemed to just eat through the spraypaint, and left the original goodness beneath. I felt like indiana Jones, uncovering a treasure. It is a lot more work scrubing with scotchbrite and acetone + wetsanding- than the spray 'aircraft' paint remover, but more gentle. There are a few spots where I got impatient and used a little spraycan remover, and the original paint got bumpy under there.


Yes, I'm also a bit tall for a 24" but I was planning on pushing the seat back in some way: layback post or similar. I'm thinking I may bypass the og forks and go with some extended forks that I have to give it lenght and a meaner look.

As far as the paint, I'm finding that theres already a lot of damage to the original paint in that a lot has been sanded off previous to the first of the four/five coats it currently has. The front fender looks like most of the paint has been sanded off because I'm not finding any paint as I use the remover. I'm not leaving the remover on more than 3min. I did leave it on too long on the forks though. Learned my time limit there. :eek:
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ Update #3 - 5/9

60 years of black hard tar gunk grease...yumm! Time to rebuild!
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After: Cleaned with brake parts cleaner spray. I was surprised what good condition most of the hub parts were in, especially the bb's. Washed up then dried with hair dryer...mmm, minty fresh.
2012-02-12153908.jpg


Cleaning up the wheels and handle bars with fine steel wool and cheap generic cola...old trick. The handle bars are small but I think I'll keep 'em. I like the curve they have. Think I'll go board tracker style for a low profile look over all. I'm going to try to polish things up just a little.
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I'm replacing this seat with the all metal old seat. This seat is probably 60's. It's a Mesinger and it's too tame for my taste.
2011-06-20095003.jpg
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ Update #3 - 5/9

Just ordered this plate! Been looking for one for a while that wasn't an arm and a leg. Too bad it's from a box of cereal and not a 1952 plate but 1953 is close enough. Oh well. :wink:
1953californialicenseplate.jpg
 
Re: ~~"Smokin In The Boyz Room"~~ Update #3 - 5/9

A month or so ago I won an eBay auction for one of those cereal plates (North Carolina) and I really love it! It's not the right year for my bike (about 3 years early) but it's awesome, I don't care.
 

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