The 442

[CRASH]

I’ve decided the cleanest look for the rear brake housing/cable will take some welding of some tiny cable guides and stops. So I purchased them today and will need to find a welder.

I’m going to run the housing along the downtube with a couple guides, put a stop before the bottom bracket, run a Campagnolo-style cable guide under the bottom bracket, back to a stop under the rear chain stay, and housing into the caliper barrel.

 

[CRASH]

I don’t know about you, but I really like the look of a rear disc brake. It just adds to the “muscle” of the bike for me. A giant pain in the rear to make work, but I’m really glad it’s coming together!

 

[SwissGuy]

I don’t know about you, but I really like the look of a rear disc brake. It just adds to the “muscle” of the bike for me. A giant pain in the rear to make work, but I’m really glad it’s coming together!

View attachment 227215

Looks slick!

 

[CRASH]

I’m making progress on the front fender. I wasn’t able to find a correct one (because they are really hard to come by). I bought a 16” Wald, but that’s way too big. I have a 20” front from something that I could cut and shape and it would work, but wouldn’t be correct. So I’m throwing a lot of effort into restoring the original I have. Since it will be painted I can throw whatever tricks I can at it.

I started with the edges. I soldered metal into the holes then shaped them. I think they came out good. Now I’m building up Bondo. I am going to use the solder trick on one of the lower side edges because there is some metal loss and the bondo gets sanded out unevenly. So… a few more hours of work on just the fender coming.

 

[CRASH]

This front fender is getting a ton of time, but I’m inching closer. I have to put on a layer of bondo or fix an area with JB Weld, then wait at least 24 hours for it to cure well enough for sanding, then sand and see where I am, then repeat. As you can see a shot of coat of etch primer so I could better see imperfections, then continue. I’m about to do my 10th round. Hopefully the last? Then I’ll build up filler primer to really get it smoothed out.

 

[CRASH]

Using some 600 grit to restore the RWL for the rear tire. It’s hard to see in the pics, but it’s a good difference, and will match the NOS front tire better.

 

[CRASH]

Got the housing guides tacked on. Now I’m waiting for the BB bridge guide to arrive so I get it installed and make sure the cable line is all good before I start the body work to prep for paint.

 

[markthatcher1]

Looks good. Like buttons on a fine shirt.

 

[CRASH]

I wasn’t thrilled going in the direction of a plastic bridge. But I didn’t want to have housing protruding so far below the bottom bracket. I had thought to route it all internally, but if I goofed that up I’d ruin the frame. So, since I went external, I wanted to minimize the issue under the BB, so I opted for a plastic guide bridge, vice devising something metal that might rust from wear. So, here is what I bought:

I modified it, drilled and tapped the mounting hole:

And here it is installed.

So that’s it for modifications to the bike. The rest is prepping it for paint.

 

[markthatcher1]

How nice is that, of course unless a 10 year old kid steals the bike, it won’t be shifted much!

 

[Son of Kradus]

Hang in there bro, good times just around the corner

 

[CRASH]

I just about finished restoring the front fender. It needs some fine tuning, but I wanted to see it mated with the fork to get some perspective.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Progressing nicely!

 

[CRASH]

Doing metalwork now, to prep for primer. As I’m smoothing out the tubes, you can really see the rust damage on the surface.

 

[CRASH]

I think this frame is mostly Bondo now. Lol

I do NOT want to do the amount of sanding I have coming up… but I must.

 

[CRASH]

It’s hard to believe that this, rusty, holey, piece of junk which probably should have been tossed…

Is finally done, and nice enough to be put on this build. Here it is ready for paint! And it only took a couple months or work!

By the way, if you have a fender in similar condition and have been thinking of restoring it, I would be happy to throw it in the trash for you.

 

[SwissGuy]

By the way, if you have a fender in similar condition and have been thinking of restoring it, I would be happy to throw it in the trash for you.

Big respect for the work and skill you put into this build!!!
(But I can totally relate to the trash quote...)

 

[CRASH]

First round of knocking down all that bondo to fill smooth things out is complete.

I’ll add some thinner swipes where needed and smooth those out with 400 grit rather than 220 to get a smooth surface for the start of the primer.

 

[CRASH]

Round 2 of bondo cooking in the California sun.

 

[Brian macumber]

Round 2 of bondo cooking in the California sun.

View attachment 228840

I wish I had the patience you have to build these awesome bikes.