*The 76er* (I. Think. I'm. Done. update: 7/29)

[American Vintage Bicycle Supply]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

Cool plate 8) Right on!

 

[socratesjpt]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

that's legit !!!!!

 

[yoothgeye]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

Thanks for the compliments on the plate, I did some antiquing last night and did too much and ended up adding more paint. I should've cleaned the surface before painting... haha

Last night I cut up 2 more sets of bars, so maybe I'll be able to put something together this week. How many bars have to die for this project?

 

[jerrykr]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

I love the plate. You have some great ideas, and you make them happen. Keep on keepin' on!

 

[yoothgeye]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

I love the plate. You have some great ideas, and you make them happen. Keep on keepin' on!

Thanks, I do a lot of trying, you just have to be willing to fail and throw some things away.

 

[jerrykr]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

Thanks, I do a lot of trying, you just have to be willing to fail and throw some things away.

words of wisdom!

 

[kingfish254]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

That is one of the beauties of this site. I have been itchin to do a RR build for over a year after only being a voyuer to the site. I have had a blast during this long weekend finally joining in the fun.

 

[socratesjpt]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

Thanks, I do a lot of trying, you just have to be willing to fail and throw some things away.[/quote]

I keep the failures , to be ratted into some thing else later

 

[kingfish254]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

Thanks, I do a lot of trying, you just have to be willing to fail and throw some things away.

I keep the failures , to be ratted into some thing else later[/quote]

Of course. You have to be a pack RAT.

 

[layflat78]

Re: *The 76er* (some assembly and wheel paint update: 6/15)

Day 46

I called Cody and let him know I didn't have much planned tonight, just going to put the final coat on the wheels, so like a good friend, he showed up anyway. Not wanting to smoke us out early I decided not to paint my wheels till last and find something else to do. Just yesterday a neighbor gave me 4 bikes and asked what I did with them. I told him about fixing them up and donating and such, and he said "My son would like a trick bike." Now this really confused me since 3 of the 4 bikes he had just given me were "trick" bikes. All needing very little work... I guess what he was saying was that he didn't know how to work on them.

So tonight Cody and I took apart 2 of the bikes to build the kid a decent freestyle bike. It's just a Next bike, but it will do fine for him. We ended up stripping down the frame and primering it:

While Cody was doing that I went back inside and wiped down my primered wheels with tack cloth:

Then I got out my paint. I had this paint in mind all along. I've done a flat black bike with bright red wheels and whitewalls, so I wanted to do something a little different. The ivory/cream paint looked old to me, I liked the brown on it, and thought with those earthy tones the gloss green wheels would look good. I bought these cans of "Army Green" (though I don't agree with that name) years ago on clearance at Walmart for about $2 a can. The first can sprayed horrible and I called Rustoleum and they sent me a $5 coupon and apologized. The next can works just fine, so I guess this paint can be considered free.

I layed on the gloss olive paint and hung out in the fumes for a while. I think I can now tell what color a paint is by it's smell. I also noticed tonight how I rarely paint with gloss paints, this stuff makes the hairs on your arms feel all sticky, along with the floor and everything else.

I really like the way it turned out, though it's hard to see through the fumes. I'll give it a few days to cure before stretching the tires over it.

Once the tires are on and the bike it rolling I can start figuring out the bar and rack angles and start getting to the finishing touches.

In 1976 filming began on George Lucas' Star Wars, years later kids would later ride their '76 Murray Skybolts to see the movie, not knowing that one day, their beloved bike might be going to the dark side... as a Rat Rod Bike!

This bike is awesome! I painted the rims on my re-pop this same color a few months back...I didn't know the straw trick!

 

[yoothgeye]

Re: *The 76er* (some assembly and wheel paint update: 6/15)

This bike is awesome! I painted the rims on my re-pop this same color a few months back...I didn't know the straw trick!

I don't remember if I learned the straw trick from someone else or just thought it was a good idea, but it works great, hoping people can learn things from this build. And, if you ever want to paint wheels on a car without taking off the tires, I've got a trick for that too! 8)

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Re: *The 76er* (some assembly and wheel paint update: 6/15)

And, if you ever want to paint wheels on a car without taking off the tires, I've got a trick for that too! 8)

Vaseline? I used it to prevent paint from sticking...Kinda like a gelatinous masking tape...ewwww :mrgreen:

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[yoothgeye]

Re: *The 76er* (some assembly and wheel paint update: 6/15)

Vaseline? I used it to prevent paint from sticking...Kinda like a gelatinous masking tape...ewwww :mrgreen:

Too messy, too much clean up, the answer is... index cards. This is not my trick, but one I can attest to. I did a quick and easy wheel paint on my Samurai before I sold it, didn't even take the wheels off:

Tuck cards in between wheel lip and tire bead:

Spray paint:

None gets on the tires unless you get really sloppy.
Before:

After:

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

BRILLIANT!

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[yoothgeye]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

BRILLIANT!

Cheers,
Dr. T

Technically this could work on bicycle wheels too, but it would take you more time to insert the index cards than to just pop the tire off.

 

[yoothgeye]

Re: *The 76er* (license plating update: 7/2)

Day 67

Well, I was rested up enough tonight to go do some work and I decided I'd get the bars right tonight... and I did!

After mesing around with 2 sets of bars I cut up, I grabbed another bar beside me and came up with an idea, then when I went downstairs to start putting it together I found those leftover wrenches I cut up for the rack build and altered my idea.

First I had to ream out the uncut box end of the wrench, this took alot of time with the dremel and a file:

Once the wrenches fit on the bars, I cut the flare out of the middle of the bar and slid them in place with a sleeve to get them properly laid out:

Then I cut them and ground them to fit the tube:

Then I started a little welding:

Then I added the bars and put them on the bike to set my angle before final welding:

After welding and cutting off the excess tube that mounts to the stems I reinstalled for final fitment:

From the front:

Threw on some grips for a mock up, and I might stick with these old grips, the yellowed out old white Hunt Wildes look great with the paint:

I was originally thinking of using a lower bar, but none ever talked to me when I installed them, when I got cody to hold these bars up in front of the bike tonight I knew what I had to do. You might be wondering why I have the stems backwards then went through all that trouble to have the bars mounted in front of the stems instead of just turning them around... well, I turned the stems forward many times just to look and it never worked, just messed up the flow on the front end.

Lastly I threw on my "Pedal RPM" tachometer. I wanna use this, but my inner cable is broken.

Since I felt like I was ahead with the bars, we shut down the shop for the night, I'm very pleased.

Did you know that in 1976 Ray Reardon was the World Snooker Championship winner? I sure hope you didn't, because I don't even know what snooker is... it just sounds too dirty to have a world championship. Don't tell me, I don't wanna know, I just want to imagine that people rode their 1976 Murray Skybolts to some other event that year.

 

[aka_locojoe]

Re: *The 76er* (FINALLY, some bars! update: 7/8)

Great idea and nice work on the bars.

 

[2dawgs]

Re: *The 76er* (FINALLY, some bars! update: 7/8)

These bars are way cool; excellent fab work.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Re: *The 76er* (FINALLY, some bars! update: 7/8)

You nailed it!
Using the leftover wrench ends was a stroke of genius.
When I started reading it I thought, hope he doesn't want to adjust those bars, but it's cool how they 'pivot' on the stems.
As far as the stems pointing backward, I think you're right, they look better pointing backward.

Cool thing is, if you need a little more room for it to ride comfortably (post 'finished' photos), you can always spin them around and pivot the bars.

I totally dig this bike and would steal it in a minute (that's a compliment BTW :mrgreen: )

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[Critter1]

Re: *The 76er* (FINALLY, some bars! update: 7/8)

Yep! IMHO, this is the best "fabed" part of the build off! You DEFINITELY nailed it!