The Monark Butterflyer! Finally Done! 2/13/11

[Pudge]

Okay, so the name isn't the most masculine! But it's a Monark and it has one of those "butterfly" type stands so that's what my daughter and I started calling it. Anyway, I just wanted to share with you guys the beginning of my project. In my mind it's a whole lot further along than it is in the garage but it's starting to come together so I thought I'd share it so far.
It started with this: A Monark Mutt

Its Namesake - The Butterfly stand:

The paint on the frame and fenders really came out a very cool looking burgundy color after rubbing it out with a mixture of Mother's and polishing compound. In its day it was red but now it's much more burgundy and I'm really digging the look of the paint.

The new seat matches nicely with the patina'd paint

And in keeping with the not so masculine name of my build... it's a lady's Brooks! :lol: I got it on the cheap from Chain Reaction Cycles back when they had a killer sale on these!

The old painted rims just didn't clean up to my satisfaction...

...So I had 'em powdercoated a shade more tan than the original off white to better match the brown Fat Franks I'll be mounting on them and had a new burgundy pinstripe added that matches the color of the frame better.

So where I'm at right now is scratching my head as I try to lace this Nexux 7 into one of these hoops.

More to come - lots more in my mind! Thanks for viewing!

 

[user 135]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

Nice looking start. Gonna be cool with the lineup parts. Have fun lacing. :wink:

 

[rico]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

Looking verry good Peter ! , cant wait to see more from it :wink:

 

[Pudge]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

Got my American to Euro bottom bracket conversion kit today and was able to get my cranks and innards added to the frame. Sure seems strange not having to grease any bearings or anything! Just screw it all in there and it's done? Weird! But it's as smooth as snot on glass and I'm assured it will be for a long time. We'll see.

Before anyone asks - Yeah, they're zero gauge spokes laced to a completely clear Rolhoff 14 spd hub. :mrgreen:

The orange word has to go. Anyone try to take the words off their crank? I'm thinking scraping with a blade or using lacquer thinner? Or using an extra fine tip Sharpee paint marker in red and going over it.

 

[Ken Nighplay]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

Very cool build, I always love the mixing of new and old. Be careful taking off the nexus lettering, looks like the crank is powdercoated silver and not polished. Razor will likely scratch it, If you try lacquer thinner try on the back side of the crank first to see if it will lift the silver finish

 

[Unchained]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

Beautiful!

I'd try bronze or super soft (grade 0000) steel wool, Formula 409, and a lot of gentle patience on that lettering. 409 is probably soapy enough to take away some of the wool's edge, and the lettering is probably on top of the finish on the crank anyway. I don't really know how good this idea is having not done this myself, but it has been recommended to me for taking off rattle can on top of factory paint, so might be worth a try. Works great for that application... Good luck!

 

[jonvo4591]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

if the lettering is on top of the finish, you could try an automotive eraser wheel. Its a round rubber wheel that you can put in a drill. used to take off pinstripes and adhesive and stuff without hurting the finish underneath. You might have to polish the area after you erase the decal to make it look good, but I've done this several times on cars and whatnot.

 

[Pudge]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

Finally got my back wheel built! Can't wait to put it on but need to stretch apart the rear triangle a bit before squeezing it in between there.

I asked this question in a different thread under "how to" but didn't get an answer so I'll ask here. I'm squeezing a Nexus 7 with coaster between these dropouts. They make different colors of no-slip washers for different degrees of angle on the drop outs. I went to Sheldon's website and found a chart but it stops at 90*degree angles (vertical dropouts). I'm estimating that this is more like a 145* angle. I know there's someone out there who has a Nexus hub set-up in a rear drop out frame. I need to order the correct color washers. Can someone tell me what color washer I should order? I'd really appreciate it.

 

[yeshoney]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

Pudge,

I am sure I have a nexus in a similar dropout. I am on my way out until later this evening. PM me a reminder to look and I will get you the answer. I am pretty sure it is the green one, but will have to double check.

Joe

Finally got my back wheel built! Can't wait to put it on but need to stretch apart the rear triangle a bit before squeezing it in between there.

I asked this question in a different thread under "how to" but didn't get an answer so I'll ask here. I'm squeezing a Nexus 7 with coaster between these dropouts. They make different colors of no-slip washers for different degrees of angle on the drop outs. I went to Sheldon's website and found a chart but it stops at 90*degree angles (vertical dropouts). I'm estimating that this is more like a 145* angle. I know there's someone out there who has a Nexus hub set-up in a rear drop out frame. I need to order the correct color washers. Can someone tell me what color washer I should order? I'd really appreciate it.

 

[davy B]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

wow! looking real good so far, im not a huge fan of those stems though, it doesnt really make the bars flow into the frame if you know what i mean, still looks great though

 

[pvwacko]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

I asked this question in a different thread under "how to" but didn't get an answer so I'll ask here. I'm squeezing a Nexus 7 with coaster between these dropouts. They make different colors of no-slip washers for different degrees of angle on the drop outs. I went to Sheldon's website and found a chart but it stops at 90*degree angles (vertical dropouts). I'm estimating that this is more like a 145* angle. I know there's someone out there who has a Nexus hub set-up in a rear drop out frame. I need to order the correct color washers. Can someone tell me what color washer I should order? I'd really appreciate it.

That washer you are talking about keeps the shifter in line with the frame right?? You can flip that 180* and it may work stock. That might explain why sheldons site only goes to 90*.

 

[Pudge]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

I wish I knew how you guys reply to more than one person and have all of their quotes in the same post. Anyway, a quick reply to the last three comments.

Joe, thanks for inviting me to PM you about this. I specifically was thinking of you when I wrote my question on the hub washers but have used you as my "go to guy" for so many other things I didn't want to bug you. But internally I was saying, "Come on Joe, send me a reply!" You're a real stand up guy and I look forward to your info.

Davy B - as you know these old frames are smaller than the new frames. I'm trying to make the frame feel bigger hence the reason I used a lay back type of seat post and this style of stem that projects outwards, away from the steer tube. Plus I like it! And that's why they make chocolate and vanilla! Some like, some don't. I got some pretty cool looking bars that came off a vintage Triumph motorcycle that I'm going to use on them... as soon as I figure out how to straighten out a bend in them! The knurls on the bars match up with the stem so they don't have the swollen part and knurls in the middle of the bars like so many bicycle bars have. They're wide but don't sweep back towards the rider so it should help to open my stance some. They should look pretty cool. We soon shall see. I truly appreciate your input.

PVWacko - I think you're onto something! My thought process was going that way the other night. It just seems to make sense, if the angle I estimated is 145*, wouldn't the exact opposite or mirror image angle be 35*? (145+35=180) So couldn't I just figure on the washer that best correlates with a 35 degree angle and spin it around 180 degrees?

Man, I wanna work on this bike so bad! Work is just really putting a damper on my plans! Thanks guys.

 

[pvwacko]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

I'm not a math person so I would draw it out. put your frame in a vice so it's horizontal. take angle measurements of the dropouts and your chainstay. (or whatever bar you want the shifter arm to line up with) then figure the angle between the shifter arm on the wheel and the flat spots on the axle. sketch them all out and find your angle with a protractor. I may give it a shot today using my nexus 7 if I get time.

 

[yeshoney]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

PM sent and same info posted in Bike Talk for everyone to see.

Glad I could help!

Joe

 

[icyuod2]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

sweet ride, thats gonna look fantastic when complete

 

[Pudge]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

Spread apart my dropouts and got the correct no-slip washers for the hub (thanks YesHoney) and finally mounted the back wheel! Sorry folks, I'm a slow builder! It's starting to come together a bit more so I wanted to document my progress.

The old one bulb light just wouldn't put out any light so I took the heads out of 5 cheap flashlights and mounted them inside, upgraded the battery pack to an 8 pack of AA's and now I'm leasing this thing out to car dealerships to attract buyers at night!

The front fender has some vintage "pinstriping" that some kid probably did many decades ago. I'm thinking about leaving it there just for nostalgia sake. Who knows, maybe it's some Indian hieroglyphics that'll keep me safe while riding!

It's always cool to have a hometown license plate mounted. Still working on when the city switched from metal tags to stickers.

Not sure if you can see it or not but I was dumpster diving one day behind this factory that makes gaskets and came across these sheets of what looks like cork and rubber meshed together. I've been making washers and spacers out of it and putting them between just about every space I can where I'm fastening two pieces of metal together. They really work to dampen any vibration noises. Here's one butted up against the green no-spin washer.

And that's it so far! Waiting on the clear coats to dry on a JC Higgins rear rack I painted. I'll post those pics soon. But for now here's a couple of random pics just because.

Thanks for looking.

 

[mesome]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

I asked this question in a different thread under "how to" but didn't get an answer so I'll ask here. I'm squeezing a Nexus 7 with coaster between these dropouts. They make different colors of no-slip washers for different degrees of angle on the drop outs. I went to Sheldon's website and found a chart but it stops at 90*degree angles (vertical dropouts). I'm estimating that this is more like a 145* angle. I know there's someone out there who has a Nexus hub set-up in a rear drop out frame. I need to order the correct color washers. Can someone tell me what color washer I should order? I'd really appreciate it.

That washer you are talking about keeps the shifter in line with the frame right?? You can flip that 180* and it may work stock. That might explain why sheldons site only goes to 90*.

I'm not very familiar with the nexus no turn washers, but couldn't you just switch the sides they're on. So if you had forward facing dropouts of the same angle, that take say the green washer on the right, and black on the left, couldn't you just flip them around and have the black one on the right and green on the left for the rear facing dropout?

 

[Pudge]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

I'm not very familiar with the nexus no turn washers, but couldn't you just switch the sides they're on. So if you had forward facing dropouts of the same angle, that take say the green washer on the right, and black on the left, couldn't you just flip them around and have the black one on the right and green on the left for the rear facing dropout?

Yeah, Mesome, you're definitely on the same line of thought I was on and thankfully YesHoney did all the trial and error to figure it out exactly. We have the green and blue washers on the opposite sides as are embossed on them, i.e. the L washer on the right side and the R washer on the left side. These are the washers that are more normally indicated for vertical dropouts. I guess they are the closest ones to what we have, although there's no question that they wouldn't have worked at all had I tried them on the side they are indicated for.

By the way, when I asked the fine folks at Harris Cyclery, they said there was no hard and fast rule on which ones would be best for rear facing dropouts, which isn't all that helpful when you're trying to order a set! And like I said, had it not been for YesHoney I'd be scratching my head a bit more before ordering and chewing my nails until the order arrived! The good news is, the ones I have (green and blue) are perfect! And again, yeah, they're switched!

 

[vwnthusiast]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

looking very nice!.. plus a state local.. im in central va

 

[yeshoney]

Re: The Monark Butterflyer!

I want to ride with you!!! Your build is just great. Love the style and the colors and the vintage mixed with the modern. Glad I could help out with the no turn washer issue. I bought a whole set and just trial and error til i got it right. Can't wait to see it all buttoned up.

BTW - I have that seat post on my "Monark Challenger" and that stem on my "Bud Truck"

Joe