The Rustacean

[BartRidesEternal]

I can live with it.

View attachment 238178

Completely agree with you on this beast Oddjob!

Seeing my fenders, I thought of:

A pin up would not be such a bad idea...

Possibilities are endless when ratrodding

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I like the fenders as they are. That aluminum looks good and battered

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Completely sanded the fenders and left some dents yellow.
Sprayed the insides dark grey and put a light layer of orange (same as frame) on the denty bits.
Then started sanding..... again.....
But I'm more than happy with the result!
I gave the fender struts/brackets a light layer of rusty brown and managed to assemble everything this evening. Fender assembly details are not done yet!

I also drilled holes for the "Torpedo" lamp on the front fender. I drilled them holes when the wheel was still on the bike because:

Pictures!

Orange layer.

After sanding.

Large washers on both sides, I like em tough!

I had this idea to clamp down the 4mm SST fender struts, but did'nt work out... too bulky and did not flow with the fork.

This then? Maybe temporary.

Crusty Torpedo lamp.

Work in progress!

Much to do, but I really like where I am heading.
I can imagine that this is a "more regular ol' cruiser" for some folks, but I really like this look so far!
I noticed that the fork doesn't jump out as much as without the fenders. But that’s ok, I still have lots of ideas left. More ideas then time allows unfortunately.

 

[user 35233]

Brilliant idea filling in the dents with paint. Sanding darkens it a bit, huh?

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Brilliant idea filling in the dents with paint. Sanding darkens it a bit, huh?

Could be dirt from sanding

I partially speedholed the pedals. More holes and deburring to come:

And I am trying ideas for the rear lamp assembly, what are your thoughts?
First a general picture, then a zoomed in one.

1:

Its okay...


2:

Better IMHO


3:

I would cut a piece off, but I don't like it that much.



4:

Would cut a piece off, but its better than the previous.


5:

Placed much lower by cutting and rounding.




6:

Some sort of textplate on the left open part. I like it, but don't know yet....

The following pictures I made for @kingfish254 , could not help myself when I saw the little engine

Thanks for watching!

 

[kingfish254]

Wow! that was a fun ride catching up on your build. Incredible progress. The geometry of the framework was masterful. And of course the fauxtina paint would surely gain the approval of Colonel Mustard! This really is an amazing build brother! It would be fun to post it up on the CABE or the Facebook "Old Bike Club" asking for help identifying the year, make, and model. It would have so many people thinking it is truly an old bike but they would be scratching there heads on what model. Keep rolling with your vision. That is a top level build so far in my opinion.

By the way, I LOVE THE LITTLE MOTOR!!!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I like the second option for the light. To me, that looks like the way an accessory like that would be designed if it were an actual part from the "jet age"

 

[68z27]

I like option 3. If there was the possibility of adding some type of smallish bulb/light on the end, to me it looks like the gas fueled hanging street lights of the 1800s and early 1900s that had to be lit one at a time.

Option 6 would look nice if a small vintage (similar to bike year) motorcycle plate or any other patina plate hanging from the brkt. but I have no idea where to find one......just a thought.......

 

[Captain Awesome]

#5 is the cleanest
#2 is the coolest

 

[OddJob]

Rear light wise, I like #5 with the 'sunken' look; but run it down near the back of the fender. I feel like a mount near the top of the fender in the back will just grab the viewer's eye and take it away from one of the coolest parts, and your first inspiration for this build (if I read your first post correctly) that really cool and unusual fork!

So, that brings me to this; I really liked this bike without the fenders. So much so, that I was almost ready to ask you for your mailing address....if you catch my drift.

The tractor / implement / road construction look retracted some for me when the fenders appeared. The hefty tires on those crusty wheels and that fork (almost a front end loader look) and your old vintage white / RaT-ina and construction vehicle orange / RaT-ina work you did is phenomenal ! And those really cool, fat, grooved tires!

It's your build. These are just my thoughts. And some photos of the pre-fendered look....WOW!

 

[BobbyStillz]

Could be dirt from sanding

I partially speedholed the pedals. More holes and deburring to come:
View attachment 238802


And I am trying ideas for the rear lamp assembly, what are your thoughts?
First a general picture, then a zoomed in one.

1:
View attachment 238784
View attachment 238804
Its okay...


2:
View attachment 238787
View attachment 238790
Better IMHO


3:
View attachment 238791
View attachment 238792
I would cut a piece off, but I don't like it that much.



4:
View attachment 238793
View attachment 238794
Would cut a piece off, but its better than the previous.


5:
View attachment 238795
Placed much lower by cutting and rounding.




6:
View attachment 238797
View attachment 238798
Some sort of textplate on the left open part. I like it, but don't know yet....




View attachment 238799



The following pictures I made for @kingfish254 , could not help myself when I saw the little engine
View attachment 238800



Thanks for watching!

I like #4 and #5, but is this still an option (on the non drive side)? Even shortened like #5, but mounted below?

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I like #4 and #5, but is this still an option (on the non drive side)? Even shortened like #5, but mounted below?

View attachment 238942

Yes I like that location a lot

 

[Pondo]

I like #4 and #5, but is this still an option (on the non drive side)? Even shortened like #5, but mounted below?

View attachment 238942

I'm feeling this one too. It just looks cool there.

 

[BartRidesEternal]

I like the second option for the light. To me, that looks like the way an accessory like that would be designed if it were an actual part from the "jet age"

Yeah I know what you mean! I love that about it.

I like option 3. If there was the possibility of adding some type of smallish bulb/light on the end, to me it looks like the gas fueled hanging street lights of the 1800s and early 1900s that had to be lit one at a time.

Option 6 would look nice if a small vintage (similar to bike year) motorcycle plate or any other patina plate hanging from the brkt. but I have no idea where to find one......just a thought.......

Thank you! Haven't thought about it in that way... pretty neat that you mention it!

#5 is the cleanest
#2 is the coolest

Thanks Cap!

Rear light wise, I like #5 with the 'sunken' look; but run it down near the back of the fender. I feel like a mount near the top of the fender in the back will just grab the viewer's eye and take it away from one of the coolest parts, and your first inspiration for this build (if I read your first post correctly) that really cool and unusual fork!

So, that brings me to this; I really liked this bike without the fenders. So much so, that I was almost ready to ask you for your mailing address....if you catch my drift.

The tractor / implement / road construction look retracted some for me when the fenders appeared. The hefty tires on those crusty wheels and that fork (almost a front end loader look) and your old vintage white / RaT-ina and construction vehicle orange / RaT-ina work you did is phenomenal ! And those really cool, fat, grooved tires!

It's your build. These are just my thoughts. And some photos of the pre-fendered look....WOW!

View attachment 238892View attachment 238895View attachment 238893View attachment 238894

OJ, I appreciate your view and careful considerations. I share your opinion about the rear light and the fork! Although I never owned this type of American Style cruiser (with fenders) before and really felt I wanted one this time. I dream of building a larger Elgin Twin one day, fenders, shrouds and all... steel or wood, rusty/patina. That is where this builds desire comes from. I really like the fenders, even though the fork is less apparent....
I will consider you rear light idea, thank you!

I like #4 and #5, but is this still an option (on the non drive side)? Even shortened like #5, but mounted below?

View attachment 238942

Thanks for reminding me of that option again Bobby! I instantly tried it and will try Oddjob's ideas too before I start to cut.
Thanks!!




Some updates:

Lightly speedholed the pedals and assembled them. Tried the looks with the chaincover.
I still need to fabricate some brackets for the cover, so not in final position here.

Tried the ideas from @BobbyStillz and made a variation of it.

This week the mahogany wooden grips and rear lamp will arrive. Decided to buy the grips due to time. And these grips are great in quality.

7:

8:

Danger of kicking parts off!
And clean socks!

Moved more to the back!

Looks cool! Maybe a little less wide.

Will wait with the decision + cutting till all parts are in!

Speedy! Holes are lighter dan carbon.

Not final position. Chainguard will lower a bit and move slightly forward.

Stem bolt changed from allen to hex.


Thanks guys!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I like position 7. Sticking out the side is scary looking. All I see is a meathook, even located further back

 

[Captain Awesome]

I like position 7. Sticking out the side is scary looking. All I see is a meathook, even located further back

+100

 

[BartRidesEternal]

I like position 7. Sticking out the side is scary looking. All I see is a meathook, even located further back

That makes it extra cool! No just kidding. I'll leave the light ideas for now.
My main thought is to chop it like #5 and assemble it on the chainstay or, like #5, on the fender. We'll see how it all look when the parts come in.

In the meanwhile I made a speedholed bracket and assembled the chaincover.
There is much to do, but we are generally quite far on how the bike looks in the end.

And I found an Electra Ratrod bike very cheap, just couldnt leave it. I really like the design on these bikes. Wish they were a little bit larger...

Pictures!

A thought...

Bracket. Came off off an 100+ year old snow sled!

Assembled with spacers. Little bit more leveling and attention to detail to come.

Lookin' good!


I might try swapping the bars to get an idea. But I really like it!

Took the ratrod with me. 20km cycling with the bike next to me. Still beating them electric bikes whaha!

Pretty happy with this. Needs a little maintenance and cleaning!

Thanks for having a look!

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Hi guys,

The feeling that time is ticking is getting to me. Somewhere this month my family and I will be on holiday for over a week.
A friend will enjoy our house when we are away, but she won't 'git ta buildin'!
There is a lot of work to do:

• Lace the rear wheel (Its rideable, but not for long distances which I want to do).
• Grips + bar ends.
• Lots of details: washers, patina and fabrication of small parts.
• File the fork arms clean and round.
• Final assembly with grease.
• Chain.
• Grease / repack the hubs.
• Fabricate spacers and custom washers for the fork.
• And I have some more ideas I'll share later.
• Check and assemble the tires properly.
• Assemble and fabricate rear light.

This evening I fabricated part of the fork/arm finishing. Finally found something that I like with the shape of the fork.

Decided to utilize the lamp from the electra ratrod I bought.

Found this. Cheap!!

Cutting.

I like this. Reminds me of rigid WW1 / WW2 landing gears from planes. Shapewise.


Fun 'half an hour project':
Broken shifter cable shortened and I placed the shifter underneath the seat.
I used a broken stem for that.

The ratrod has new grips and I cleaned it a bit (not on the pictures below). Technically the bike rides like new!

Pretty cool!

 

[Pondo]

Cool axle covers, good price too!

 

[JA331]

Your build is awesome and the shifter mount on your RR is pure genius. I’m stealing it with thanks! This is my first year ratrod. Had a springer which was faulty from the factory.