The Shelbinator. 37 Shelby Y Frame Muscle Truck

[Palepainter]

The story goes like this. Found this frame that was yanked out of a field and hung on a wall as art for the past 20 years. It looked bad in the ad, but had no how badly it was mangled. It has been bent and twisted pretty badly. I got it for 25 bucks, and only needed the badge that was on it, I threw it on to the Tree of Woe where it resided till now. I took it down and assessed the situation. Then assessed it some more and almost threw it out. Then it came to me….. Miscle Truck…I had the initial idea last April and sat on it because it is in such poor condition.

I have a nice set of brake drum front and rear. 3 speed sturmey or free wheel atom, and atom for the front. Will relace the rear into an Araya hoop. A vintage feel but some what retromod. As anything, I will use this as a loose guide and let the creativity flow. The first thing is to get busy on the frame. Here is a photo of it when I dragged it home last fall.

I started by wrestling With it to get it back in shape, The work on the frame allowed me totraightedn while I worked. Rust and freeze blow outs here and there will need to be addressed.

 

[OddJob]

I like this idea~! Looks like you are diving right in on that frame work. Welcome to the TT WBO, PP!

 

[Palepainter]

Yea…. Really the only place to start in order to determine if it’s going to work or not. The rear has to be spread for hub and the chain stays have to be rebuilt prior to that. We will see, but no fiberglass BS on this one. The seat tube came from an old centurion road bike.

 

[Pondo]

Wow, big job! Nothing you can't handle though. I like the concept for the project. Pretty cool!

 

[Palepainter]

Messing with fork options. This came off a girls bike that was in the trash. Getting ready to extend the steerer tube

 

[Palepainter]

Today I took the afternoon off and messed with the Shelby. I spread the front fork in order to be able to get the Sturmey drum hub in there, and let me say that this was the toughest fork I have ever encountered. I worked me over for a while before I finally got it to spread 1/4 inch. I managed to force the truss to fit with a bit of heat and some anvil work. Threw on the set of Stingray bars. Found an old stem that will do.

I then made a cardboard template and cut out the panel between frame bars. From the looks of the Sturmey rear hub, I will have to spread it another 3/4 in the rear. But must cut in the patch on the chain stay before I move things in back. Undecided on the seat, I do know I want to run a longer seat with suspension post to absorb some of the road. Funny thing, a friend threw this unicycle in the back of my truck as I was leaving. He knows my wife weighed my truck before going to the Pedal Peddle swap meet. Thus throwing my gross weight into the “brought more bikes home “ weight class.

 

[kingfish254]

Absolutely LOVE this idea!!!! Roll with it man!

 

[Pondo]

Style, creativity, fabrication. What's not to love here? Awesome!

 

[Mr. Monkeyarms]

Cool!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

From rust to riches!

 

[Palepainter]

Took the day off with a early load in for a Friday El Loco Fandango show up north. Patched in the chain stay and fixed some rust issues. Neck, I had to spread the rear 1.5 inches to get the drum- 7 speed hub in there. Muscle power alone was not enough. I had to distribute the heat in optimized locations to help ease the stays out while maintaining proper dropmout direction. I was pleasantly surprised that the heat relief in the bends didn’t give me much spring back when tension on spreading device was released.

Checked alignment of frame once again. Dead center still. Threw the wheels on and got a nice profile shot of it. Waiting on. Seat oost shim and new seat.

 

[Palepainter]

This morning I rigged up a device to hone out the inside of seat tube where weld penetration prevented seatpost from goin in. Mocked up a stingray seat and checked fit. Close to throwing tires and cranks on it to check out how it rolls

On another note. Has anyone seen a stick shift out there that would work with the 7 speed internal hub?

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Has anyone seen a stick shift out there that would work with the 7 speed internal hub?

I've never seen a product like that. Lots of homebrewed versions made by mounting a nub of a bar on the bike, using that to mount a grip shifter, which is used as a base to build a custom stick.
Check out post #175 for a great example by @handyandy1100
Whole lotta other stuff to check out too

https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/lets-see-those-old-school-custom-shifters.14727/page-9

 

[OddJob]

@Palepainter , I made a stick shift to work with my Shimano Nexus Int 4 spd hub on "Four-gone Conclusion", an MBBO entry a few years ago. I used a stem mounted friction shift lever from a old road bike, and mounted it on my top tube. My second rendition worked okay, but it was a little 'grind em to find em' because the gears are so close together inside those INT hubs. I think Matti's idea of modding an actual grip shift that works with the Nexus 7 spd would be the best.

 

[Ravenshurst]

Very nice

 

[CRASH]

Does BoxxKar? (Advertises on RRB) maybe.

 

[Palepainter]

I found an all alloy shimano thumb shifter that I will modify into a jockey style shifter. Went over to my buddy @Mr. Monkeyarms today and he kindly hooked me up with a few items to enable the build. A little bit of dolly and hammer time got this sweet guard in shape. The bike will be pretty much murdered out. Will be rolling soon.

 

[Ulu]

I've never seen a product like that. Lots of homebrewed versions made by mounting a nub of a bar on the bike, using that to mount a grip shifter, which is used as a base . . .
View attachment 212435

I was going to do something similar, but I was afraid if I added a big stick to the plastic Shimano bits, I would have enough leverage to accidentally break it apart in a careless moment.

 

[Palepainter]

I was going to do something similar, but I was afraid if I added a big stick to the plastic Shimano bits, I would have enough leverage to accidentally break it apart in a careless moment.

My concern as well. This all alloy unit is pretty stout. My worries with this is the length of throw and being able to engage all the gears. I'm pretty sure it will do the job testing it on the bench, but wont know till I'm rolling on it.

 

[Palepainter]

A full shot of it so far.