1990 Giant Iguana Mod and Build Project

thesleazye

Retro Newbie
Howdy from Houston, TX. Long time reader, first time poster.

I have an exciting build (one of four I'm doing) for my good friend using a nice retro, steel (because it's real) bicycle from Giant as a canvas.

Plan was to go from the Suntour Original Parts Group to an equivalent, but modern Shimano Component Group (mostly due to the damage of the original Suntour and ridiculous price of replacements... on the Bay :evil: )

Below is what I've selected as upgraded. The frame, fork, quill stem, and handlebar will remain; however, with a fresh coat of metallic paint. The frame will stay a dark grey metallic and the other parts will given a fancy black spray. Unfortunately decals are hard to come by for this model, so I'm going to search for any Iguana set I can find.

Below is the before and after list
  • Crankset: Suntour XCM -> Shimano Acera FC-M361
  • FD: Suntour XCM -> Shimano Acera FD-M360
  • RD: Suntour XCM -> Shimano Acera RD-M390
  • Shifters: Suntour Xpress Accu Plus -> Shimano Acera SL-M310
  • Freewheel: Suntour 7 Speed -> Shimano MF-TZ30
  • Brakes: Diacompe XCM -> Shimano Altus BR-CT91
  • Tires: Kenda Tires Rotten -> Kenda K841C
  • Saddle: Giant Saddle -> Velo Bio
  • BBracket: Suntour XCM Cup and Cone -> Shimano Sealed BB-UN26

I was an idiot :facepalm: and didn't take a before shot of the bike, but it was rough. Below are some shots of where I just finished removing one crank arm.

20131211_001218+%2528Medium%2529.jpg


Original Joy-Tec wheels my friend wants to keep... for now.
20131211_001224+%2528Medium%2529.jpg


Shipment of goodies :xmas-big-grin:
20131211_001229+%2528Medium%2529.jpg


Soaked the crank arm for 24 hours with WD-40 to break the nut free... I was impatient last night (day before this photo) and accidentally punched the frame whilst putting all my strength into torquing my wrench (I believe you call them spanners). :facepalm:
20131211_001237+%2528Medium%2529.jpg


New Acera Crankset :P
20131211_001244+%2528Medium%2529.jpg
 
I ordered a 25.4mm Aluminum (Aluminium, according to my Aussie girlfriend) Seat Post (not the one on there... that's for a different, repair build - 1996 Diamondback Wildwood for my girl's good friend), but the sucker doesn't fit because the diameter is between 26.4-26.8mm. I have to go grab my calipers from my workshop and order a "problem solver" shim.

Besides the Giant and Diamondback, I'm doing a mod build on a 1980 Schwinn World Sport (cold set for modern 700x36c wide Fuji wheels) and my own personal, 1984 Raleigh Record Sprint (below).

20131211_001306+%2528Medium%2529.jpg
 
Back
Top