Da funk is this...

[Mickeyspinn]

Been meaning to post a little build thread on this puppy,my phone died yesterday taking all the pics of the works done so far I hate technology! So I figured best get posting for piccy posterity before more tech fails!!

So it ain't quite a klunker....theres obvious homage in the paint tho..and yes if you look close I'm yet to wet flat it and lacquer..

So starting point...a 94/95 Karakoram frame battered bruised but chirpy chirpy cheeeeeeeeeep! We like cheap

A stuck seatpost er no scrub stuck ...a heavily corroded mofo. Acid nailed that
Top tube had two dents one 6" from head tube on top and one about the same from seat tube again on top.So a perfect opportunity to try my hand at rolling/massaging dents out ! Went well ...better than expected even,the one near head tube needed no filler and blended out with high build primer the one near seatube was way trickier as the tube ain't round...still I got to the point of just a fine skim of filler probably less than half a mm.

Now as I was mixing filler....hmmm....I thought what about blending all the welds smooth kinda like a fillet brazed frame? Yup didn't take long to like that idea....bead blasted all the areas and got stuck in....bloody hell it took ages to get that blended perfect roll doubt I'll ever do that again!

Other jobs done ?
Deleting all braze ons and cantilever mounts ...I didnt want them... oh no....plan was for smooth and easy clean baby no nooks no crannies.
Tweak the rear dropouts for the new hub width.
And add a little extra clearance on the drive side for chainring choice.
Making some new epoxy bonded on cable guides
Yup that's s fat paint run..


Different forks ...I fancied something straight as GT's can look neat with straights, got lucky in the shed o'shit and found some project two triple butted oooh yeah ....so very carefully removed the cantilever stud's again ...time consuming with a file,did need a little skim as I wasn't going to disturb the weld root as they're pretty thin there.....im ugly enough but I still have my teeth ok!


Costs to this stage ?
frame free as it came with forks and stem which is all I wanted for my £30
wheelset eBay bargains ! £50
paint and sundries £40
one dead Kona full suss for chopping out cable guides...free
time cost? At minimum wage ..!!?? A fortune !

loads more to do and will update ..now I've cleared 3 bikes from the cool wall I need some fresh fodder to fill it up...I'm seriously lacking in the 26" department too which makes a change for me.


Jus dandy

 

[minor_LEGEND]

interesting. I look forward to more progress.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

So i got the wet flatting done last night and fixed a couple of paint chips ....no idea how they appeared...grrr!
Today was going to be about lacquer... all smooth and lovely .... Went to the paint cupboard and there's only a quarter can of lacquer,bugger!
So stem and forks had first coats... there'll be 2 more to go on ....



So as I can't steam into the frame it's bring out Betsy time....
Betsy likes to get filthy and buff...
Meet Betsy..


A little bit of filing and wet flatting on these...

And it's time to introduce them to Betsy's charm!

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Drive side crank needs another hit but it's not looking to bad considering its from a bike that's seen salty winter roads! Always the way.... mechanically good is usually cosmetically challenged or vice versa!
Ahhh time for a beer

 

[coomber]

Lovely paint.

Excuse my ignorance, no front brake the idea then?

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Lovely paint.

Excuse my ignorance, no front brake the idea then?

I'm rocking to a different beat!

Drums!

It'll be rolling drums front and back !
And 3 speeds courtesy of sturmey archer.
Thanks for paint compliment

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Today was lacquer day!

Today was not lacquer day!

I left the frame in the glorious sun to warm up a bit before going on with lacquer when I returned there'd been a bird strike...yup!
Birds shittzle dribbling down the downtube and of course it pickled it!
Both colours aswell...nice one birdie I owe you

So I cracked on...

And somehow I've managed to pull it back!
I can just see a trace of the event...can you?
Itching to go on with lacquer now but that needs 24hr.. tomorrow it'll happen.

A little stem cap wet flat and buff,clean up some bolts.
A Norris mcguirter squirt on the brake lever clamp bodies and reassembled + lubed with PTFE.
Love these levers hands have spent so much time on these over the years any other lever just doesn't feel right anymore.
And that's about it for 4 hours of faff!!

Time for a steak and then see what ventoux on Netflix is about!

 

[Mickeyspinn]

2 coats of lacquer on yay!
I'll wet flat tomorrow and hopefully as long as there's no more misshaps get the final one on.

Meanwhile......
I'm gonna need a seat clamp....all I can find is the usual soft as butter stuff...with M4 or M5 thread...nah! .I don't want that I need something a little more stern
Looks like I'll be going for a cranked steel seatpost in chrome so I'm gonna need to properly get hold of that seat tube

A quick rummage in the bin of sh!t.....

You'll do..come to daddy.....mmmm mmmm

 

[retrobikeguy]

I love it ................ Bin of Sh!t

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Right you ugly b'stard off with half yer head!





The all important bit....the hole and register



Prettied up a bit...a few more tweeks to do then wet n dry and buff it up!

And that folks is another episode of faff!