BLACKBIRD (Skylark Convertible)

[The Renaissance Man]

The kick stand was too short and the lucky 7 needed to be bent to make it rear facing.

Here's the only before picture that I have of both pieces.

I didn't get any action pictures but the kickstand was heated with a torch, straightened out and then re-bent further toward the bottom to effectively make it longer.

The Lucky Seven was also heated with a torch and opened up to make it more of a Lucky Boomerang.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

I have one of those kickstands on El Chiggins. I'd never seen one before. It came from the Elgin half of my bike. Definitely beefy, I love it. Unbending the 7 is a good idea too, I like it. About a week to go bro...

Carl.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Was out of town all day yesterday to celebrate my son's 21st birthday but marked another item off of my list today after church.


Got the wheels laced a few days ago and finished them up today. I trued them both on the bike itself. I don't have a truing stand but it made more sense to do it on the bike anyway. By using the frame and fork, I was able to make certain that the wheels are as centered on the bike as possible.

On the rear I measured from each side of the BB to the axel to make sure the axel was parallel with the BB before I started truing.

I think the shiny new paint and stainless spokes are really going make a nice contrast to the original and primer paint on the bike!

Got one week left and there's still a lot to do. Hoping to get a lot done tomorrow!

 

[GuitarlCarl]

You're right those hubs do have a Batman vibe in an old school way.
But whatever dude, those hubs are cool as all get out too!

Carl.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks Carl, I really like the way they turned out. Pretty sure they were never sold in a painted version but black with red pin stripes really highlights the fins!

I've considered running a red pin stripe along the edge of the rims also just to tie the rims and hubs together. The old painted hoops typically did have factory pin stripes.

I need to decide very soon though!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Didn't get as much done today as I had hoped, but I did get the mounting pins in place for the Light switch pod.

I made a couple of short studs from some spokes and spent a while getting everything in the right place to hold it on the tank. First I had to biuld up a boss on each end of the pod out of fiberglass and then drill and thread the spokes in place making sure that they were centered. Then I transfered the location of the studs to the tank and cut slots for the spokes to rest in.

Macro Monday shots!

When the two tank halves are bolted together, the angle of the studs will not allow it to pull up. Simple and effective. I discovered this trick on the Decoluxe a few years back.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I also started cleaning up this skip chain.
I should've had this soaking for the past four months!

#poorplanning

All of the dirt that you can see on the bench came off of the chain!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The first of the final assembly has begun. Not much to see but it's good to be moving toward a finished bike finally!

Got the crank & chain ring together, packed the bearings with grease and got it spinning on the frame.

 

[sandman]

What is that little seat for ? Photo shopped ?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

That's the saddle that will go on the bike. It's sitting on the floor.

It does look tiny in the picture.

 

[handyandy1100]

It's not that the seat is small, it's the 48" diameter front sprocket that makes it look small.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[kingfish254]

Cool idea for the holding pins. Gonna be fun seeing this go back together.
Love the hubs!!!! Rim pinstripe would be cool.

 

[SkyknightJohn]

Love the zip-tie on-frame truing stand method. Use it myself.

Everything else looking good too!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Pinstriped the fenders today. Sticking with the black and red theme from the old paint job from years ago on the frame.

Spent better than an hour bolting up the rear fender and skirts. Those little 'Chicago' bolts are so tiny, it was very hard to get them lined up and threaded together. The slotted head did'nt help matters either. But thankfully I did'nt drop and loose any. It took nine of them and I only had nine!
This is one bolt and barrel sitting on a dime!

Here's a comparison showing how little space they take once they're in place. The bolt at the bottom is a little 6-32!

And here's how they look on the outside.

 

[kingfish254]

Did you use your Buegler for the stripes? I still have never played around with mine yet. Great looking stripes!!!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Yes I did and I did'nt realize how uneven it got around the seat stays until I took that close piture. My old eyes aren't what they used to be!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Here's todays final photos before packing it up for the night.

Still a lot to get finished!

 

[Klunkruiser]

Those hubs look spectacular!

 

[Brian macumber]

Yes I did and I did'nt realize how uneven it got around the seat stays until I took that close piture. My old eyes aren't what they used to be!

Makes it look brush stripped (guessing the buegler is a pin strip roller).

 

[Binz]

Man this is turning out great!!! Absolutely love that black with red pinstripe!