RRBBO13 Timeliner

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Haven't posted in a while but I've been making some progress, also some whatever is the opposite of progress... I took the wheels apart cuz I don't really trust rusty brittle 80 year old spokes for a bike I plan to ride, good news is the rims are both straight and solid, hubs are another story. I knew the rear hub needed attention cuz it took a half crank rotation to engage the brakes, turns out the clutch spring thingy was broken, no big deal as I was planning to use the hub guts from the ladies westfield. problem is the grease and dirt caked on the hub protected it very well and it came out of the degreaser bucket shiny chrome! nice but not for this bike. the front hub was worse, axle bent, threads mashed, and it appears the bike was ridden with the bearings cranked way too tight for a while. The bearings came out of the degreaser bucket in chunks, and both the cones and the bearing surfaces in the hub were destroyed so the whole thing went in the trash. The westfield is gonna give up both it's hubs now so another pair of wheels to disassemble and then hopefully some things can start to go back together, it's as far apart as it can get....
 
Nice build, cool frame. I work in tight quarters too, my studio apartment is also my shop. Have fun withthis, I'm liking it
 
2 steps foreward, one step back... the bike is starting to tell me how it wants to be built and it’s a bit different than my original vision. I got the crank installed this weekend
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the bottom bracket shell is a bit wider than the frame I took the crank off of, it took 4 tries with different depth cups and cones to get it right but it’s done [emoji3] Detail shot of surface finish
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the front hub retainers were missing one bearing so I had to search for a good one, and one of the headset cups had a big dent in it. These Murray frames use an oddball size headset, luckily I had one in the bag of parts. My first real setback is the fact that balloon tires and fenders don’t play well with middleweight frames. There’s about an inch difference between the fender mounting points on the frame, and the axle. Also the forks are a bit shorter
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I don’t want to hack up the flat fender braces so I’m gonna donate them to another project I’ve got going on. Without the big fenders, this bike is gonna need some rusty bodywork. Schwinnray Nick gave me this girls tank a couple years back
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if I flip it upside down it kinda fits but the red has gotta go. I wire brushed off the paint, did a little research on here and mixed up some hydrogen peroxide, vinegar and salt and now I’ve got this...
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stay tuned... [emoji41]
 
More work done tonight, steering bearings greased and installed, the truss rods from the Westfield were a bit too long, after some crude blacksmithing,
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some new holes,
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sanding the ends,
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and bending this thingy a bit
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we have truss rods!
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.
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Then a suitably rusty stem
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and it’s starting to look like something...
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Now that the tank is suitably rusty I can try to install it, the headlight bezel was made for a girls frame so the angle of the cutouts is all wrong, a hole saw
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and a bit of work with a dremel
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and it’s at the proper angle, with the added benefit of clearing the truss rods
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the black plastic looks wrong , I have some rustoleum hammer tone chestnut left over that I used on the rims of last years build off bike, and I made a rear mount thingy from a broken drop stand clip
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,
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also here’s a quick before and after of the pedals
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threads cleaned, end plates straightened and bearings greased. Here’s where I’m at right now, the rack is a maybe at this point
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but the more I look at it, probably a maybe not...
 
Great work on the tank and headlight bezel! And your thoughts of rat-ina on it will finish it, or rather, 'un-finish it' nicely. :grin:

You had me at " rustoleum hammer tone chestnut ".....
 
Awesome progress on this. Nice looking rust job on the tank. Nice rack but not sure if it ads anything to the overall look. Would be worth trying with the bars/seat/wheels etc.
 
I'm watching man. Thanks for the compliment. Bikes coming along nicely...GTB!! Peace
 
It’s time to get some wheels under this thing so I can figure out what else is gonna fit, or not... I’ve got the front wheel trued but I’ve still got some work to do to the rear hub. Every old bike I’ve ever bought that didn’t have crusty rotted tires had at least mismatched tires, so a search of the pile
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, got an Allstate heavy duty balloon for the rear
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,
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, and a sears crusader for the front.
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,
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Hub and rim surface finish details,
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,
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and front wheel installed.
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