Re: *The 76er* (more paint more fumes... update: 5/25)
Days 25-26
I figured I should get some work done tonight since I will be leaving to go camping for the holiday weekend. I didn't have much time, but enough time to start even more projects. I'm beginning to think that 3 months
isn't enough time, but not finishing is not an option.
FIrst, the paint dried really well, the picture probably doesn't show it, but you can really tell it's ivory and not white. Very creamy, I will be sticking with earthy tones, so this does well.
I had to throw a wheel on it for the next project, and seeing this I am glad I will be going with the black tires with the tan line instead of these whitewalls.
It's time to make a rack. When I first came to RatRodBikes.com I didn't care for fenders, chainguards, tanks, and racks, but after a year here, I've changed my tune. You might have seen this part back when I was trying to strip the paint, this was an old rack off some old faux muscle bike with solid tires. It was 1 piece, but I started by cutting it and hand bending it a little bit:
You know what they say, measure once, cut twice. Crap, I cut off the wrong ends!
So then I had to cut the correct ends off (like I said, cut twice), now how will I put them back together? I once heard something about trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, well, what about a round peg in a square hole?
Using this square tube will allow me to adjust the rack until I like the look, then I can weld it up. With the flat surfaces it will be easier to make my wood top and allow me to attach things to the sides easier, possibly a taillight and license plate. Here's how it will go, but I will either lower the front or raise the back, I want it level:
The front attachment point will be the old reflector mount, but I don't want it to taper in towards the seat post too much, so I need something to mount it too that is wider, so I need to make something. I've got a few of these old wrench blanks that I bought from a salvage store. They were new from a factory, but the boxed end was never cut and they were never finished. Here's a couple lined up ready for cutting:
I actually measured this time:
Turn them around and...
I will weld that up and then attach it here to hold the front legs of the rack:
OK, time to go inside. I rubbed 0000 steel wool over the frame, then tack cloth so I could lay down another coat of ivory, but before the fumes ran me out, I grabbed my chain guard and trimmed it a little to fit. Here's a reminder of what it looks like:
And that's it for tonight.
After and earlier update someone said something about me being ADHD, well I really am (so thanks for twisting that dagger). Mostly I've learned to deal well with it, but it really shows up in something like this, because as you can see I really jump around and have no rhyme nor reason to what I work on and when. It will all come together, I promise. I'm not trying to keep any secrets or plan some big surprise, this is just how I work. haha
In 1976 the average cost of new house was $43,400.00, the average income per year was $16,000.00, average monthly rent was $220.00, and the cost of gas was 59 cents a gallon . Now if you are travelling this weekend and complain about the price of gas, look back at that yearly salary. Your 1976 Plymouth Arrow that new cost $3,175.00, didn't get all that great of fuel economy and probably didn't last as long as a much cheaper and more fuel efficient Murray Skybolt.
