A 1936 Mercury is getting a new life.

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We must have the same friend. Mine had on old Rossin powder coated orange by RW Little. He had to have the BB chased and the headtube faced. The Powder Coat looked decent though (if you like bright orange with Sparkles that is) albeit a bit thin in spots.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not certain that I wouldn't have had the same issues with DMF. Because the tolerances for installing an press fit american BB adaptor and a typical BMX head set (Tioga bear trap here) are much lower than those associated with a euro BB and a nice quality headset it simply wasn't an issue.

Tough to say but given my first experience I would definitely hit DMF again.

Cheers!

Tim
 
Tom,

I believe it was a friend of mine that goes by the nickname "JT" and it was a road bike but can't remember the make/model. Definitely the OPC stuff can handle more sloppiness but the Escondido shop is worth a try less hassle to get there via Del Dios Hwy. Looks like they did a nice job on those LRVs paint and chrome.

Thanks, Steve
 
socal_jack said:
Tom,

I believe it was a friend of mine that goes by the nickname "JT" and it was a road bike but can't remember the make/model. Definitely the OPC stuff can handle more sloppiness but the Escondido shop is worth a try less hassle to get there via Del Dios Hwy. Looks like they did a nice job on those LRVs paint and chrome.

Thanks, Steve
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Nope different friend, same problem. I guess that's two strikes, eh?
 
I think with Tim's reccomendation I will try DMF next time. Tim really knows his stuff and I may have just aquired my holy grail dream project. A 1936 Schwinn Excelsior. Trying to work out a deal!
 
sandmangts said:
I think with Tim's reccomendation I will try DMF next time. Tim really knows his stuff and I may have just aquired my holy grail dream project. A 1936 Schwinn Excelsior. Trying to work out a deal!
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Aaron, Thank you for the compliment and back at you. Between your Merc and the brave, you've got me beat.

As for the new project, you score the Klunker lover's holy grail and no pictures?????? What gives??????
 
Turned out the seller wanted way too much for the Schwinn. $900 bucks and it isn't in very good shape. I did find something else though! Pre-war with lots of character. Should be fun. I'll start a new thread tomorrow.
 
I'm starting a klunker project of my own with a 36 Schwinn- many of your parts are what I have or intend to use. Speaking of parts- they must have taken you forever to get- requiring a lot of patience and conviction. I know because I'm currently hunting hard for some stuff. I have seen just about every classic Mt Tam style klunker on the net, but yours is truly special. It's a testosterone rocket! I'm digging the Mercury frame, and the black..a lot. Kudos to you on a great build. It will certainly be inspiration to me in the coming weeks/months. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

BTW: I like to see it get dirty, but I admit to cringing a little when seeing those Arayas all filthed up. They were so CLEAN! :)

Mike.
 
6ixty 6ix said:
I'm starting a klunker project of my own with a 36 Schwinn- many of your parts are what I have or intend to use. Speaking of parts- they must have taken you forever to get- requiring a lot of patience and conviction. I know because I'm currently hunting hard for some stuff. I have seen just about every classic Mt Tam style klunker on the net, but yours is truly special. It's a testosterone rocket! I'm digging the Mercury frame, and the black..a lot. Kudos to you on a great build. It will certainly be inspiration to me in the coming weeks/months. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

BTW: I like to see it get dirty, but I admit to cringing a little when seeing those Arayas all filthed up. They were so CLEAN! :)

Mike.
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Thanks for the kind words. This build was new territory for me. Sentimentally it means more to me than any other bike in my collection. Currenty it is out of commision waiting for a replacement crank. The electra cranks square taper interface on the drive side was not milled evenly causing the crank to seat un-evenly on the spindle creating a little wobble. Not a major problem but annoying and I want perfection. Electra is sending me a new one free of charge. How odd though that after riding it for 2 weeks and loving every second of it, I am pissed that I have to commute on my modern rig.

I actually had it pretty easy on this build, many of the parts are modern. I had the rims already. I think the hard part was choosing a path for the build knowing a retro-mod would require cold setting the frame and the anxiety involved with doing it. Not knowing what would work etc. I found a Elgin that will be my next project. After getting it home and comparing to the Merc the measurments are almost exactly the same so I know I am going to be comfortable. This next one will be harder though because I have decided there will be not modern parts aside from the handlebars.
I am glad you found it entertaining and usefull and I hope you will share your build as well.
 
I finally got the right headset so I could use the old fork and truss rods. Electra was kind enough to replace the first set of cranks which were defective. They responded quickly and sent a replacement within a few days. Took the old girl out for a ride today.
IMG_2722.jpg
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IMG_2723.jpg
 
IMG_2723.jpg


Amazing bike you have there. Inspired by this piece of work, I started to look for another project (having two at same time :shock: ). I found '39 Schwinn DX and it is on its way. I'd love to have same crankset as you have with the double bash guards. Would you mind giving little more info where to look for this same set up or product details?

Thanks!
 
The cranks are Electra Ticino cranks. You can get them from any Electra dealer. Retail is around $160. The chainring is made by FSA. They are available in triple rings as well. The first set I got were pre-production and had a defect but Electra replaced them quickly and the new ones are holding up well. Congrats on the DX! Thanks to jwesty I have a 41 Excelsior on the way as well.
 
sandmangts said:
The cranks are Electra Ticino cranks. You can get them from any Electra dealer. Retail is around $160. The chainring is made by FSA. They are available in triple rings as well. The first set I got were pre-production and had a defect but Electra replaced them quickly and the new ones are holding up well. Congrats on the DX! Thanks to jwesty I have a 41 Excelsior on the way as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I started looking into the chain ring more carefully and I think it is Electra Ticino Forged Alloy Crankset w/42T with Chainring guard (chainring could be manufactured by FSA). The question remains where did you get the inside (double) chain guard or was it there when you purchased it as a separate spare part? btw, do you know any online store that would selling this set?

One other thing that came to my mind was that since you started the project from raw frame why did you not weld braze-on's for the cabling (http://www.ceeway.com/Braze ons.htm)? I'm thinking of having that done so that I can take the lines from rear to handlebar the route least visible and keep the frame as simple as possible. I'm also planning to weld possible disc boss in the rear.

btw, how are those hub brakes holding up?

Once again, your bike is really setting a standard for any vintage-I-can-use-my-bike-everyday project and I like it!
 
I forgot to reply to those questions. The cranks came with the bash guards on them. I did not do braze ons quite frankly because I just did not think of it. Seems like a good idea if you have good plan for the build which at the time I did not. This was my first Klunk. Anyway here is the final incarnation of the bike.
IMG_3306.jpg

IMG_2437.jpg


And a crappy vid of my commute home after work.

 
Hi!

starting to build my 1939 DX project now.

Here is the frame...
screen-capture-7.png



One question though. How did you get the rear hub fit? I'm looking to instal Shimano 8 gear hub, but it is about 25mm wider than rear fork???
 

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