Junk Crafted HIGGINS - After competition minor modifications

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Finally almost finished with the removal of the paint but i did get the v brake tabs and the cable hold tabs removed (plus grinding them all flat)
I decided to do a quick mockup and take a pic
*side note the steel forks are swap meet specials that will only be used if I cant find aluminum forks in my budget
IMG_3744_zpsdshg2fug.jpg


Bare aluminum with beach cruiser curves I am thinking it is looking
silver arrow sexy
U75520_1153053_zpscc3cmmty.jpg


"Silver Arrow Sexy" i think that would make a good name for an aluminum silver king done up board track style

or better yet "The Silver Pharaoh"
 
Sexy is correct!
 
One drawback to using the calypso version is that is was an external multi-speed bike so it came with the non coaster brake friendly rear dropouts
IMG_3764_zpsvcx148um.jpg

I don't know if the Clyde version of this bike had the better dropouts since i never found one

Originally I was going to fab up some rear drop outs but i found a guy selling a bunch of road bike parts for cheap at a local swap meet
IMG_3762_zpse1o1ligi.jpg

All I know about them is
- they have Tsunami written on them
- the pair cost 5$
- with any luck I can make them work

* I should be starting my main build on June 1st
now that i have received the frame i bought
just need to see if it will work out for what i have planned *
 
this last week I received the frame and tank for my main build
bought both on epay but since they are 24" stuff I was able to get the price down
hard to believe they they came from different parts of the U.S
here it is mocked up with 24" wheels/tires and a rat trap springer
IMG_3779_zpsoznn3x0f.jpg

1950's 24" Columbia

With this bike I want to do a similar idea to what Fordsnake did with his build off 9 bike Enigma

I want this direction to feature many of the characteristics of a Rat Rod automobile...what I've observed in looking at multiple images Rat Rods cars & trucks, that there are 5 key elements seen on almost every 4-wheel Rat Rod:

1. Patina & Rust
2. Low Stance
3. Wheels & Tires
4. Front Grill
5. Header Pipes

Last edited: Jul 31, 2014
fordsnake, May 2, 2014

Although I have a slightly altered list

1. Patina & Rust
2. Low Stance
3. chopped top
4. Header Pipes
5. exaggerated characteristics


With that in mind first job is the rust & patina
since it already has it so I just wiped it down and put a coat of WD40 to protect it

2nd item is stance
while the 24" wheel/tires look good I think they make the bike sit to tall

so first I tried with just swapping the front with a 20" wheel/tire
IMG_3777_zpscvmq12s1.jpg

Nice muscle bike stance but not really rat rod stance

Next I used both 20" wheels front and rear
IMG_3778_zpshczatc1k.jpg

Except for the nose high front I think I am on the right track
kinda like a lowrider bike yet different

ok so lets try a smaller springer
originally I was told this rat trap was a 24" when I bought it so I pulled out what I was told was a 20" rat trap but it was the same size
can anyone help me on this (link to my rat trap question)
http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/in...p-springers-is-there-a-size-difference.92290/

Until I can acquire a definitive answer I thought I would see if I could lower this existing fork
both of the non 26" rat traps have an extra hole in the rocker arms that my 26" does not
so I bolted the truss to those (only to see what it would look like lowered)
IMG_3781_zpstwf8wu4p.jpg


And here are the results
Much Better :happy:
IMG_3780_zpscmjcgksr.jpg

If I can either get a smaller rat trap or find a more proper way to lower these forks
as well as add a 20x3 tire in the rear I should be "sitting pretty"

Also picked up theses Bmx hbars
they sort of have that klunker handlebar look
IMG_3782_zpsyryfwv08.jpg


I think they should give me that chop top affect
p_3699924_1_zpsnzotmjm8.jpg
 
After staying up all night brainstorming ways to lower the springer I came up with an adapter brace idea
it wouldn't lower it quite as much as using the other bolt holes but I decided to do a very rough mock up to see how it would look
IMG_3785_zps5xsypa7y.jpg


And the bike stance with the brace adapter

IMG_3787_zps0h5ixyua.jpg

I think the stance looks ok enough to go about fabricating the adaptor
 
Last edited:
I have been working a lot this week so not much time to do anything on the build off projects
however i did get to do a little designing for the adapter brace to lower the rat trap
here is the final design (in cardboard) now i just need to make some out of metal plate
image.jpg1_zpsf4qwr8yn.jpg
 
This bike is TUFF!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 
dang it! i'm really digging this one.
 
while looking for 4x4 metal sheets of brass (easier to cut with hand tools than steel) i came across a listing for this
pACE3-17510019enh-z7_zpsdz96fyyh.jpg

so i did some checking and found they should work
I got lucky and my local ace had 2 left in stock for 6$ each
every place else wanted 10$ and had to be ordered

here is the my adapter design over the hinge notice how two holes line up nicely
image.jpg2_zps7jy8sokr.jpg


and here is the final piece bolted up to the springer
image.jpg3_zpsykexj8bu.jpg


somehow i lost the pic of the adapter before attaching it but no worries
i will get a pic of it later
since i still need to do some final shaping as well as get rid of that polished look
 
Great re-use!
 
Brass is cool! Will it be staying brass or getting painted?

Luke.

It will be staying brass (I would have painted it if i couldn't find a solid brass hinge and had to settle for getting the steel hinge)
don't know if i will attempt to antique yet
like horsefarmer suggested
As of now i will just be giving it a brushed finish this weekend
 
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