After my old 1970's handy down MB failed about a year ago, I built a quick cranny and ever since wanted to modify it. At one point I flipped the handle bars around and down to give a BTR feel. well with summer break finally here and I'm all clear of summer camps I finally have the time and materials do do what I want. I plan to make a welded front mount to get rid of the unfitting striped out u-bolt & plate method, a homemade in-frame gas tank(not without some serious frame modification), a layback seat post, whatever else I can afford (i'm poor). I've only gotten to learn to stick weld this summer but I'm confident in my welding strength, and water-tightness maybe overly so. My plan is to weld some of my 1/8 steel plate to the appropriate place in my cranny frame. For the tank accepting frame I will cut the extension of the seat stays connecting to the down tube (only to the seat tube) to allow 1" EMT tubing frame supplement. Then inside of the top tube and the EMT will be the in frame tank. Hopefully my camera and computer will cooperate and i can add photos, do I just copy and paste them in? Wish me luck!
my crany mod
- Thread starter swaq muffin
- Start date
same ol' china girl she had before, although a friend of mine will be donating a non working mini bike that i'll be fixin' up soon.
sorry haven't been able to get out lately i'm waitn' for some new electrodes i the mail, & its been reel rainy
finally had good weather today so i got out and welded part of my future frame today-
front
back
what hole?
60$ buz box welder
front
back
what hole?
60$ buz box welder
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Be careful welding that EMT. It's galvanized and produces toxic fumes that can make you sick when welded. www.aws.org/technical/facts/FACT-25.pdf
Uh oh......conduit alert....conduit alert !
Keep your guard up swaq, personal experience tells me that things can get rather tense here when you even talk of EMT in MB frames...let alone actually using it.
Keep your guard up swaq, personal experience tells me that things can get rather tense here when you even talk of EMT in MB frames...let alone actually using it.
thanks for the heads up on the fumes, but i'm pretty sure this is non-galvanized steel, all of the Lowes consultants assured me that it was, it doesn't have the tell tale splotches or any discoloration and it doesn't produce any noticeable fumes, and I have finished all of the work I am doing with the EMT. I appreciate your concern for my health and i'll look out for metal fume fever. Thank you
I don't want to come off as preachy but I wouldn't really trust the "guy" at Lowes. If it was galvanized the welds will have a white color to them. Just lookin out for ya.
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thanks guys, i appreciate all the heads up. white discoloration eh, you learn something new everyday. this is one of the reasons i love this forum people are nice and not hateful. i'll look out for it, thank you
primed the frame yesterday, but because of the lack of flash on my camera wasn't able to take pictures but after color coating today i still had enough daylight to take some pics, here they are
i used Dupli-color automotive paint & primer and a base of Rustolium automotive primer. i am happy with the results, but still haven't decided weather to do clear coat its 15$, but i feel like whatever would scratch color coat, would scratch though clear coat. i don't have much painting experience so your thoughts will be appreciated.
The only kind of clearcoat that would be as scratch resistant as modern automotive paint IS automotive paint. Now that you've got your color coats laid down I can't really recommend going to a polyurethane clearcoat, because there's no telling if any of them would work over the DupliColor you used.
I suggest you paint a couple of other things for samples, using all the same paints you've used on the frame, ect. Let the samples cure completely according to the instructions on the cans. Contact a local body shop and ask them to shoot one of your sample pieces with whatever clearcoat they use the next time they're shooting a vehicle.
Let the sample cure, maybe leave it out in the sun for a few days. If it looks alright, you know you can get it clearcoated. Maybe the same place will lay a couple of coats on for you when they paint a vehicle.
The only other paint I know of that might work is clear engine enamel. It has ceramic in it and is reported to be fairly tough. If you're going that route, you might as well use DupliColor for the clearcoat as well.
Good luck and it looks really good so far. That new lower bar really changes the style of the bike for the better.
I suggest you paint a couple of other things for samples, using all the same paints you've used on the frame, ect. Let the samples cure completely according to the instructions on the cans. Contact a local body shop and ask them to shoot one of your sample pieces with whatever clearcoat they use the next time they're shooting a vehicle.
Let the sample cure, maybe leave it out in the sun for a few days. If it looks alright, you know you can get it clearcoated. Maybe the same place will lay a couple of coats on for you when they paint a vehicle.
The only other paint I know of that might work is clear engine enamel. It has ceramic in it and is reported to be fairly tough. If you're going that route, you might as well use DupliColor for the clearcoat as well.
Good luck and it looks really good so far. That new lower bar really changes the style of the bike for the better.
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If you're going to weld EMT, simply dip it in Sno-Bowl toilet bowl cleaner (or certain acids) for about 15 minutes to remove the coating).
I got zinc poisoning once gas welding some highway sign post w/ HEAVY zinc plate. Flu like sick for 3 solid days....not fun...
The color of his welds indicate a non-galvanized surface. Zinc kills welders, given enough exposure... but that's not the case here. Move on.
Frankly, that's the classiest modification I've seen of a Cranbrick yet, reminicent of the WWII Huffmans that were purchased by the scadload for Airforce bases, rec halls and flattops (Yes- carrier crews had these things on the flight deck as well as the hanger deck for a multitude of functions). Put a torpedo headlight on the front fender, shoot it in OD or Haze Grey and slap some nomenclature on it, you will have a real chatterpiece. Top it all off with a bogus M-1928 in scabbard on the right fork with "MP" insignia on a brassard style fairing... no, that might be going too far... but it would still be cool...
the Old (and highly amused) Sgt.
Frankly, that's the classiest modification I've seen of a Cranbrick yet, reminicent of the WWII Huffmans that were purchased by the scadload for Airforce bases, rec halls and flattops (Yes- carrier crews had these things on the flight deck as well as the hanger deck for a multitude of functions). Put a torpedo headlight on the front fender, shoot it in OD or Haze Grey and slap some nomenclature on it, you will have a real chatterpiece. Top it all off with a bogus M-1928 in scabbard on the right fork with "MP" insignia on a brassard style fairing... no, that might be going too far... but it would still be cool...
the Old (and highly amused) Sgt.
