1937 shelby resurrection

azbill said:
I think after 3 posts, so you should be OK now :)
Click to expand...

Cool! Here we go...

So a buddy of mine (sloppy kidricer sin) passed along his MB addiction to us.
For years he had been raving about these things,
and after hemmin and hawin about gettin a slew of craigslist motorcycles,
decided to go the MB route since i've got a ton of old stagnating bike parts,
plus they look like alot of fun.
Also, wanted a project that wasn't as much time intensive as the hot rods and stuff i've got going.
(little did I know so far!!)

So anyway my favorite fat-tire frame is the pre-war shelby,
and coincidentally had the perfect wrecked frame for this build.
A couple months back,
i'd tried to fix the bottom bracket area with a donor girls shelby bike,
but didn't realize the angles weren't the same,
so ditched it before I wasted too much time on it.

MB12564.jpg


Bummer was the earlier 37ish shelby's had a straight downtube,
and the engine doesn't fit in the space correctly.

MB12566.jpg


The later 38ish shelby's hadve a curved downtube.
Since this frame was toast,
figured it was worth customizing it even further.

MB12571.jpg


There was so much brazing on this frame,
it wasn't much fun to weld.
The way I fit the new tube gave it the more welding strength in a cleaner section,
and also more room for the engine.
There was a small insert on the top part.

MB12573.jpg


so the new tube is below the centerline of the BB now...


TP
 
At first was going to give it the natural flash rust look,
but figured a half-*** paint match was the safer route.
Yeah yeah I didn't grind the welds,
for this one strength is more important than pretty.
(called a 30/30 - 30 mph and 30 feet away)

MB12584.jpg


This is why I think the shelby frame's are so cool.
They invested alot of time in the seat-tube area of the frame,
and as a welder/grinder, I can really appreciate their effort

MB12592.jpg


As common on lots of early bikes,
shelby used a poopload of badges,
(western flyer, hiawatha, shelby flyer, flying cloud etc)
but this one is kinda cool as its a cadillac,
(and schwinn had a lasalle branded bike which makes it a neat competition)

MB12587.jpg


These are my riders,
the black one is 98% stock,
and the red one was alot of my random stuff.
A couple months ago the rims and other chrome was shiny,
but it was all flash rusted,
a perfect donor for the new motor-bike.
(sad to see it torn apart actually but it will be back as a klunker)

MB12594.jpg


I really needed some instant gratification here,
so swapped all the parts to the new frame.
Figured it would be smart to ride it around and make sure it didn't fall apart too!

MB12599.jpg


The thing rode great and straight,
probably the first time it had been ridden in 50 years.

So that was the first night...

TP
 
So the instructions said that that the build time would take 4-6 hours but obviously didn't pertain to this one!

First was the rear gear,
didn't notice that there were 2 size rubber spacers,
through it on but it got too close to the spokes/tire as it got cinched down.
Ended up doing this twice but oh well...

MB12595.jpg


than the brake lever tweak...

MB12596.jpg


After fitting the engine,
realized the crank wanted to be in the same space.
(that crossbrace repair was done before my time...)

MB12600.jpg


Didn't want to remove the crank so redid it installed...


MB12604.jpg


even though it was a p.i.t.a., it was good enough for now.

MB12606.jpg


TP
 
after a trial fit,
realized the rear engine mount wasn't going to work either.

MB12607.jpg


so made a custom mount...
(also modified the seat post to angle back)

MB12609.jpg


Spot welded in all the holes,
than brazed it up just in case...

MB12613.jpg


I forgot to take pics of the motormount but you can see it in the below pics...

While I was at it,
figured to change to the older torrington bars,
but they were for a 24" frame so added a couple inches..

MB12618.jpg


TP
 
So as of the second night,
this is as far as I got.
(Still need to gusset the motormount a bit)

MB12620.jpg


I threw on the kit grips and clutch lever,
which I think are real pos's but at least it will work.

MB12621.jpg


So hopefully tonight some more work will get done.

CHOW

TP
 
it's always fun trying to make a tiny motor fit into an even tiny-er space. l like the way you figured it all out.

the old-timey look is the look for me...

those older bikes were "oven brazed." that's why there's all that leftover brazing allover.
 
Thanks for the comments guys!

Oven-brazed, never heard of that but sounds like a quicker process than assembly-line jig brazing.
Its neat to see the file marks and imagine a group of guys putting these together.

So decided to throw all the stock stuff on there,
I would have liked to customize a tank and throttle and stuff,
but will have to do that as time allows.
The exhaust has barely a cm of clearance so that will definitely have to change as well.

Oh yeah,
I did find this cool contraption on the side of the house,
it was a massager or something.
The coil fit perfectly...
coilpack01.jpg


coilpack02.jpg


its kinda goofy but better than a plastic box.

rider02.jpg


This was after the 2 ten minute warm-ups.
I had to ride it around alot to get it to keep running at first,
but it was alot of fun just doing that.
Now I know why you guys are so stoked on these things!

rider01.jpg


I cant wait til the break-in period is over.

I'd really like to make the tank, exhaust and some cooler hand controls in the meantime.

CHow

TP
 
Ha! I love the coil camo job man!

Not only are ya makin' a sweet lookin' ride, yer doin' it in a matter of days o.O


bairdco's got some competition at last FTW :D
 
Hi guys.
First my condolences about these fuzzy cellphone pics.
Its kinda that or 1000 word descriptions - figured fuzzy is better than more rambling.

So,
right now I have an in-shop job,
which makes it really difficult to not get distracted by the shelby-tuner.
But after a super-successful day,
treated myself to a little MB time.
(well I did go out first thing and get some more break-in time but hey)

So this is how it rolled, or was rolling before a midnight coffee...

tuner2330.jpg


Basically the stock exhaust with about 1/8" clearance to the front tire...
There's the donor tubing, a wrecked pair of real schwinn stingray apes!

cut ...paste... cut... paste

tuner0100.jpg


Now they look like kidricers 1964 schwinn!
It always amazes me when something I shoulda thrown away completes a project.
Those are the scraps leftover on the ground,
it's hard to toss those even, who knows when they'll come in handy!

tuner0101.jpg


Also did a little random drillium on the clutch cover.
Probably doesn't help the rattling noises,
but I also cut out the small 6" exit tube in the muffler,
which basically cancels out these periferral noises.
It actually sounds like a mini-bike now.

tunerpipe.jpg


This is a picture of the customized chain tensioner too.
I wish i'd brazed a reinforcement base on the tubing before attaching the bracketo
(like the motormount one)
The steel is really thin and I shoulda tigged it instead of migging it.
Next time.

Anyway thats my nightly update.
Oh yeah,
Also started on the tank plug but didn't take any pics, maybe tomorrow...

Chow

TP
 
Last edited:
BarelyAWake is right... you don't fool around, do you? I like the lines of the exhaust. I also sure do like the background scenery. Model A Ford coupe. Nice. What year? I like yer toys.
SB
 
silverbear said:
BarelyAWake is right... you don't fool around, do you? I like the lines of the exhaust. I also sure do like the background scenery. Model A Ford coupe. Nice. What year? I like yer toys.
SB
Click to expand...
Looks like a 30 or 31.....the Hemi is the most interesting....and those zoomies/megaphones....
 
yeah its a 30/31.
Its a customers hot rod.
The exhaust is gonna be a tough project, 4 into 2 megaphones,
but it helps to pay for my own toys!
(i have a 29 roadster pickup, a 40 coupe driver and another 40 project)

TP
 
perichbrothers said:
yeah its a 30/31.
Its a customers hot rod.
The exhaust is gonna be a tough project, 4 into 2 megaphones,
but it helps to pay for my own toys!
(i have a 29 roadster pickup, a 40 coupe driver and another 40 project)

TP
Click to expand...

Ahhh, the 40's and A's are the best... make my heart go pitapat! I always wanted an A and had a coupe offered to me for free by an X girl friend's father... turned it down as I thought it would be hard to explain to my then first wife. I should have taken it, since my marriage didn't last anyway. A running original A coupe and I said no. One of life's dumbest moments. I did have a 41 pickup and a 41 panel truck with the same nose and running boards as the 40 coupe. Sweet. Those were nice trucks. Now I have 1930's Elgin bicycles and old Schwinns... still like the old stuff and these are more affordable toys, for sure. Sometime take a pix of your Shelby in front of the 40 coupe... if you take requests, that is. It will become an old guy's pinup. Ha!
SB
 
silverbear said:
Ahhh, the 40's and A's are the best... make my heart go pitapat! I always wanted an A and had a coupe offered to me for free by an X girl friend's father... turned it down as I thought it would be hard to explain to my then first wife. I should have taken it, since my marriage didn't last anyway. A running original A coupe and I said no. One of life's dumbest moments. I did have a 41 pickup and a 41 panel truck with the same nose and running boards as the 40 coupe. Sweet. Those were nice trucks. Now I have 1930's Elgin bicycles and old Schwinns... still like the old stuff and these are more affordable toys, for sure. Sometime take a pix of your Shelby in front of the 40 coupe... if you take requests, that is. It will become an old guy's pinup. Ha!
SB
Click to expand...

What am I saying about running boards? I'm getting mixed up with my old MGTD's I think. Now I can't remember if the 40 had running boards or not. Very cool body design anyway. Kind of art deco, now that I think about it.
SB
 
TP,
Ah yes, thanks, I needed that! And they did have running boards. God, aren't those fenders something else? I was thinking back to the 1970's when my now deceased brother and I worked on the 41 panel truck. He had a body shop and agreed to take care of a couple dents from a tree having fallen on it where it sat in the forest without windows for many years before I found it and fell in love. He got out a hammer and started tapping... nothing. Then a bigger hammer and then a bigger one yet. He couldn't believe how much better the metal was than the new stuff. And it had no serious rust. He painted it a cobalt blue and it had the spoked model A wheels. I drove that sweetheart back and forth from the midwest to the east coast many times. Great old stocker flathead. What a machine. Thanks for the photos and the trip down memory lane.
SB
 
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