1937 shelby resurrection

[perichbrothers]

Hmm,
trying to be an "active member" but what do you have to do to post the [im g] xxx [/img] code used on photobucket?

TP

[azbill]

I think after 3 posts, so you should be OK now

[perichbrothers]

Originally Posted by azbill

I think after 3 posts, so you should be OK now

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.



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



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



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.



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


TP

[perichbrothers]

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)



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



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)



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)



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!



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

So that was the first night...

TP

[perichbrothers]

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...



than the brake lever tweak...



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



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




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



TP

[perichbrothers]

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



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



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



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..



TP

[perichbrothers]

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



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



So hopefully tonight some more work will get done.

CHOW

TP

[lobsterboyx]

great mod on that frame! i had one of those laying around for years because the engine wouldent fit in it...

[silverbear]

Nice work. I really like the lines of that frame. Lookin' forward to more pictures...
SB

[bairdco]

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.