Wow, it's been quite a while since I have worked on this project!
One of the main hurdles has been building the wheelset. If you read the earlier posts, my plan is to lace in a front drum hub and a rear Puch moped hub. The moped hub gives the advantage of a built-in drum brake, and also already has sprockets on both sides.
Anyway, I struggled over the winter trying to use the existing 12G spokes that came with the heavy duty wheelset to lace in these hubs. I had seen assurances from other builders saying it should be possible, but I just couldn't get it to work; I tried both 3 cross and 4 cross lacing.
So, I bit the bullet and ordered some spokes that are 10" long. These are shorter than the existing 12G spokes that came with the wheelset.
Finally, I was able to get these laced. The spokes are STILL too long for a 3 cross; they are protruding past the nipples too much inside the rim. I think I will get some stainless washers to put under the nipples and then file off any spoke excess and call it a day.
Now I can concentrate on the chainline.
I've got around $150 in this wheelset so far.