The Flying Pigeon

Progress :
I needed a rear rack for the Cosmos.
This was a problem as the frame was built with upper and lower tabs for the rack that were unique to this bike.
After much studying, research and endless hours of Ebay searching I came to the realization that one would have t be fabricated.
This is what I came up with.

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I opted to braze the rack together as tig would have left a finish that would have been inconsistent with the technique used in prewar bicycle fabrication.
I also changed from the 3 cross bar design shown in the drawing to a 4 bar design. I like it better...

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Now that all of the component parts are striped , painted , and or fabricated
the plan is to assemble the bike ( pre pin-striping ) to check my mapping for interference.
I will then dismantle the bike yet again and finish the paint job.....
 
The frame once striped is a work of art. It was tempting to simply clear coat it and hang it on a wall.

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Any way, as of now , the bike sits on the stand .
Partially re-assembled for mapping and final layout of the striping.
Here ya go:

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A few more pics:

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I still need to find or re-manufacture one of these:

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Hope you enjoy...... It's a fun project....
 
What a fun thread. Thanks for keeping us updated. Very entertaining and great work. That bike is going to be a thing of beauty and something to be proud of.

Tom
 
Onward and upward:
The peddle blocks on the very strange peddles from this bike were a problem.
Dry rotted beyond repair and impossible to find replacements .

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Solution : Back to the machine shop....
I used UHMW , as I have a large supply of the stuff .

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They ended up being a bit to stark white.
My thinking is that they will yellow with use........
These peddles are huge by today's standards.
At 5.50 " compared to a modern peddle at 4.50 , they look and feel a bit large.
Think : Clowns feet....
The bike itself is very large though so they fit right in.
 
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Very nice work boxcar, everything you have done so far looks excellent, great work on the rack and also nice work on the peddles.

keep up the good work and keep the pics coming.
 
After much studying, research and endless hours of Ebay searching I came to the realization that one would have t be fabricated.

I opted to braze the rack together as tig would have left a finish that would have been inconsistent with the technique used in prewar bicycle fabrication.

It's nice to do it right... Need it, make it, got it.

Lookin good Box!
 
Thanks guys.
The anodes arrived last night, so it's off to the store for supplies .
Then I'll start plating parts..... MMMMMMM, shiny......
 
Well... the plating process is not going to well.
The anodes I ordered ended up being contaminated . The seller has agreed to replace them with new product..... Nice guy.
This issue set my schedule back a bit but there is still plenty to do .
I ordered the new spokes and a very nice kick stand from a guy in Denmark .
Hopefully they will be here soon.
I finished up the cleaning and polishing of the small parts . Most came out so nice I am now debating on the re plating idea all together.
I'll let you be the judge of that....
My lovely wife was kind enough to get up early this morning and act as a kick stand for me .
( Trying to beat the rain.)

I figured that a few more progress pics wouldn't hurt :

Before:

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After ( so far )

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Pretty Wife, Pretty Bike, but, you live in a really small house. :)

Thanks for the update. You've done well.

Tom
 
That's the man cave....
Used to be my little girl's play house. She's grown now .
It was a blast to build.....
 
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Great pix, just having a wife that will be invovled and help you out with things like this makes her a lovely wife, not to mention she looks like a jewel, looks like you have a wonderful wife boxcar.

From what I can see in the pix, I would leave it alone because even though I cant see the plated parts up close the bike just looks real nice, to me some imperfection on old things like this is what gives it character and says yeah Im old but I still look good.....

No doubt that whatever you decide to do, it is gonna be a very nice finished product.
 
Thanks . She had many tea parties and sleep overs in the little house.

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The bright work on the bike came pretty clean .

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Well, finally found a supplier ( local ) that carries the 1 shot paint I need for the stripes.
It seems that no one paints stripes any more..... Go figure...
I did get started on the shifter.
I had this dilemma: I needed to find some material that wouldn't look to new for the bike. Due to the fact that I have decided to fallow MapBikes advice and not replate the bright parts. Sage advice...........
The dilemma is that I hate rust ( I have a phobia ) ha ha ha....
I have no , (shall we say ) aged material in my shop....
I ended up finding an old rusty piece of 1/8" plate in the bushes next to the city shops.
Here is what I came up with so far.....

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Once polished letter'd and painted I think it will work...

( the fillips screw will be replaced with a stove bolt )
 
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Well, finally found a supplier ( local ) that carries the 1 shot paint I need for the stripes.
It seems that no one paints stripes any more..... Go figure...
I did get started on the shifter.
I had this dilemma: I needed to find some material that wouldn't look to new for the bike. Due to the fact that I have decided to fallow MapBikes advice and not replate the bright parts. Sage advice...........
The dilemma is that I hate rust ( I have a phobia ) ha ha ha....
I have no , (shall we say ) aged material in my shop....
I ended up finding an old rusty piece of 1/8" plate in the bushes next to the city shops.
Here is what I came up with so far.....

p_004.jpg


p_007.jpg


p_008.jpg


p_009.jpg


Once polished letter'd and painted I think it will work...

( the fillips screw will be replaced with a stove bolt )


looks great boxcar..... this is a project to be very proud of, I like everything you've done to it, to me it all just has that very classic turn of the century look of great craftsmanship back before we had all the thowd together cheap crap we have to deal with nowadays.

Thank you for sharing the pix and in that small way involving the rest of us in this project.

You're doing a fine job on that bike.
 
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