I'm sure you'll remember the JMC DY that I rescued from a damp cold cellar a few years ago. Well its been a long restoration but finally its done and looking quite different from when I first got it!
In restos like this I know that I'm really just the project manager. Bringing in the specialists when needed, sourcing the parts, bolting it together and making it look pretty. The hard work has been done by others. Firstly Mr Phillip Rowles - aka 'SAWZAL' for the metal work and man hours he put in bringing the rotten frame back to life. Secondly Trevor at Midas Touch for the rechroming of the forks and bars and thirdly a good friend of mine Mr John Robinson for the paint work. It really is a treat.
So back to the start.............
I found this JMC DY frame with Bottema Race Forks in an old friends dark damp cellar. It was resting on its rear drop outs with the forks against the wall above a ventilation grate. The ventilation grate was letting in a supply of damp air in across the f&f causing a fan of rust and corrosion across the down tube to the seat tube, top tube, bottom bracket and both seat and chainstays. It was a dirty mess for sure.
As I found it in the cellar
and out in the fresh air
it cleaned up a little better though
I was quite happy to keep it in its survivor condition but when I got lucky on a GT on eBay with DY forks and bars for peanuts the wheels started moving for the restoration. The bars and forks were not in great condition but nearly as bad as the frame. So the frame went to stripped, having the chroming process reversed. The forks and bars were stripped, polished and refinished.
When the frame came back from being stripped it looked better without the rust for sure, but the time in the cellar had really taken its toll on the frame. With the damp air coming in over the frame it must have caused the metal tubes to 'sweat', with a build up of damp inside the frame it must have been rotting from the inside. The loopy rear end really took it badly. The loops must have acted like a 'U' bend on the toilet and held the moisture because it was littered with small holes in the tubing and the welds on the drop outs. Holes were found in the seat stays, chain stays and the odd on in the top tube.
The first thing that Phil Sawzal did was to make a bath and submerge the frame in Hammerite rust eater. After a soaking in the bath the frame was jet washed thoughly, getting plenty of water running through the tubes and flushing them out before baking it to dry it out thoroughly.
When the rust eater was drained from the bath quite a bit of rust and crap was left behind. It was going to be a gamble as to whether or not the tubes would have any thickness in them to weld to.
A coat of primer was applied before flooding the frame with some rust neutralizer.
Some of the holes can be seen in the following images.
The problem areas where highlighted and carefully drilled out to remove any further rot around the hole. This would leave Phil something weldable!
Using a both welding and plating methods Phil dug deep with his patiance and lucking the frame didnt fall apart. Some smoothing and building up of some weld brought the frame back to something like it should be.
The drop outs were welded, shaped and flatted back, carefully retaining the serial number.
Phil popped the frame back in the post to me without warning. What a great suprise
The forks and bars had already been refinished and it was starting to take shape.
In May 2009 my good friend John Robinson offered to paint the frame if I supplied the paint. Obviously I jumped at the chance - cant beat a freebie! Cheers mate. Gotta say thats to SBD for his online and telephone advice and colour samples. The paint was picked after trawling through many swatches and the frame was dropped off at John's workshop.
Whilst in California in June 2009 I contacted Jim Melton and he sent the decals to me at my friends house in Huntington Beach.
Things went quiet for a while, John had got very busy at work and couldnt find the time to get it painted. There was no rush. Moving onto February 2010 John turned up at the North region Winter regional race with a very shiney looking frame under his arm.............. WOW! I was speech less. I still need to get John some beers!
I always said that I wasnt going to go out of my way to source new parts for this build, only use what I had stock piled in the vaults. That of course went out of the window! Haha. Since getting the frame back from John the decals have been applied and many parts offered to the progressing build.
Here's the finshed result, hope you like, let me know what you think
Frame - JMC Darrell Young - Restored
Forks - JMC Darrell Young - Restored
Bars - JMC Darrell Young - Restored
Stem - PROIII/PROFiT - Survivor
Headset - Tiaga Beartrap II - NOS
Grips - Oaklay B2 - NOS/SHOWBIKE mounted
Seat - Kashimax MX - NOS/Dyed
Post - Restored
Brake - DC MX1000 - NOS
Lever - Motorbike lever - NOS
Cable - Terrycable - NOS
Hubs - Bullseye - Survivor
Rims - Ukai - Survivor
Tyres - Tioga Comp IV's - NOS
Chain - Izumi - NOS/SHOWBIKE mounted
Freewheel - Shimano - NOS/SHOWBIKE mounted
Crank - Sugino 180mm - NOS
Bottom Bracket - Suntour Hadley Type - NOS/SHOWBIKE mounted
Chainwheel - Pro Neck 44t - Survivor
Power Disc - Tuff Neck - NOS
Pedals - Shimano DX - NOS
A 1pc crank was used to keep the 'simple' look and not distract from the clean lines of the DY frame and after all if a 1pc was good enough for DY himself its good enough for me!
The motorbike lever also adds a bit DY's influence to the build.
I normally like to finish a race bike off with pads and plate but like this without................................ for now!
I should add that this I dont believe that this frame should ever be ridden again as we cant tell how much damage has been done to the insides of tubes durin its time in the cellar. Had to be saved though. Cheers JJ
Big thats to all involved................
Phil Rowles aka 'Sawzal', Johnny Robinson, Trevor @ Midas Touch, Andy Lincoln aka 'Big Plinky', Jai Kemp aka 'SE BMXer, Jim Melton, Jeff Norton, Danny Harris aka 'Harris'.
What next?
From the same cellar..................
Watch this space!
