She's finally arrived - Changa Build

[Picklez]

And a couple more:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That's all for today guys, they'll be a small instalment update in the next couple of days (maybe two or three over the next wk or so), and then a little wait for the blooming pedalPower decal to arrive before I can get on with the rear wheel.

Stay safe, and as always thanks for taking a look  .

[bobafett]

That wheel looks spot on mate 

[Mikku]

Yep, perfect!

[Picklez]

Thanks guys.

Also, a things of points I forgot to mention:

1. It's the first rim I've built without any herbal support (blinking look down). And what did I observe from that. Well firstly, the build process itself wasn't as enjoyable, but secondly, the satisfaction when looking at the rim as you finish tensioning the last couple of spokes was just as enjoyable as ever, and thirdly ... it's the truest wheel I've ever built - make from that what you will  .

2. and I really should have mentioned this (in the true spirit of this thread). I've made quite a few points throughout the course of the thread of getting some of the parts for this build at sensible prices, mainly because I picked quite a few of those parts up over years gone by.

Well, karma and all that life balance stuff came to pay me back with the front hub of the build. I knew I wanted a female threaded axle on the front end if I was going with spokes, so that brought it down to a couple of obvious choices, either Phil's or Bullseye's. But I didn't want to get rimmed for ?300-?500 for a pair, especially as I'd be hunting down a Suntour coaster for the rear. Then good luck seemed to strike, a good condition used Faded red 36hole Bullseye on the museum for something like $90 before shipping and the darn tax man. Missing the main axle shaft and bolts. But hey hoy not bad, and I thought i could get a replacement axle from the bay or similar. At the time there was those 'rebuild' kits for something like $100 for front and rear. So, a deal was struck for the hub, and it was on its way to me. On the same day (for a different project) I also bought a set of flights from a member on the museum. Both members posted each item USPS Priority within a day of each other. Well the flights arrived fine, but after a further 4 weeks no sign of the hub, and I was starting to get a little nervous. Then 5 weeks, and 6 weeks, and nothing. I looked into contacting USPS and unfortunately with international shipments you have to ask the sender to contact them. In the meantime I'd contacted the supplier of those rebuild kits, to see if by chance they'd consider splitting a set and selling me just the front axle. Understandably they weren't interested in doing that. So, watching the exchange rate I was gambling for a good rate before pulling the trigger on investing another $100. Then, overnight, the seller pulled the listing, feck. Anyway, about a week later a front 32 hole candidate, complete with the needed axle turned up on eBay, for somewhere around ?80. Nervously watching, 7 days later I pulled the trigger and landed it. So, tax man aside I was in around ?180 for the hub. Gulb, but given todays prices I could just about justify it to myself, and I knew it would be worth it, when restored and the wheel was finally built.

Fast forward to the 6 weeks later point in time, and the blooming hub not showing up. At this stage I'm losing faith. But, given the amount of trading I've been doing back and forth over the pond over the last couple of years it was only a law-of-averages thing. Word of note for all when buying-selling over seas, the insurance CAN be a savour. The only other time I've had anything 'lost' was a set of mint gen 4 Graphite Tuffs. I sold them to a great member on the museum, a real standup guy, but blinking UPS lost them in one of their hubs. Had a hell of a time getting it sorted, but thank goodness I bent over backwards and fully insured them. As I was eventually (after about 6 wks) able to get the buyer all of his money back and my shipping/insurance costs.

So anyway, the hub, I wrote it off as a bad luck story. I'd only taken out basic shipping insurance but at least I'd be able to get about $50 back. So, I now had one useless 32h hub, one lost faded red 36 hole, and still nothing for the build. So, partly in desperation, I went again. A really nice silver ft and rr 36hole set showed up on the Bay, the ones that provide the front that I've finally used for this build, and after a 7 day wait, tracking the listing, I finally got them for the original listing price, which, for anyone just buying one pair of Bullseyes was a relatively ok price given what the last few pairs have gone for in the past few weeks, but for me emptied my pockets of a further ?239.

So, moral of the story, you can always read peoples threads, and think, lucky so and so, when they go on about "picked this up for a good price..." etc., but in the long run the scales always usually balance out.

As for me, I'm well happy with how the build's coming together, I'm extremely lucky that I had the funds to spend, and spent them fully conscious of whether or not I could actually afford to, but yes, I'm in to this blooming front hub for somewhere north of ?400   

And the part I could only laugh at, otherwise I'd have cried, The faded red hub turned up last week 

So now I have a selection of spare Bullseye's:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

But basically, in the long run, I'll build up a mismatched mint silver 36 hole set and move them on, so should recoup my outlay eventually.

You've got to laugh at this game, it's the only thing that will keep you sane.

[Picklez]

So another little update.

The rear brake had been bugging me since I fitted it, specifically the amount of spindle showing on the rear of the brake bridge:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

 Just an issue with the standard length of the rear spindle coupled with a flat brake bridge. None the less something I didn't want to live with.

So, I hatched a plan to strip the calliper down and run a die up the full length of the spindle, and then cut it down to a much shorter length. Now, not wanting to permanently alter the standard finish of the og spindle on a NOS calliper I thought I'd trail this out on a repo spindle first. Then, if it proved out ok I'd repeat the effort on an old og one I had laying around, which I'd restore to good condition at the same time.

So, first things first, work out what thread size these spindles are finished with and buy a suitable die. After quite a bit of looking around I wasn't having a whole heap of luck, but some selling sites were pushing me towards concluding it was M6x1.0mm.

So, (first mistake) I took the plunge and bought a cheap tap and die set that included a M6x1 die. Now, if you look at these spindles they do have a little issue that means running a die up the full length may be a bit challenging. Namely the lower end of the spindle that isn't threaded normally is actually a little wider in diameter than the threaded section:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

But, I thought that with a bit of 'power' I'd probably be ok and would ultimately be able to cut the thread I was wanting, that was my second mistake.

We'll the die arrived, and after a little cautious trial it looked like the thread was indeed M6x1, as the die threaded on to the spindle with little resistance. So on we go, all started well, and as it reached the end of the normal threaded section it started to cut a new thread, great. But after about one extra turn things started to go wrong. Basically I continued to turn the die but it just kept spinning at the same point on the spindle without cutting any additional thread, i.e. it started to just spin round and round at the point where the shaft broadened. Worse still, the die was stuck there, I couldn't even unscrew it back off:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Not deterred I thought, it's ok, I'll buy a better quality die, cut the first die off of the spindle, then go gently with the new one, and if it starts to give the same problem would stop and back it off before 'losing' a second die, and work out whether I could get over the increased diameter in the non-threaded section of the spindle some other way.

So, order die #2, and one that was of much better quality.

Well, that finally arrived and I got all excited again. But on offering that one up to the threaded section of the spindle it soon became obvious that the thread isn't actually M6x1, as after literally 2-3 turns of the new die it started to 'lock up'. So, much sole searching and a little pause.

Then after picking up a 'thread finder' and checking my considerations were confirmed. The thread is imperial, actually 1/4" by 26TPI, damn near to M6x1 but minutely different.

So, outlay for die number 3. That arrived, and as soon as I offered it up it was obvious that it was indeed the correct thread size, as it ran up and down the threaded section with no resistance at all.

So, job number one, cut the stuck M6x1 die off of the repo shaft, check that the threaded area under the stuck die would actually still be usable and then go again:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

After a little patience with the dremmel type tool one metric die removed:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[Picklez]

After that I ran the third (imperial) die up the spindle relatively gently. But, when it reached the non-threaded part it soon became clear it probably wasn't going to easily cut a new thread in the wider diameter section.

So, I'd needed a way of reducing the diameter slightly. Unsurprisingly I didn't have a lathe in my back pocket.

Not deterred I cobble a very pour mans version together:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I know, a bit outrageous but worth a try.

Well, after a bit of trial and error it looked like I might be in luck.

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Admittedly not a perfect result, but maybe just enough. So, back to the die, and this time 'success'

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

So, happy with the outcome I just repeated the effort on the spare og shaft I had. Here's the result, after completing the same process and after 'restoring' and polishing the spindle too:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[Picklez]

So, now just time to strip the rear calliper down and swap out the spindles:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Then, wanting to keep the rear finished length as low profile as possible I wanted to see if I could find a nice little spacer that I could use rather than the conventional idea of using two interlocking half moon washers. Here eBay came up trumps:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

So, calliper with the replacement spindle fitted, and then finally mounted up:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Much happier, though I've now realised I should have also cleaned the unlock nut up as well when I polished the second og spindle. I know I'll be doing that in the next day or two. OCD 


Ok, that's all for the moment.

Cheers guys.

[brettypeeps]

This is one hell of a build 

[Picklez]

Another pedantic little update.

Tonight I revisit the front wheel. On completion I wanted to do something a little cleaner around the male allen headed bolt area.

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Rather than the black bolt and flat washer I was thinking, polished bolts and silver load spread type washers, so off to eBay, and today the candidates arrived:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

for reference, the bolts are imperial, 3/8 by 26TPI, or 3/8 UNF in old english money.

The only issue is the load washer. Nearest metric size to 3/8 is M10, but unfortunately these load washers are only available up to M8 from places like eBay etc.

Not to worry. A bit of googling and it works out that an M8 cap head has a diameter range of between 13odd and 14odd mm, and a 3/8th cap head is  between 14odd and 16odd mm. And main shaft wise M8 is obviously 8mm and 3/8th is about 9.5mm. So, considering a M8 washer the clearance hole is around 8.5mm.
So, I ordered the M8's knowing I'd most probably have a bit of 'fettling' on my hands, and of course when offering them up that proved to be the case:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[Picklez]

No problem, using a 9.5mm drill bit easily sorted the centre whole of the washer out, then it was down to the cap head end. That would be easy with access to a mill, but like with the lathe that's not something I have  . So, home brew time again:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And it worked quite well, about 5-10minutes on each washer & hey-presto (left 'before', right 'after'):
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

and then fitted, which I'm much happier with:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

I may yet de-anodise and polish the load-spread washers, not sure at present  .

Anyway, the og bolts & washers, saved for any potential future owner if/when the wheels ever get moved on  .

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That's all for tonight guys.

Thanks for the continued (appreciated) comments & feedback.

Stay 

[bobafett]

Nice little bit of re-engineering - looks the part 

[Mikku]

I love reading this thread - the amount of effort you're putting in is amazing - a real labour of love!

Comment of the day:- "You've got to laugh at this game, it's the only thing that will keep you sane."

[Picklez]

So, another little update.

An alternate tyre option landed on the door matt today...

IRC Freestyles (nabbed off of eBay last week). Earliest date I can find for these is '85. Here's an ad from Nov 85 Freestylin:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And here's the first one fitted:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

With the proverbial 'release powder' 

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Then the old hairdryer treatment to eradicate all evidence of dried oils, sorry, release powder  .

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

and finished:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

[Picklez]

So, before (late 80's Comp Sts)

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

and after (mid 80's onwards IRCs)

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ] [ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And yes, I've got to do a little OCD work (turn the wheel around, straighten the valve stem up), but wanted to get the impression of the tyres fitted for tonight.

I wasn't really actually too sure that I'd overly like them when I bought them (took a bit of a punt really, out of desperation for era correctness), but seeing them restored and fitted I'm really quite liking them. To the point that I'll now only probably swap them out if either green-blue label ST's or Panaracer Freestyles come to market.

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

That's all for tonight. Had a little bad news regards the delivery of the pedalPower decal, looks like there's going to be an undefined time delay with that, so it could really slow the build progress, particularly as Del's not up and running at the moment  . But hey-hoy, there really are far more important things to stress about in life than our toy bike hobbies.

Stay safe everyone.

 

[bobafett]

I totally get the strive for era correctness but for me personally I'd stick with the later Comp ST's - they just look slicker and sexier on that wheel. Just my opnion though mate, the other tyres are nice and something a little different also 

[Picklez]

I know exactly what you mean. That is/was my battle when deciding on them. I adore the look of the ST's, as you say much sexier, just struggling with the fact that they date from around 88/89, somewhen like that. And that's why I'm quite desperately searching for a set of the earlier green-blue label ST's  .

In honesty, until finding anything else I'll probably swap back and forth with the two choices I've got for quite a while  .

[bobafett]

Well..... if it helps...... when justifying later parts or none factory spec parts on builds for me, ESPECIALLY consumables or wear and tear replaceables like grips and tyres etc... I always look at it like.... if the bike had survived for 3 years and needed new tyres... well you know. At the end of the day if it looks right and feels right then it's right. It's not like you've got 90s or new school tyres on her. Looks good to me mate and if she's a keeper and tyres happen to pop up in the future then swap them when the chance arises... I've done that with shit loads of bikes in my collection, switched things out when better parts popped up..... this is all just my pennies worth though, but I've been building for 13 years now and I've learned to accept that some things just have to be what they will be....
 Until something pops up to change that !   

[Bob_Acid]

I quite like the IRC 👍

[Picklez]

I quite like the IRC 👍

Thanks sir, and I actually agree. I was a little unsure when I went for the IRC's, but seeing them cleaned up I'm much happier with them.

In reality, it's probably going to go this route,

Well..... if it helps...... when justifying later parts or none factory spec parts on builds for me, ESPECIALLY consumables or wear and tear replaceables like grips and tyres etc... I always look at it like.... if the bike had survived for 3 years and needed new tyres... well you know. At the end of the day if it looks right and feels right then it's right. It's not like you've got 90s or new school tyres on her. Looks good to me mate and if she's a keeper and tyres happen to pop up in the future then swap them when the chance arises... I've done that with shit loads of bikes in my collection, switched things out when better parts popped up..... this is all just my pennies worth though, but I've been building for 13 years now and I've learned to accept that some things just have to be what they will be....
 Until something pops up to change that !   

and I agree with the 'age' sentiment of, if it was back in the day and I'd been riding this setup for a few years then it would have definitely ended up with the newer ST's on 

So, for now (unless something turns up on ebay, ending next week, and ends at a realistic price  ) then I'll stay with the IRCs on it for a little while at least , if for no other reason than to let them recover some natural shape from being stored flat on a shelf for 30 odd years, and may then swap back to the ST's  . Time will tell, and it's no big stress either way.

[deeman]

I quite like the IRC 👍

Me too, and the old 'release powder' came off a treat! You don't see them every day.....

[NORTY40]

Loving this thread , top work mate 

I think Mikku summed it up with the phrase ' a real labour of love ' 

Quality build , looking forward to the next update

[Picklez]

Cheers for the continued kind words guys, and sorry for lack of recent updates.

Been down in the depths of the bottom of the garden, in the shed (definitely wouldn't call it a man cave) fettling away at restoring 3 sets of pedals, one for this build, one for a legacy build (meaning I'll finally finish a build thread from about 4-5 years back  ), and the final set for the next build.

As a little distraction here's the 'before' and current 'after' images for the pedal cages for the next build, 8 hours effort so far:

Before:
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

After:
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Only doing these first as I'm on a deadline to get them in to the anodisers for refinishing (in with a bunch of other stuff). My efforts probably won't be sufficient for their required finish, I just wanted to do the heavy lifting on removing all of the gouges, & see if the end stampings could be preserved. And biggest challenge, getting those b@st%rd screws out  .

As for the pedals for the Changa, about 50% finished, so they'll make an appearance in the a couple of updates time.

I will be posting a legit update in the coming days. The pedalPower decal has landed, so I'll be building up the rear wheel soon and updating with images of that effort. Taken a 4 day weekend, so that I can assure at least one bike play day for myself 

But (as far as I'm concerned) the biggest news is: & there'll possibly be controversy, as there'll be a 'step 3' regards the tyres. No controversy for me, maybe just the opinions of some of us  . That's because a few minutes ago I went to battle on eBay, and came out victorious:

[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Stoked 

That's all for now though guys. I'll probably post a proper update Monday. Stay safe, enjoy the weather, & keep it 

[Mikku]

Love the finish on those pedals!! So you're going to re-anodised them black?

Had to literally laugh out loud at the latest tyre news! Will be interested to see what they look like mounted. Fwiw, I liked the chunkier looking tread of the IRCs but have no idea how that would translate to riding.

Looking forward to the next update!!

[Picklez]

Glad to deliver a chuckle, must admit I never envisaged this much of a palaver over the tyres, and I'm actually liking the IRC's, just always wanted to furnish a build of this era (would have originally been my Trix, till I let that go) with either the green-blue labelled ST's or these panaracers. So, whilst it's only been a few month hunt for this particular build, it's actually been one of those "on my radar" kind of background searches for a few years now.

And re the IRC's, (and this may be getting a bit weird  ). Woke last Sunday thinking "ah, paradise, nestled between two beauties..." as Looked right and saw the gorgeous Mrs Picklez and left and saw...
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]

And yes, she would kill me if I also posted an image of the view that was to the right hand side

[bobafett]

Great update Pete..... 3 sets of tyres though mate.... you're worse than me 

Oh and.....

I'll finally finish a build thread from about 4-5 years back

fook all wrong with that mate trust me