'50 Schwinn/NE-5 update

U

uncle_punk13

Guest
Hey all,
I just came in from the shop. Over the past two days I've been able to move foward a bit on the 'fireball 5' Whizzer project.
New Whizzers are manufactured to be mounted upon today's larger (diameter tube) frames, so in order to properly mount the tank, front engine mount, and clutch cable bracket on the 1950 DX frame it was necesary to chop up an old Huffy girls ATB from the scrap/parts pile. The inside diameter of this tubing is only a few thousands of an inch larger than the outside diameter of the vintge frame's tubing. It fits like a sleeve.
I began by donning my respirator, thick black rubber gloves, and safety glasses. I poured paint stripper into an old tuna can I keep around for just such things, and set forth to removing more of the six layers of paint from this area to be worked upon on this vintage frame. After using various scrapers, adn sanding pads, I shut down shop for the night.
Today I cleaned all the residue from the area I stripped last night, and went to work on the tube 'sleeves'.
I cut two 1 1/4" lengths of the Huffy tubing with my mini tubing cutter, then clamped it lengthwise in the vise. Using my 4 1/2" angle grinder, I sliced the tubing lengthwise, then ground off a little extra. Using the grinder and some files, along with a debur knife, I cleaned up the 'slits'.
T spread open the slits, then slipped them over the top tube. I held up my tank for the precise mounting/placement, moved the 'sleeves' into position. I then marked the ends with a sharpie.
I removed the tank, put the 'sleeves' back into the (marked) positions, and cinched them down with a hose clamp. I then tack welded each end of the slits on the sleeves.
Bingo! The tank now mounts perfectly to the vintage frame, and in a few moments I'll be out to finish the job with the other parts. I have to do a partial dry fit/build up of the bike with engine to get the mounting points for the engine mount and clutch bracket, then tear it all down again to weld up the sleeves in these areas.
This is really not absolutely necesary to mount the engine, but halfway across the states last time this idea occured to me, so i want to build this frame up specifically for this engine, and lots of long distance rides.
Maybe in a couple of years I'll ride it in the Iron Butt...
LOL
Thanks for listening,
Rif
 
Sound like you are having fun those angle grinders sure come in handy. What, where and when is the Iron Butt?
 
Rif, I would recommend brazing fillets at the edges of the spacers you tacked to your frame. I suggest this to decrease the chances of the frame cracking at the edge of the spacers. The edges of the spacers create stress risers at the sharp edge of the larger diameter tubing. Also, there tends to be large crystal growth as the metal cools at the edge of the weld.
 
Hey thanks for the tip!
Soon as I get gas equipment I'll do that. I wanted to do that for looks, and the more I learn about welding, the more I don't know...
I recently learned about 'sugaring' or 'crystalization' from welds, and appreciate the tip. I had thought there might be stress points created at the edges of these 'sleeves' and appreciate the confirmation so that I can better alleviate this.
Gosh I love doing this kind of stuff. I find it very interesting to learn about stresses, then testing and such. Backyard/guerilla engineering at it's best!!!
 
I'm not sure about the nesxt one, but you can look at their website for info...
Just do a search and it'll pop up...
 
Most welds if done properly don't fail as often as the metal adjacent to the weld does.
 
Well, I just picked up some equipment to be able to do brazing. It's been awhile, but i was pretty darn good at it way back when, so I'm hoping that, with a bit of textbook browsing and a little practice, it'll all come back to me.
I'm pretty excited for this part of my project to be done so I can move on to the paint, as I've test fit and fabbed nearly everything for the frame.
Once this is done I'll make my inspection appointment, register it, and then start the paint. I need the serial numbers to be as visible as possible at the inspection, so the paint will come after.
This is great!!!
Rif
 
Brazing is nearly done. I just wish I could get this danged ol' P.O.S. computer to work with my pic.s so i could post 'em.
It took a minute, but the brazing tecnique is coming back to me, and I'm having a blast with it! Nothin' better than playing with metal with the tunes blaring; it's like a secret place where I find serenity...
I'll be rolling on the throttle in no time!
 
Sounds great!! make sure to grind, or chip off all that flux. it kinda turns into glass on there. I've seen good paint jobs ruined years later when it hasen't been removed. keep on truckin' ...............Bob
 
Back
Top