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It's a start

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the tinker

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Bought this 39 Colson at the Blue Moon swap last weekend for 40 bucks. Got this Shelby springer a few years back for 25 bucks. I think it's the start of a rat rod :) The Colson frame is straight, but all original paint is gone. I would never do anything to permanently alter a classic 39 Colson, so Colson folks don't get upset. I will have to cut down the spinger as it's a girls fork.
There is a swap this weekend here in Ill. at the old I80 drive in on Sunday.......I will be looking for a hocky stick guard and maybe a rack. It will be FUN!!!:)
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all good tinker. its a good platform to do what you wish, as long as you ride the hell out of it. keep us updated. rob.
 
Colson update

Ok Rob, here's an update: Threaded the Shelby girls springer down 5/8 inch and cut 5/8ths off it and bolted it on the Colson. A match made in heaven......can't wait to see what I can find at the I80 swap tomorrow for it!:)
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I recently did the same thing, cut down a women's shelby springer. You may need to make a new bracket piece to push the the fork/front wheel out from the frame. At least that what I had to do. My front wheel was way too close to the down tube. Best of luck on your project. Its lookin pretty awesome already.
 
I'm liking where you're taking this. Colsons have a certain funky ugliness to them ( Being a devout Colson disciple , I can say this ). That Durante springer is the perfect "nose" for it. Can't wait to see more.
 
The Colson ratrod is coming along nice. The fun part about this hobby that I really enjoy
is finding all the parts to make a complete bike.
Although the original paint is long gone from the frame, There is a little bit of green . I am hoping these original paint green fenders fit.[Can anyone I.D. them?] Think they are Colson but not sure.
Will try to match the fender paint for the frame. The back fender has the original flat braces. After going through the fender roller they should look ok.
Found this old blue rack[can anyone I.D. the maker?] Might put that on.
Jarod ,you got me concerned about the front wheel hitting the frame so I put a wheel on. think it will be ok.
The chain guard and early pedals really get the old tinker excited to get this bike together.
Just got these two head badges in a trade from old Ed Borros . Not sure which one will be used.
looking like the "wings" one.
Thanks for the encouragement guys. Painting the frame is next.:)
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The great thing about making a custom bike, is you can make it anyway you want.
 
The Colson frame has surface rust everywhere. It's even under the remaining paint that I scraped off the frame. Looks like it has been carelessly repainted a couple times and then left to rust .
Decided to give it an oxalic acid bath to eat out all this rust.
Had some scrap 2x6 so made a box just big enough to house the frame. Will line it with doubled up plastic and then soak it for a day and see what happens to Mr. Rust.
The frame had oil and grease on it so I blasted it with some break clean to remove it before it's submerge in the O.X. bath.
There is a little bit of room left in the center of the frame...........Wonder if I could soak my feet in this stuff :)
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Soaked the frame overnight in the oxalic acid and it did a great job of removing all the rust.
The photo was taken about ten minutes after I removed it from it's bath and it was not wiped or cleaned off yet. I will steel wool it this afternoon.
Next week: primer.:)
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