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Dumpster Diamond, My Entry for the 15th Annual RRBBO

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Bike from the Dead

I live for the CABE
Here is the bike I built for my first ever Rat Rod Bikes.com Build Off. It's a 1950 Snyder-built Montgomery Ward/Hawthorne frame with Western Flyer pedals I bought at the 2019 Springfield, MO swap meet for $20. The fork seen in the pictures wasn't included with it, I just had it and thought it'd look good with the original paint.
1287296


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As it turned out, this frame was BENT. The seat pole in particular was really bent.
1287293


I took this frame to a couple bike shops around town to see if anyone could straighten it out for me. One recommended this guy at a radiator repair shop, so I took it there. In hindsight, I should never have done business with that guy, because all he did was bend it in a different direction, and he messed up nearly every other part I brought to him. I was not happy.
1287297


Since the original paint and patina was ruined when this guy burnt off a fair portion of the paint, I decided to try and wire-brush everything down to bare metal to see how it looked. In the process, I found this cool diamond design hiding underneath some of the surface. While it didn't return after the initial build, I plan to bring this design element back when I rebuild this bike again later.
1287298


I mocked up some parts and made some rough plywood tank inserts to try and get a feel for the direction of this bike. It was about this point that I decided to go for a sort of board track racer vibe.
1287299


My dad had a bunch of these halo lights from a Sonic drive thru he wasn't using, which I felt would make perfect number plates for my bike.
1287304


I took everything to my dad's welder buds, who did a much better job of fixing this bike than the first guy. They cut out the mangled seat pole and welded in a replacement from a junk frame I had, bobbed the rear fender, made one good set of forks from two bad forks, cut the number plates, and tweaked the chain guard to fit better.
1287302
1287306


I then had all the parts sandblasted down to bare metal, then I wire-brushed everything to shine it up. I then hit everything with a few layers of some satin clear coat spray paint, and began putting the bike back together.
1287307


1287309


On literally the last two days of the build off, I put together this custom wood tank out of some scrap pine boards I got for free off Craigslist. I don't have a bandsaw, so I just used a jigsaw and my dad's belt sander to shape it. I had never done this before, so this first tank... could look better, but it came out okay for my first try.
1287310


1287311


I was one of the last, if not the last, guy to finish my bike before the deadline, but I got it done. It's not perfect, it's not done like I had originally planned, but it's done.
1287312


One of the other details that I added to the bike before I finished it were these custom decals for the chain guard and number plates I designed in Adobe Illustrator. I got the name "Dumpster Diamond" from a combination of the diamond I found hiding under some of the paint, and the fact that multiple people who saw this bike before I started on it asked if I had found it in a dumpster, or have said it belonged in a dumpster. Those people made me determined to take this "dumpster bike" and turn it into something beautiful, and I like to think I've succeeded.
1287313


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The picture that helped me finish in 17th place out of 68 finished entries in my class. I wanted to do something a little funny and poke my head out of a dumpster like I was Oscar the Grouch, with my bike sitting in front of the dumpster like I found it in there.
1287318


I've still got plans for this bike and how to make it even better, but for now, I just want to fix a couple things to make it ride a little better.

For the full build, here's my build thread: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index...er-build-off-with-a-postwar-hawthorne.111100/

For the finished build thread, look here: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/dumpster-diamond-is-done.112194/
 
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7th place? Where can I see what beat it?
@Bike from the Dead I dig it man! If it took 7th not finished the way you wanted then do it the way you'll enjoy it the most. I wouldn't hide my head if I had built it & owned. I have cheap bikes I enjoy for various reasons & visions of what they could be once I have the time & money together for'em. Welcome to The Cabe man!
I would have loved to have finished 7th, but I finished in 17th place. Here's the voting gallery of all the finished bikes in my class: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/bo15-class-1-final-rankings-gallery.112289/ There were a ton of great bikes in this year's Build Off, but what surprised me is which bikes I placed ahead of. There were many bikes I ranked above that I thought were just as cool if not cooler than mine!

I'm definitely going to continue working on it and making it into the bike I want, but right now, I'm just happy that I got it done. It's funny too, I had originally no desire to keep this bike, as it was in my "for sale/trade" stash, but after putting it all together, I want to keep it and enjoy it.

Thanks guys!
 
Here is the bike I built for my first ever Rat Rod Bikes.com Build Off. It's a 1950 Snyder-built Montgomery Ward/Hawthorne frame with Western Flyer pedals I bought at the 2019 Springfield, MO swap meet for $20. The fork seen in the pictures wasn't included with it, I just had it and thought it'd look good with the original paint.
View attachment 1287296

View attachment 1287295

View attachment 1287294

As it turned out, this frame was BENT. The seat pole in particular was really bent.
View attachment 1287293

I took this frame to a couple bike shops around town to see if anyone could straighten it out for me. One recommended this guy at a radiator repair shop, so I took it there. In hindsight, I should never have done business with that guy, because all he did was bend it in a different direction, and he messed up nearly every other part I brought to him. I was not happy.
View attachment 1287297

Since the original paint and patina was ruined when this guy burnt off a fair portion of the paint, I decided to try and wire-brush everything down to bare metal to see how it looked. In the process, I found this cool diamond design hiding underneath some of the surface. While it didn't return after the initial build, I plan to bring this design element back when I rebuild this bike again later.
View attachment 1287298

I mocked up some parts and made some rough plywood tank inserts to try and get a feel for the direction of this bike. It was about this point that I decided to go for a sort of board track racer vibe.
View attachment 1287299

My dad had a bunch of these halo lights from a Sonic drive thru he wasn't using, which I felt would make perfect number plates for my bike.
View attachment 1287304

I took everything to my dad's welder buds, who did a much better job of fixing this bike than the first guy. They cut out the mangled seat pole and welded in a replacement from a junk frame I had, bobbed the rear fender, made one good set of forks from two bad forks, cut the number plates, and tweaked the chain guard to fit better.
View attachment 1287302View attachment 1287306

I then had all the parts sandblasted down to bare metal, then I wire-brushed everything to shine it up. I then hit everything with a few layers of some satin clear coat spray paint, and began putting the bike back together.
View attachment 1287307

View attachment 1287309

On literally the last two days of the build off, I put together this custom wood tank out of some scrap pine boards I got for free off Craigslist. I don't have a bandsaw, so I just used a jigsaw and my dad's belt sander to shape it. I had never done this before, so this first tank... could look better, but it came out okay for my first try.
View attachment 1287310

View attachment 1287311

I was one of the last, if not the last, guy to finish my bike before the deadline, but I got it done. It's not perfect, it's not done like I had originally planned, but it's done.
View attachment 1287312

One of the other details that I added to the bike before I finished it were these custom decals for the chain guard and number plates I designed in Adobe Illustrator. I got the name "Dumpster Diamond" from a combination of the diamond I found hiding under some of the paint, and the fact that multiple people who saw this bike before I started on it asked if I had found it in a dumpster, or have said it belonged in a dumpster. Those people made me determined to take this "dumpster bike" and turn it into something beautiful, and I like to think I've succeeded.
View attachment 1287313

View attachment 1287314

View attachment 1287315

View attachment 1287316

View attachment 1287317

The picture that helped me finish in 17th place out of 68 finished entries in my class. I wanted to do something a little funny and poke my head out of a dumpster like I was Oscar the Grouch, with my bike sitting in front of the dumpster like I found it in there.
View attachment 1287318

I've still got plans for this bike and how to make it even better, but for now, I just want to fix a couple things to make it ride a little better.

For the full build, here's my build thread: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index...er-build-off-with-a-postwar-hawthorne.111100/

For the finished build thread, look here: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/dumpster-diamond-is-done.112194/
Absolutely Bad Ass!!
 
Making a tank out of pine is Brilliant!!! I love it. Some quality time with a belt sander sounds a great way to achieve “good enough”. This is going to get me into a lot of trouble. Thank you!
Thanks! Yeah, the 2 outside pieces are from a waterbed frame I got for free off Craigslist, and the middle chunk that you can't really see is a piece of plywood I got at a garage sale where everything was free! The belt sander probably did most of the work, as I was a bit too cautious with the jigsaw. Gave myself too much material to shave off.

Give it a try! Check Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, you can find all sorts of good wood for free to turn into custom parts there!
 
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