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1961 Monark build thread

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just start with a small drill bit and go biget till u get it drilled out with ut hurting the threads then pick the pieces out of the thereds i don it a million times on the fork bolts then re thread the hule with a thread chaser works every time or a thread tap
chucksoldbikes
 
Well I'm done busting drill bits. I tried that.

After my bits broke, the cord my drill also frayed and now the drill works whe it wants to. So its either a new cord or a new drill. So, this summer, I've managed to snap nearly all of my smaller drill bits, frayed te cord on the drill, busted 3 flat head screw drivers (one was my mistake, one was a jewelers and it chipped, the other I forget). I remember a wrench last summer flexing from a bicycle pedal. My junkyard toolbox is ready for the junkyard itself, my wire strippers are shot from scrapping wires, I think Its just time for a whole new fleet of tools at this rate.

I think some of my sockets are even stripping out.
 
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Oh, and last fall, one of our soldering guns died.

I'm not buying more of these special drill bits. They have not worked on this fork, nor have they worked on that tail light bucket a few years ago.

Just to be clear, I'm NOT replacing the fork, I'm only looking for a machine shop.


Why doesn't anything ever some apart easy in this hobby? LMAO!
 
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Been a LONG TIME time to post more pics!

Well, I have been working on and off of this bike for the last couple of months. After I found the Dr. Bronner's soap and got the decal cleaned, it sat...and sat....and sat. All until my Eagle stuff was finally all in and done. :eek: It sat from most of June and July. This month has been tied up in house renovations, car cleaning (Oh Lord, did it NEED IT!), and.....preparing for college. That is why this bike WILL be done by next week (with or without the wheel truing), so help me! If it is done, then it is one less distraction. ;) I've finally got it in high gear! I'm now down to my favorite part of the game...putting it all back together! I also love buffing the paint, yes, it is labor intensive at times, but seeing that old and fadded red turn to it's bright, gloss, cherry red color was worth every last bit of sweat. :p

Here are the pics that have been backed up for weeks...

First, unreleased disassembly pics:

Tear down:
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This ugly seat is gonna go!
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In my shed for body work:
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Taking the wheels apart:
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These things always look like part of a missle or maybe a jet engine-they just look odd to me.
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This second round of pics is from cleaning:

First, the careful and delicate cleaning of the seat tube decal. It turned out rather nice and I'm impressed. I probably will not clear coat it...for now. It seems to be very stable-so long as I don't try the dish soap again! :eek: Sorry, some of these are taken with a shotty Canon-I've gone back to Kodak!

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Getting there:
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Next comes the daunting task of cleaning-THE RIMS! :eek: Each and every last spoke, nipple, and spot of paint must be as thoroughly has possible, but not so much that it takes off paint, with pinstriping in the way, this was very tricky!
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Washing mud off the tank:
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Now for more current pics:

The rear rim was finally done, not bad. The hub works great!
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Since the cord on my drill had a break in it somewhere, I busted two drill bits, and I want this thing mostly done by next week, I decided to outsource this repair. I found a machine shop called "T & W Tool Machine" literally on the other side of the tracks, not far away. They did the repair for free as it was simple and the fork looks and threads like brand new. This could have taken me forever but they got it drilled out and rethreaded correctly in minutes.
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These fender braces needed a little work-LOL! It just took some heat, a flat metal surface, a hammer, a punch, my small Vise Grips, and a set of pliers.

What I started with on the rear fender:
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Almost there...
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Gotcha!
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Old, faded, dull, and surface rust red paint was on the bikes, but after some buffing and polishing, here is where I'm at.

The worst spots on the rear fender:
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After:
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Worst areas on the front fender:
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Not bad:
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Even hardware is polished-a little perfectionist, yes?
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The fork is all cleaned up.

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Got the frame done!
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Now I'm getting him all back together! This is where I stopped last night. I felt the headset was a good stopping point.
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Well yesterday, I accomplished little, and today, NOTHING! Yesterday, a simple errand to a garage sale, which mentioned old bikes (I was thinking PARTS!), turned out to be a big disappointment. When they said "old" they meant rusty 10yr old Wal-Mart bikes. All used up and crusher-ready. It was also a bit of a distraction. I ran into a friend of mine and well, since we are going to college in less than a week, we took advantage of this time to have fun. We went junkyarding at the end of the day, and this is where I got sick. Hence, why I didn't get anything done today. My typical picking grounds was our last stop. I got one heck of an allergy attack from the ragweed, which is rare for me. I got a headache so bad it hurt to simply bend over. A throat so sore it felt like I swallowed my propane torch. I'm feeling much better. But tomorrow, I'm going to booking double time to make up for the time I had lost. I'm now almost two days behind. Tomorrow, I need to have my front wheel COMPLETELY cleaned and polished, front bearings repacked, chainring, crank, and bearings/hardware all cleaned, washed and polished, and have a time set up with a local bike shop to get my wheels trued. If I don't do all this, then I'm behind schedule again. I want to have this whole thing done, less the missing mystery item on my front fender, correct seat, and picking up my wheels from the shop. Because installing those parts takes 30min. or less, which I can afford to do. I'm hoping to be at that stage by Monday! That way, I can put anymore un-finished projects up for sale and get them out of here. By Thursday, whatever happens, happens. My beloved Silver Jets will end up parked and others will be up for sale!

I'm doing most of the work in my basement because of all the dang mosquitos! I get eaten alive! So now that I have the luxury of a dry basement, I take full advantage of it. If anybody is wondering, the stuff my shelves is for sale ;). Those shelves were used for my HotWheels collection back at the old place. The shelf with the vacuum still has a couple of ID tags from the cars.
 
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