1937 shelby cadillac chinee-style

1937 shelby cadillac tuner

So a buddy of mine (sloppy kidricer sin) passed along his MB addiction to us.
For years he had been raving about these things,
and after hemmin and hawin about gettin a slew of craigslist motorcycles,
decided to go the MB route since i've got a ton of old stagnating bike parts,
plus they look like alot of fun.
Also, wanted a project that wasn't as much time intensive as the hot rods and stuff i've got going.
(little did I know so far!!)

So anyway my favorite fat-tire frame is the pre-war shelby,
and coincidentally had the perfect wrecked frame for this build.
A couple months back,
i'd tried to fix the bottom bracket area with a donor girls shelby bike,
but didn't realize the angles weren't the same,
so ditched it before I wasted too much time on it.

Bummer was the earlier 37ish shelby's had a straight downtube,
and the engine doesn't fit in the space correctly.

The later 38ish shelby's hadve a curved downtube.
Since this frame was toast,
figured it was worth customizing it even further.

There was so much brazing on this frame,
it wasn't much fun to weld.
The way I fit the new tube gave it the more welding strength in a cleaner section,
and also more room for the engine.
There was a small insert on the top part.

so the new tube is below the centerline of the BB now...

At first was going to give it the natural flash rust look,
but figured a half-*** paint match was the safer route.
Yeah yeah I didn't grind the welds,
for this one strength is more important than pretty.
(called a 30/30 - 30 mph and 30 feet away)

This is why I think the shelby frame's are so cool.
They invested alot of time in the seat-tube area of the frame,
and as a welder/grinder, I can really appreciate their effort

As common on lots of early bikes,
shelby used a poopload of badges,
(western flyer, hiawatha, shelby flyer, flying cloud etc)
but this one is kinda cool as its a cadillac,
(and schwinn had a lasalle branded bike which makes it a neat competition)

These are my riders,
the black one is 98% stock,
and the red one was alot of my random stuff.
A couple months ago the rims and other chrome was shiny,
but it was all flash rusted,
a perfect donor for the new motor-bike.
(sad to see it torn apart actually but it will be back as a klunker)

I really needed some instant gratification here,
so swapped all the parts to the new frame.
Figured it would be smart to ride it around and make sure it didn't fall apart too!

The thing rode great and straight,
probably the first time it had been ridden in 50 years.

So that was the first night...

TP

 

[perichbrothers]

Well I took the inbetween pics with my cell phone and didn't send them yet.
but here's the two sides of the peanut.

Originally was going to make a female mold,
but figured out a vacuum-bag method using tape,
and it came out smooth enough to just fair out with a little bondo.
If I needed to make more than 2 than would have done the mold method,
cause they'd be perfect every time.

Now have to fg-tape them together
and make the filler and outlet.

TP

 

[GearNut]

That is too cool! Right now it looks like a giant hot dog.

 

[Chris Crew]

I think I've identified the original use of your cdi cover---those of you old enough to remember barber shops will recall that for an extra two bits, you could get a scalp massage. The barber had a little electric motor-driven gizmo that he strapped on the back of his hand to give himself "magic fingers." Cured dandruff, baldness and a host of other ills.

Your housing looks like the motor housing from one of those gizmos.

 

[perichbrothers]

I think I've identified the original use of your cdi cover---those of you old enough to remember barber shops will recall that for an extra two bits, you could get a scalp massage. The barber had a little electric motor-driven gizmo that he strapped on the back of his hand to give himself "magic fingers." Cured dandruff, baldness and a host of other ills.

Your housing looks like the motor housing from one of those gizmos.

Hey you used to watch "liars club" or somethin?


Anyway here's a small update.
Fiberglass, especially epoxy, is fun but it sucks since there's alot of cure time.
Basically its work for an hour or 2, than let it sit til the next day, repeat.

Horrible layup, the mat was really messy, fortunately i've got a grinder.
hard to see but put inserts in for mounting, did an inlet and the outlet.

Prebondo...
Cant wait to throw it in there...
TP

 

[Chris Crew]

liars club

never saw that show, but I did watch an Andy Griffith rerun the other night and Floyd the barber went to town on Barney's head with a massager unit nearly identical to the one on your bike

 

[GearNut]

If I were to grind away on the fiberglass, what kind of breathing masks would you recommend?

 

[perichbrothers]

never saw that show, but I did watch an Andy Griffith rerun the other night and Floyd the barber went to town on Barney's head with a massager unit nearly identical to the one on your bike

Youtube Liar's Club, the show is 70's but its cool to see some of the stuff that was invented.

If I were to grind away on the fiberglass, what kind of breathing masks would you recommend?

I use a filtered mask,
but the best trick is working in front of a fan.
Make sure its blowing downwind, neighbors will love you!

TP

 

[perichbrothers]

Finally was able to throw the tank in there.
Didn't really make it perfectly smooth,
just did a rusty patina'd rattlecan on it.

Need a gasket on my filler too.

Fortunately there's no leaks and it runs great.
I'd like to change out the plastic fuel line later,
but for now I think its good to go.

Well i'd like to change the controls some time too...
and get those cables in order, and wire up a 6V light, and...

TP

 

[GearNut]

It came out beautiful! If I did not know better, I'd say it was origional to the bike.

 

[Og-Whizzerdude]

Beautiful! That BB sprocket is very cool just like the chain guard and all the rest. I watched one video on YouTube about trikes. I was amazed. I didn't even think people out there are building stuff like that.
I couldn't help but notice the seats on all of them are exactly what I am trying to accomplish. I have some ideas how to make the seat pan. When it comes to shaping the metal I am clueless.
I was talking to my friend about it and he opened a drawer and grabbed some aluminum foil, doubled it up a couple of times, folded it pretty thick around edges and made a pattern for a seat pan right there on his kitchen floor. It took him about 5 minutes to do it. I took it home and it fit the bike real well. Now I have a pattern. I don't know what gauge metal the big boys use for seat pans but I know if it fails structurally it will lock up the back wheel real fast. That happened to me on a ride up north. I really don't want it to happen again.