Touring - Modifying a pannier rack

I'm trying to modify a Blackburn rear rack to make it a front rack on my commuter. I think I can attach the stays to the front fork with P Clamps, but I'm not sure if it'll carry any weight. I've got the flat part of the rack attached to the brake assembly, so that's good, but the stays are the puzzle.
Thanks in advance.

I'm trying to modify a Blackburn rear rack to make it a front rack on my commuter. I think I can attach the stays to the front fork with P Clamps, but I'm not sure if it'll carry any weight. I've got the flat part of the rack attached to the brake assembly, so that's good, but the stays are the puzzle.
Thanks in advance.

Does the rack have a place for a center stay? It would be two holes drilled down the midline of the rack. If so, you could attach a stay to that and then bolt it to the fork crown, just below the bearing race. Most rigid forks have a hole drilled at this point.

If you use P-clamps, once everything is connected, the rack should carry weight. The stays don't carry that much load (most of the force will be downward towards the fork tips), so as long as the stay isn't too long and springy, you shouldn't have a problem.

However, what do you mean by haveing the flat part of the rack attached to the brake assembly?

Thanks. The "flat part" of the rack is the surface above the wheel. Right now I've got that portion of the rack attached with a bracket to the brake assembly (centerpulls), essentially the hole below the fork crown. The stays won't reach the braze ons or the axle so again I'm hoping P clamps will resolve the issue of securing it.

Thanks. The "flat part" of the rack is the surface above the wheel. Right now I've got that portion of the rack attached with a bracket to the brake assembly (centerpulls), essentially the hole below the fork crown. The stays won't reach the braze ons or the axle so again I'm hoping P clamps will resolve the issue of securing it.

Okay, I see now. The deck of the rack is already attached to the brake like I suggested above. You want to use P-clamps on the fork. Correct? In that case you may lose a little in weight capacity because the P-clamps can't hold as much weight or, at least, aren't as trustworthy in my opinion. I have p-clamps on a mountain bike rack from Delta and they work okay as long as I don't go over 30 lbs (or so they suggest).

Why won't the stays reach the wheels? You might look at the bracket and see if you can flatten it somemore to get the deck lower.