Mad Honk 

I went to the metal shop today and picked up a piece that I think will give me the base for a brake caliper drop section for the rear brake. It is aluminum and is about the correct depth for installing a recessed brake nut to keep the weight down. I can mill the material down to a nice finish and the correct length. In my mind I will need to keep the weight down so Instead of the brake bolts like a standard Campy drop piece, I think I can use a bolt fitted so it holds the extension in place from the top of the brake plate. The issue of the position of the drop plate is adjustability for reach of the brake caliper. I will head to our co-op Wednesday night and get a real good look at the Huffy frames to find an appropriate placement for the attaching bolt. Here is the material as picked up from the metal shop with a picture of a recessed brake section to be sure it will work as a drop plate. Smiles, MH

This is the aluminum plate as picked up. About six inches long and one inch wide so plenty of room to work the metal into the correct shape.

Depth of material is just a bit shy of the length of the brake bolt for a recessed brake. With a star nut and the right recessed nut it should fit nicely and not add extra weight. Now to pantograph or not?

AdventureManCO 

This is looking cool! Do you have a mill? I unfortunately do not. Now, does this mean that you have your own secret Huffy you've not told anyone about??

AdventureManCO 

Never thought I'd say this, but dare I say...we are approaching...dork disc territory, price wise???

AdventureManCO 

Okay, so, I'm having a good laugh on this one...


I got an email alert for some reason to this decal auction. Should I put it on the Huffy? W/ the Huffy logos firmly still intact, of course.








Haha, I think the troll would just be too much. It would break the universe. The aliens would deem our planet unworthy of conquest. Someone would see that decal from 20ft away, and all the other warning signs....lack of lugs...jacked up fork angle...incredibly small seatpost size...and all of it would go out the window, just pure tunnel vision. I can see it now...They would hurry over, giddy with excitement 'oh wow, a Confente!!!' and once within about 8ft and the life would just drain from their face and their glee would turn to horror. I don't think I could do it. It would be dangerous for their health, and then for mine. I'm relishing the thought though...relishing!

Mad Honk 

AMCO,
No secret Huffy here, but willing to contribute to the Campy-fication of your bike. Like DD am finding this thread to be quite the hoot, and as such am working to get to the magical number of 1000 posts about this project. I am thinking about how to put a drop part into the front fork. Perhaps a bit of tubing inserted into the steering tube held in place by the original bolt that will allow for the placement of a Campy caliper dropped down a few mm. Just imagining a full Super Record group on this bike. Smiles, MH

AdventureManCO 

Well, you are very kind, and a little bit crazy, to get involved and want to help. Thank you.

Regarding the rear brake bridge, I've had a plan to make an alloy plate that extends down from the original brake bridge hole, and also rests on the stays for a bit of rigidity. Then of course swiss-cheesing it up to lighten it up. But I haven't made it yet - only been a concept. I will hold off if you have an idea!

Regarding the front, a couple of ideas have come to mind - one is exactly as you describe. A tube inserted into the steerer tube acting as an extender, held in place by the original fork brake bolt hole. I didn't want to reveal too much, but y'all are too smart and are figuring it out around the same time that I am.

I found my digital caliper the other day, so I can measure the ID of the steerer at the crown, and see if I can find a donor alloy seatpost that would be willing to be amputated to give up a 2-3" section. The other idea is to find a larger tube and go off of the OD - it would be lighter, and maybe even look cooler. Kinda like like the 'double tab drop down w/ center sleeve' idea that folks have had, but more of a wraparound design from a single piece that is a little more elegant. The Huffy is an elegant old broad.

cudak888 

ABSOLUTELY rip all the decals off on the Huffy and put the Confente decals on.

Anyone who yells "dishonest" at this move obviously needs more than bifocals.

I love it.

-Kurt

AdventureManCO 

The birth of the 'Huffente' lol


EDIT: Hold on I gotta mock this up...

AdventureManCO 

Okay, I'm getting distracted, but in response to a previous post about adapters, here is some more information.

So, based on what I'm seeing on the fork, I will not need a donor 'seatpost', but a donor 'stem' -




Now, a part of me would like to use that 'outside' diameter for a bracket, but this fork crown is reaaaaaaaaaallly big! 42+mm! So, I really am not sure how long the Campy SR brake post is, but it probably would not allow for this size, plus an external adapter thickness. So we will likely have to stay with the ID on this one. I have a donor stem that I can use for now.


So, while I was playing around with the fork and handling it, I started to take a closer look at it...


hmm...something didn't look quite right...




So I did a quick shadetree mechanic alignment test...







So thhhhatts why my ride was always trying to buck me off. Either this bike was secretly painted red and used in the Breaking Away crash scene, or someone just didn't give a crap when it was put together. I refuse to believe the latter, so it must be the former!

Hopefully this will be rectified w/out killing the fork.

cudak888 

AdventureManCO Didn't you know? That's Huffy's patented asymmetric fork. It's crude, but SFW.

If you think I'm breaking out the Park fork straightener for that...

-Kurt

AdventureManCO 

stoneageyosh

The patent has long expired, so now anybody can use the design/technology as they seek to emulate the exquisitely pleasurable, albeit challenging handling characteristics of your Huffentenago.

Hondo6

For the NOS hangers, as I recall the price is not quite as high as the Campagnolo spoke protectors on eBay. But fairly close.

I'm guessing the hanger on a donor Valentino would work, and it would be a "genuine Campagnolo" part. It's actually in the realm of affordability (though a bit pricey for a RD "claw") - and includes a spare RD to boot!

Hondo6

Me likey!

You could even go "whole hog" and create a whole decal set. I'd suggest using a script "George P. Huffman" for the signature and a variant of the "gas pipe union" logo I suggested earlier for the frame tubing decals.

Since the suit symbols from a deck of cards are largely already taken, maybe a line of miniature Blue Oyster Cult logos would work for a logo symbol sticker? Or, alternately, a line of miniature black BOC logos alternating with bright red spades of similar size?

No ideas at present for something to replace the "Pro-Strada" decals. And I'd leave the Huffy headbadge/head tube sticker in place.

Have no idea what having a set like that made up would cost. But if the cost isn't so high as to make this idea a "non-starter", I'd certainly be willing to contribute a few bucks towards covering part of the cost of having a set made. And I might not be the only one.

smd4

Having custom-made vinyl decals would not be that expensive.

thumpism 

I think it needs the "I" from the original Confiente name; rolls off the tongue more mellifluously and sounds more continental (with a small "c").

smd4

Where do you see that his name ever had an "i" in it?

thumpism 

Old eyes see what they want.

Mad Honk 

Well I went to my Co-op tonight to find a "sacrificial" Huffy frame to destroy for my brake project, but found nothing. So back to the drawing board... I have a vision of the brake caliper drop part that will allow for a few different lengths of drop based on the the position of the attaching bolt. Since a bit of material will be shaved off of the bottom of the brake bridge there are a couple of grams to lose on the frame, but there will be some weight added for the drop part. By carefully calculating the position of the drop part it could be either braced against the lip of the existing bridge on the top or by judicious cutting on the bottom of the bride it will stabilize the drop from movement between the rear stays. Here is the mock up of the drop part as a universal length extender:

When I know the exact amount of length it needs to extend the drop part can be shaved to length and finished as is appropriate for a Campy part.
This is gonna be fun. Smiles, MH

cudak888 

That could be easily laser-cut...

-Kurt

Mad Honk 

The drawing I posted should have had a few notes attached. The tear drop shaped part is where I plan on placing the caliper bolt for the drop part. The extra holes indicated are where I can place extra bolt holes for extra length of the drop part as needed. Smiles, MH

AdventureManCO 

F

nlerner

Clearly you could solve this problem with a Campy rear coaster brake.

Eric F 

Stunning…

pastorbobnlnh 

WOW! Throw-back mid-80s PC art. Color me impressed!