Beer Bottle Opener Project - Monty the Rat

There is a bracket on my beach cruiser rat bike which originally held a reflector. Said reflector was removed within minutes of rescuing the bike, but the bracket has just sat there ever since. So I decided to try putting it to good use by hacking a regular old bottle/can opener combo.

First I bought the opener.

Sawed off the parts I didn't need. Notice the twist at the bottom. I used a vice to squash the twist out

Next I used the vice and a hammer to bend it to the shape I needed. 

Here is a view of the bracket on which the opener would be mounted

Next I drilled out the hole for the nut and bolt. This was probably the most tricky part. We have a drill press, but there wasn't a good way to clamp the opener that would allow proper hole placement. So the first hole was a bit of a compromise, and ended up not working at all. I gave it a second try, which included unbending part of the L shape for the drill chuck to have better vertical access. I didn't take the time to grab a pic of the drill press and clamp mechanism, but I assure you, this was the sketchiest part of the whole job. The drill press itself is fine, but my clamp mechanism was not pretty. IN the end it worked. Filed down the flash left over from the drill operation then headed to Home Depot and grabbed the bolt, flat washer, lock washer and nut I needed. Below is a pic of the finished result.

Next I tested it using a glass bottled Coke. Unfortunately it did not work as well as I would like. I had to work the bottle at an angle which made me end up spilling a bit out of the top once the cap came off. I also don't like that this particular opener ended up looking just like a reflector bracket! So, I am considering this opener version 1.0, and will continue working to refine both the look and functionality. All in all it was still a fun way to spend an hour or two and I literally spent less than $6.00 on the whole rig. Just want to get a version dialed in enough to work well for Southern Surf Stomp 2018.

Vintage BMX Nutbuster Pad Action

Installed a California Lite Perry Kramer Signature single stem pad on Monty the cruiser. I think I'm going to get a top tube pad also. Before and After pics below.

Monty the RatCruiser Updates - Tires, Seat Clamp, Rim Strip

Got some new tires for Monty, my beach cruiser rat rod build. He is starting to look pretty sharp now.

Two days after throwing the new tires on the rear was flat. I was pretty sure the issue was the old, crunchy rim strip. Once I got the tube out I was able to confirm that there is a single spoke that is poking out the bottom of the spoke nipple just enough to be an issue if the rim strip didn't do its job, which it did not. There is a lot of rust inside the rim, so before I put the new, wider cloth rim tape on, I took some time to remove all of the rust I could and gave it a decent cleaning to remove any residual particles. Hopefully that will do the trick.

Bpnus Level! My new Dia-Compe 2 piece seat clamp arrived today, so I was able to throw that on as well. Pork Chop threw in a rad hot wheels logo mash up sticker too. Clamp installed in about 2 minutes. The old school bmx parts continue to add personality to this build. I think so any way. 

Here you can see the clamp installed. But what I really want you to look at is the flat bracket behind the clamp with a home in it. Believe it or not, when I found the bike, this bracket did nothing but hold another bracket which held a reflector, which I removed during the decluttering process. The new plan for this bracket is to use it to mount a beer bottle opener, wich I'm in the process of sourcing. Once I get the actual opener, I plan to do some minor fabrication work to install it the way I want. Stay tuned rock stars!

Nu Shuz

Finally found some tires at a price point too good to ignore so I scooped em up for Monty the Rat Rod Beach Cruiser, which has been sitting dormant for a long time with  no updates. For some reason I want to take it to Southern Surf Stompfest 2018.