Thorstone Mini Grease Gun, 3oz One Handed Operation Push-Type with Needle Nozzle for Lawn Mower, Air Tool, Bicycle.

Hey peas in a pod I built hot rods and motorcycles professionally in my youth too. I'm genuinely impressed with the freehand work you managed on both of them! Only thing i think would be worth making a jig for is to make the cut that would get the head tube and seat tube parallel. They feel like they should be parallel on this design since the top and bottom tube are also parallel? And yeah, 100% grease bolts! Almost everything on bikes should be lubricated. Axles, threads, it all likes to seize hard, especially since they're so often steel stuck to aluminum, you get that dissimilar metal welding, like if you've ever tried to take an alloy rim off a steel hub or drum and they're damn welded together. Lube up the quill stem, especially the two parts that slide across one another, it'll 1.) reduce the torque you need to get it secure by a ton, and 2.) prevent it from rusting in there. Same for seat tube, same for pedal threads. And if you do any bikes with a square taper bottom bracket, lube the axle surfaces, that also ensures it won't seize, and reduces the torque you need to apply to get the crank arms nice and secure by a ton. Grease the bottom bracket threads, grease bearings! Like I said, no need for fancy stuff, I use Valvoline moly automotive bearing grease and spent $12 on this mini grease gun https://a.co/d/03HhV44b and just spooned grease into it, so you get a nice precise applicator. If you ever do carbon or titanium bike parts, lube them too! Carbon needs special carbon grease that has grit in it, so you need way less torque to keep it secure (and for carbon parts, get a cheap 1/4 inch drive torque wrench) And for chain lube (if you don't show yourself doing those little things the know-it-alls will start harassing you in comments as your channel grows lol), the best multipurpose stuff I love is the drip bottle of boeshield t9. Use it on cables, chains, and springs. Also a great cutting fluid and you can wipe down paint and basically anything that isn't a braking surface with it and it is a MONSTER at blocking corrosion. Haven't tried it as penetrating fluid, but I bet itd work for that too. But keep at it! I'd love to see you refine the build on those exhaust tubing bikes, your idea worked out so well for them!

Long post split into a few (I put a couple hours into this for some reason - DM me if you have any questions) but this should be comprehensive and will get you started with a series of easy to do upgrades that will get it riding like a $2000 bike. Feel free to DM me with specific questions, I've done almost all the mods and cobbling together of parts imaginable and found basically the best value stuff. You have a bike that you can cheaply modify into something that will be comfortable, reliable, fast (the 3x front setup is WORTH keeping) and really fun to make YOURS. Park tool's youtube page and bikespeeds videos for all your service needs. A lot of the standard items have budget versions and brand name versions that are robust and reliable. First step is replace what you need to get it safe. You can address a TON of other stuff next to get it set up just for you and make it something you will adore. I'll cover that at the end. Step 1. basic tools and get it mechanically working. If you want to do this AS CHEAP AS POSSIBLE at first, you'll be replacing the parts you just did soon as you upgrade, but just DM me if you want me to get you on the road for as cheap as possible first. These upgrades however will be abject improvements to every single aspect of your ride, and if you enjoy the mechanical engagement of the bike, you will like riding it with other mods more too. Looks almost always come second to basic safety and comfort. Tools we need - some specialty mandatory tools, and a few very quality of life ones. 1.) duratech pliers, $17. These CLOWN on the expensive park tool ones and replace the need to also have housing and cable cutters or cable end crimps. https://a.co/d/01mxVpon 2.) metric ball end L shape T handle hex wrench set. Harbor freight has a $20 pittsburgh one that I use that came with a stand, but this will do the job great for $20 https://a.co/d/02xr3RVs . Alternatively, for $10, this will do the job too just as well really. And color coded handles is nice. I might actually get this instead https://a.co/d/0fObxD6N 3.) external bottom bracket wrench if you want to do the better upgrade for the worn crank chain rings https://a.co/d/04JBo9te 4.) headset wrench (just one, you need one thin one to hold the bottom lock ring of your headset and an adjustable wrench can hold the top one) $13 https://a.co/d/04JBo9te 5.) pedros tire lever $8, best ever https://a.co/d/05qK48E4 6.) spoke wrench for various size nipples, $6 https://a.co/d/05qK48E4 7.) (optional) spoke tension gauge. Useful for really dialing in wheels, but very optional now, $13 https://a.co/d/0gY1uB6J 8.) bottom bracket and crank puller, $13 https://a.co/d/0i1CjiRH 9.) cassette lock ring, free wheel and chain hub tool, $17 https://a.co/d/05lFMllI 10.) bottom bracket lock ring wrench for removing the old bottom bracket, $16 https://a.co/d/08LW51LL 11.) chain wear checker, chain breaker tool, chain master link pliers, and a few master links, $15 https://a.co/d/05pkpfNH 12.) zip ties (whatever you like - tons of uses, you can true wheels on the bike surprisingly well with them) some $4 flush cut pliers are worth it https://a.co/d/02gi4VlG 13.) anti seize (mandatory) https://a.co/d/00yi2GGF 14.) mini grease gun (worth its weight in gold, trust me, it with moly grease is the single most used thing I have other than the allen wrenches) $13 https://a.co/d/0bXcH6H1 15.) moly grease (put in the mini grease gun, just shovel it in with a spoon. mandatory to have some kind of grease and this stuff is good for bearings, contact surfaces, everything. Lifetime supply for $14) https://a.co/d/03Ry495U 16.) boeshield t9 for chain lube and anything that needs a lighter oil or rust protection. This is a miracle fluid, $9 will go a long time https://a.co/d/05pkpfNH 17.) (optional, recommended) bike repair stand, $45 https://a.co/d/05pkpfNH 18.) a mini bike air pump is worth having. These are $25 and will save you https://a.co/d/02gi4VlG 19.) a multi tool. the crank bros one is kinda king for $27 https://a.co/d/02gi4VlG 20.) even with sealant tubes, a micro tube patch kit is worth having for $13 that fixes tons of tubes pretty permanently https://a.co/d/01Qcu6cs 21.) (optional, recommended) a small torque wrench. $35 https://a.co/d/0hndQDrE - you can't torque the big things like the bottom bracket cups or cassette lock ring with it, but those things can be man-tight and fine.