First, I needed to cut off the front part of the bike. To do this, I cut the seat tube about 1/2” above where the top tube joined. Then I cut each chainstay approximately 2 inches from the bottom bracket. The plan was to “unbraze” the remaining chainstay pieces from the bottom bracket shell later. I used the chainstays and seatstays in the next part of the construction. Also, I kept the remaining part of the seat tube for making various clamps and fittings. The Top Tube

The first new tube I added to the frame was the top tube. The plan was to keep this parallel to the ground to maintain a consistent seat height throughout it range of adjustment. I created a hole in the original seat tube (now part of the front triangle) and mitered the end of the new top tube to fit the seat tube opposite the hole I had made. I determined the length of the new top tube by determining where the back of the seat would be and adding a few inches. This gave me some room to adjust the seat for taller riders.

Next, I worked on the chainstays. This was the most difficult part of the building process and is something I will avoid on the next bike. The first step in this part of the construction was removing the stubs of the chainstay tubes from the bottom bracket. The plan was to simply heat the bottom bracket lugs and remove the tubes. In the process, I managed to tear the tubes into several pieces and crack the bottom bracket lug. I had to resort to cutting each tube lengthwise inside the lug and heating and removing each piece. On several really stubborn pieces, I had to grind them out and shape the lug. What a pain!