I ordered a frame from a company called Shell Valley Motors in Nebraska and took delivery of it in August of 1986. Of course what came next was inevitable....bills and raising kids. So the frame sat and sat. It came with me through several moves and even came when I moved from Vancouver to Ottawa.
For these last 24 years it has been stored outside and most recently during the last 10 years under a deck. I swore many times that I would just sell it and/or abandon it but for some reason I never did. Last month at my wifes urging I unearthed it and decided to get started again. With rekindled enthusiasm I started the cleaning process only to discover that the ravages of time and weather had turned my once strong frame into a rust eaten unservicable hulk.
I could have stopped right there and declared the project dead but the spark had been re-ignited so I started researching what was available today. To my surprise Shell Valley was still in business but many other companies that existed in the 80's were gone and in fact it seemed that Shell Valley itself was teetering. I expanded my search and after much reading and forum searches I finally decided that I would start afresh with a new kit. I will tell you about the kit and company i chose and why in a future post.
