I was pleased with the possibilities, and committed to it by cutting off the bottom bracket and what was left of the seat tube.
Positioned this way, it started to have a dragster sort of feel to it, which I liked. To get the chain stays level with the deck, I decided to bend them just at the edge of the wheel.
Again, I cut wedges out of the tubes so that they would bend easily and precisely. I had previously removed material from the dropouts so that I would be able to bend the seat stays down toward the deck, and you can see the missing sections here.
I placed the stays back into position for a final check before bending the stay assemblies closed.
I heated the dropouts where I wanted them to bend, to just shy of their melting point, and then gently closed the triangles.
With those assemblies completed, the whole frame was ready to weld together. The seat stays are inserted inside the top tube, and the chain stays spread outside it.
Here's the completed frame, with the tack welds completed and the rear triangles welded closed.
It was ridable in this state, and my hopes were realized -- it was way too much fun to ride. I did have to lock out the travel in the front shocks, though. Every time I gave a good kick the deck hit the ground. I drilled through the shocks and brazed in a section of bolt to keep them from compressing. The final steps were to brush the frame free of finish, complete the deck, and apply a few coats of wax to slow the rusting. At this stage, I still hadn't figured out how to make a deck to stand on.
