Tonight I went to the hardware store and bought a new 20″ tire tube and a bag of nuts, bolts, and washers. All the bolts on the bike are 1/4″, and I bought a bunch of 1.5″ long and 4 or 5″ long bolts. I bolted the motor plate and motor to the frame. The no. 35 chain was too long. I tried using my 99 cent walmart chain breaker, but the cheap metal wasn’t up to the task. So instead out came the dremel, and I cut shaved down a link and pried it apart with two sets of locking pliers. I mended the chain with a master link. The chain was a little slack so I moved the rear wheel back in the horizontal drop outs. I had to put washers under the motor plate to keep the motor sprocket in the same axis as the wheel sprocket, and I put one too many, so the chain rubs slightly on the frame, but it works.
I replaced the dead old tube on the front wheel. I adjusted the caliper brakes and ran a new brake cable. I also soldered together a bunch of lamp cord and washers to make battery cables. At midnight, I decided it was time to sleep. Another 2 hours down…