I have a few frames that fit me perfectly, and I'd like to have the vert drop outs taken off and replaced with surly horiz drops.

http://www.webcyclery.com/product.php?productid=16575&cat=405&page=1

I found a guy who is cheap, and will do it for beer, good beer.

What do I need to know before I put my baby in the hands of this dude?

Make sure he knows how thin bicycle tubing can be.
No beer until the job is done.
For either of you.

i love the surly do`s and use them on just about every frame i build. However the Surly`s have a "plug" for the cs and use the do radius for the ss. On virgin steel it is great cause it gives lot`s of room to set the ss angles.
The problem with using them on a retro-fit is the old do will need to be cut off above the haz(heat affected zone) so there could be a problem getting the ss/cs to fit really well against the surly.
I would recommend a laser cut do from henry james and then your welder dude can split the cs/ss and "sandwich " the do between the stays..you would have considerable more surface area for strength to weld/braze it....
Ask this same question on Frameforum and get the experts opinions though...

Have you considered an ENO eccentric hub? They work super well and no chance of fuccking up your babies.

There was a recent series of posts in this vein on Frameforum:

http://www.frameforum.net/forum2/index.php?showtopic=4499
http://www.frameforum.net/forum2/index.php?showtopic=4597

Have you considered an ENO eccentric hub? They work super well and no chance of fuccking up your babies.

Tooo much money. yes, i considered it.

Have you considered an ENO eccentric hub? They work super well and no chance of fuccking up your babies.

Yeah!

ENO all the way in my opinion.

I had mine done about two weeks ago by my girlfriend's father. I posted it in this thread:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=303467&highlight=ghetto

So far I've put about 150 hard, punishing miles on it and it's looking great. Love it!

Tooo much money. yes, i considered it.

Your baby is worth it.

Looks like you have options............chop away! Just clean it up REAL GOOD before you start the torch. Sand it till it shines, degrease with acetone, flux her up and heat her slow...........focusing on the parts with the greater thermal mass. :thumbsup:

Thanks all... i appreciate it.

What do I need to know before I put my baby in the hands of this dude?

Make sure he's able to line up the slots using something like the Anvil dummy axles (http://www.anvilbikes.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=148). I've seen bunches of hacked in dropout mods that the wheel works great in one position and is totally crooked in another because the slots weren't lined up and even.

Also, make sure he gets the greatest amount of adjustability. Like making sure that when the axle is mid-way along the track end the V-brake pad is mid-way up the adjustment slot.

It's no good if your V-brake pads will only line up with the braking surface when the wheel axle is at one particular position along the track end slot.

As the axle moves backwards the curved braking surface of the rim effectively "drops" in relation to the slot in which the brake block sits.

Angling the dropout upwards a bit (at the rear) can counter this, helping get the most adjustability and preventing chain tension acting in line with the track end and pulling the wheel forwards in the slot.

But why does he need advice? If your guy doesn't already know far more than me about this stuff then I wouldn't be letting him near my bike.

Otherwise "cheap" could turn out to be quite costly.

Good luck.

DM

Check the classifieds. I saw an eno hub laced to mavic wheel for $110, It even came with a WI freewheel.

Yellow Jersey in Madison, WI can braze in track ends for $120 if you've got to have it. I grew up in that area (live out east now) and the guys in that shop are fantastic.

http://www.yellowjersey.org/trakends.html

I did my own, using some home-made fixtures and they came out decent, but it's not easy to get them straight. Cold fine-tuning can be even more of a deal-breaker if you're not careful. If the frame you're playing with won't break your heart if you wreck it, play with it. It's a really cool experience to customize your ride yourself. While you're at it you can grind off the cable stops and make it nice & clean...