Bicycle progress
Nov. 16th, 2010 17:04![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI have a deadline of the end of the year for one of my projects: restoring a 194X Cussins & Fearn Buckeye bicycle. When it came to me, it had been to Burning Man, and had a typical gold spray paint finish because it had been rusting and, well, it had been to Burning Man. The mechanics were in need of attention, and the chain was rusting... which was a problem, because skip-link chains cost $80-120 to replace these days. Fortunately, the chain is in good shape after a little TLC, and the internal mechanisms and races seem intact and happy.
I decided to not only lube it up, but to restore the paint on it. Ambitious, perhaps, but I'd really love to see this funky old bike as a point of pride again. Various places on the body were virtually untouched by weather and spray-paint, so I can even (roughly) match the original green. I'm told there are really good modern automotive paints and clear-coats in spray cans.
The first step in fixing it up -- and painting it -- was to get it in pieces. That proved difficult, as some of the pieces hadn't been taken apart for at least fifty years. Today we ground off the screws holding the back fender on and loosened the headset nut, which let me finally pull it all apart. Now it's down to cleaning, sanding (a lot), masking, and finally putting on paint... then sanding again and giving it a clearcoat. All to be done before December 31, as the owner wants it back soonish.
It's fun, actually, working on this... and progress is being made after a long dry spell. Wish me luck. :)
I decided to not only lube it up, but to restore the paint on it. Ambitious, perhaps, but I'd really love to see this funky old bike as a point of pride again. Various places on the body were virtually untouched by weather and spray-paint, so I can even (roughly) match the original green. I'm told there are really good modern automotive paints and clear-coats in spray cans.
The first step in fixing it up -- and painting it -- was to get it in pieces. That proved difficult, as some of the pieces hadn't been taken apart for at least fifty years. Today we ground off the screws holding the back fender on and loosened the headset nut, which let me finally pull it all apart. Now it's down to cleaning, sanding (a lot), masking, and finally putting on paint... then sanding again and giving it a clearcoat. All to be done before December 31, as the owner wants it back soonish.
It's fun, actually, working on this... and progress is being made after a long dry spell. Wish me luck. :)
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Date: 2010-11-17 19:22 (UTC)Actually, e-mail me about this. ms@.net