Scratchy

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This build is going to be a reminiscence of the Redline BMX I built up when I was in junior high and rode all through high school. I can't revive my original bike since it was stolen in the early '90s. My original was an '82 (I'm fairly sure) frame that I bought new at the time and built up with parts from the Free Spirit I had been riding. The frame would have looked like this though this was not my actual bike:
mongoose_009_copy0_blowup.jpg


I had it built up with some cheapo parts, like the generic forks and handlebars I had, and over time upgraded to better parts, like the Tuff Neck goose neck and CW style bars. I can't find any pics of my old bike so the details on what parts I had on there are a bit fuzzy. With the prices of old school BMX parts these days, trying to replicate my bike with all old school parts is pretty much out of the question. I don't mind spending a few hundred on this project but using old school original parts would probably cost over $2k. So last year sometime I bought a beater '90 Redline that had originally been chrome like mine, but had been spray bombed black by some overly enthusiastic kid.

65343810749__86967FC6-D090-4188-B930-6C6784515BDD.JPG


Just painted the whole bike, tires chain and all. I was hoping that they hadn't sanded the frame so that the chrome would still be ok. But when I stripped the paint I found that was not the case. They sanded this thing half to death. It's completely scratched so I'm calling this build Scratchy. The frame and forks had also previously been painted white and red before the white. Technically I think '90 would be considered mid school but this frame is almost exactly the same as the one I had. Some of the details around the dropouts might be different but otherwise pretty much the same. The fork is definitely mid school style.
IMG_1289.JPG
IMG_1290.JPG


When I found the extent of damaged chrome the project kind of stopped there. I've been looking for a replacement frame but the prices are just too high for me. So I came up with a new strategy for the build and the ORBO gave me the nudge to get it going. I've decided the destroyed chrome just means I don't really need to take care of this bike so I can thrash it off road or at the skate park and not worry about it, just like back in the day. Probably won't appeal that much to would be thiefs either. I just won't be spending $50 on an original sticker kit like mine had which was the original plan. I'm going to build it up as if I had still had my original Redline for the last 30 years and continued to thrash on it and upgrade components periodically. It's probably what I would have actually done if it hadn't gotten stolen. Here's the parts I'll be using from the spray bombed parts bike:
IMG_1320.JPG


Frame, forks, '90 Redline goose neck (Tuff Necks go for bank these days!), Diamond Back pedals, Redline seatpost clamp and rear wheel from a mid 2000s K2 Sesh. I'll ultimately upgrade everything but the frame and forks as I find better stuff. I'd really like to find a better back wheel I can afford. But it is black like the one I had back in the '80s. I'd like to find an affordable Tuff Neck at some point and some bear traps that I like. Here's some parts that I've already gotten for it:
IMG_1321.JPG


The vintage Wald bars look and feel just like I remember and came with some cool '80s vintage grips. I had a Tuff Wheel front wheel and laced rear wheel originally so a new repro front Tuff Wheel was in order. I ran blue gumwall tires (which my buddy hated) so these blue camo tires looked cool to me as a modern 'upgrade'. Plus Scott will still hate them. :rofl: I still need to get the rest of the parts so if you have anything to sell hit me up. I won't start building it up until I get some more parts but this is the starting point. I'm really looking forward to this one. It's been a long time since I last rode my trusty Redline!
IMG_1280.JPG
 
I let him see a picture. He quoted me $400. Just food for thought.

Thanks CRASH! I'll see how much I fall in love with it through the course of the build off. If I did re-chrome it I would just do the frame. At that point I would probably get a re-issue Tange 500 fork for it. I think they run about $150 and are really nice. I just put in a big order over at Pork Chop BMX so we'll get this project moving along soon!
 
This build is going to be a reminiscence of the Redline BMX I built up when I was in junior high and rode all through high school. I can't revive my original bike since it was stolen in the early '90s. My original was an '82 (I'm fairly sure) frame that I bought new at the time and built up with parts from the Free Spirit I had been riding. The frame would have looked like this though this was not my actual bike:
View attachment 211445

I had it built up with some cheapo parts, like the generic forks and handlebars I had, and over time upgraded to better parts, like the Tuff Neck goose neck and CW style bars. I can't find any pics of my old bike so the details on what parts I had on there are a bit fuzzy. With the prices of old school BMX parts these days, trying to replicate my bike with all old school parts is pretty much out of the question. I don't mind spending a few hundred on this project but using old school original parts would probably cost over $2k. So last year sometime I bought a beater '90 Redline that had originally been chrome like mine, but had been spray bombed black by some overly enthusiastic kid.

View attachment 211446

Just painted the whole bike, tires chain and all. I was hoping that they hadn't sanded the frame so that the chrome would still be ok. But when I stripped the paint I found that was not the case. They sanded this thing half to death. It's completely scratched so I'm calling this build Scratchy. The frame and forks had also previously been painted white and red before the white. Technically I think '90 would be considered mid school but this frame is almost exactly the same as the one I had. Some of the details around the dropouts might be different but otherwise pretty much the same. The fork is definitely mid school style.
View attachment 211447View attachment 211448

When I found the extent of damaged chrome the project kind of stopped there. I've been looking for a replacement frame but the prices are just too high for me. So I came up with a new strategy for the build and the ORBO gave me the nudge to get it going. I've decided the destroyed chrome just means I don't really need to take care of this bike so I can thrash it off road or at the skate park and not worry about it, just like back in the day. Probably won't appeal that much to would be thiefs either. I just won't be spending $50 on an original sticker kit like mine had which was the original plan. I'm going to build it up as if I had still had my original Redline for the last 30 years and continued to thrash on it and upgrade components periodically. It's probably what I would have actually done if it hadn't gotten stolen. Here's the parts I'll be using from the spray bombed parts bike:
View attachment 211450

Frame, forks, '90 Redline goose neck (Tuff Necks go for bank these days!), Diamond Back pedals, Redline seatpost clamp and rear wheel from a mid 2000s K2 Sesh. I'll ultimately upgrade everything but the frame and forks as I find better stuff. I'd really like to find a better back wheel I can afford. But it is black like the one I had back in the '80s. I'd like to find an affordable Tuff Neck at some point and some bear traps that I like. Here's some parts that I've already gotten for it:
View attachment 211452

The vintage Wald bars look and feel just like I remember and came with some cool '80s vintage grips. I had a Tuff Wheel front wheel and laced rear wheel originally so a new repro front Tuff Wheel was in order. I ran blue gumwall tires (which my buddy hated) so these blue camo tires looked cool to me as a modern 'upgrade'. Plus Scott will still hate them. :rofl: I still need to get the rest of the parts so if you have anything to sell hit me up. I won't start building it up until I get some more parts but this is the starting point. I'm really looking forward to this one. It's been a long time since I last rode my trusty Redline!View attachment 211461
Wet sand if they go all the way through the chrome you might be good
 
Wet sand if they go all the way through the chrome you might be good
On large parts you can start to see a yellowish sheen so I think the chrome is completely gone in those parts. I'm going to wet sand, though I don't have anything finer that 600 grit. I was thinking about trying polishing rouge with a buffing wheel to see how that might turn out. We'll see. It'll be fun no matter what.
 
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On large parts you can start to see a yellowish sheen so I think the chrome is completely gone in those parts. I'm going to wet sand, though I don't have anything finer that 600 grit. I was thinking about trying polishing rough with a buffing wheel to see how that might turn out. We'll see. It'll be fun no matter what.
Actually if you have yellow sheen means theres a clear coat they may have just scratched the clear coat chrome spaceliners do the same thing
 
Actually if you have yellow sheen means theres a clear coat they may have just scratched the clear coat chrome spaceliners do the same thing
I'll try to post some close up pics later. I'm going to practice polishing on the forks, maybe later today.
 
To test the clear coat theory, you could clean it with acetone. Should pull the clear, if any, off, and won't hurt the metal.
I would think the paint stripper would have removed any clear coat, not sure though. I was thinking the yellowish stuff I'm seeing might be the copper plate starting to show through. Even if it won't polish out I can always cover the worst of it with a top tube pad and some stickers. I really should repaint it but I like the chrome. If I find a better frame I'll paint this one and pass it on. Or chrome it. 👍
 
I'm not familiar with that stuff, I'll look into it. Might be an option. Thanks!
Pondo, it's really fun to work with, and has it's own little quirks. It is very thin, so you don't want to try to put it on too heavy or it will run like crazy. Multiple thin coats. And it's true beauty lies in having a bright base underneath. A true chromed frame or parts take to it the best, but I also used a chrome rattle can spray as a base to do some of the other parts that weren't chromed. I also used an Adhesion Promoter, that you would use for painting plastic. It helps to hold the very thin Metalcast paint to whatever you are spraying. Then a Duplicolor Clear over the top of the Metalcast to protect it as a final step. Make sure you use the appropriate Clear, this one used by the Duplicolor guys.

These paints are enamel not lacquer, so you want to use enamel based products when using Duplicolor Metalcast.

adhesion promoter.jpg


duplicolor clear.jpg

One of my favorite shots of the fresh paint on RaTs GaSs. My Orange can didn't spray well from the get-go on my test piece, so I faded the Yellow from the front and the Red from the rear to get this transition color. Notice it also covered the stainless steel zip ties quite well. There are 3 in this photo, all different colors.


FT 7.jpg
 
Pondo, it's really fun to work with, and has it's own little quirks. It is very thin, so you don't want to try to put it on too heavy or it will run like crazy. Multiple thin coats. And it's true beauty lies in having a bright base underneath. A true chromed frame or parts take to it the best, but I also used a chrome rattle can spray as a base to do some of the other parts that weren't chromed. I also used an Adhesion Promoter, that you would use for painting plastic. It helps to hold the very thin Metalcast paint to whatever you are spraying. Then a Duplicolor Clear over the top of the Metalcast to protect it as a final step. Make sure you use the appropriate Clear, this one used by the Duplicolor guys.

These paints are enamel not lacquer, so you want to use enamel based products when using Duplicolor Metalcast.

View attachment 211924

View attachment 211925
One of my favorite shots of the fresh paint on RaTs GaSs. My Orange can didn't spray well from the get-go on my test piece, so I faded the Yellow from the front and the Red from the rear to get this transition color. Notice it also covered the stainless steel zip ties quite well. There are 3 in this photo, all different colors.


View attachment 211926

Thanks for the tips, OJ. I'm in the middle of perusing your build thread for RaTs GaSs. It's such a cool bike! I'm not sure If I want to go with color on this frame but I am going to get some of this paint to try, you never know. It's really cool stuff!
 
Chrome under Metalcast works the best, but don't worry too much about it. Make some test paints with it. If if doesn't come out like you want, you can even paint it with chrome paint of even silver metallic paint and get practically as good results as a true chrome base. I've used Metalcast on a few builds over the years, it's great paint. Just experiment with it first.

Chrome base

1665015141043.png



Rustoleum Silver Metallic Base

1665015113561.png
 
Chrome under Metalcast works the best, but don't worry too much about it. Make some test paints with it. If if doesn't come out like you want, you can even paint it with chrome paint of even silver metallic paint and get practically as good results as a true chrome base. I've used Metalcast on a few builds over the years, it's great paint. Just experiment with it first.

Chrome base

View attachment 211984


Rustoleum Silver Metallic Base

View attachment 211983

Oh, I like that! I'm going to have to try it on some patina'd steel.
 

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