☆BOBBED ROSS☆ '65 Ross DeLuxe. ~fin~

[Missing Link]

The weather finally cleared up a little today, it's been raining and cold, not cold enough for snow, I like snow, 34 degree rain, just makes me want to lay in bed. So after a brief break from my shop, I finally busted out the angle grinder and the wire wheel, and got to work.

I've got a few places I'll have to sand by hand, but for the most part, everything is shiny and the old paint is no more.

 

[Missing Link]

And now sitting back and looking at it all stripped, I find myself asking paint?(black), patina?(rust it up), or both?(red primer, satin black paint, wire brush it some, and rust). So many choices.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[OddJob]

Well, Mr Link. You know how I feel about paint, or the lack there of. So I cast my vote for primer w/ rust, or raw w/rust, or patina w/rust. As long as there is some rust, all is good.

 

[Missing Link]

I think that's the direction I'm headed as well, a pristine, pretty paint job just means more worries and detailing, most the bikes I own get washed when it rains and detailed with WD40.
I'll likely do a paint job, then partial strip, then a couple week long heavy hydrogen peroxide baths followed with some matte clear.

 

[Missing Link]

Today the weather is perfect in San Angelo, not too windy, sunny, around 70 degrees, I got the first coat of primer shot.

After that dries and is sanded, I'm going to do black primer over that.
Earlier FedEx came by with a package from India, I wasn't expecting it to arrive for a couple weeks but, now I've got my headlight.

I found a place in India that does repop parts for British motorcycles, and they happened to have these Luna moped headlights, with speedometers, for a steal. I think it looks the part.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Love that light and speedo!
Any plans to make the speedo work?

 

[Missing Link]

Love that light and speedo!
Any plans to make the speedo work?

So far just planning on it filling the hole in the top of the housing, but if there's time who knows, I'll definitely get the light functional though.

 

[Missing Link]

I had some time earlier to get the frame sanded and get the first coat of black primer started, I had about half the frame painted and went inside to get some coffee.
In the time it took to brew a pot of coffee, the weather changed. Gusting 40 mph winds knocked over my painting stand and the frame with it. Luckily it landed on the rough concrete sidewalk. So now I'll have to sand it and reshoot the black primer at some point in the future when the wind dies down.
I will say I'm begining to lean more toward simply painting the frame a satin black. I was thinking about doing a distressed finish but I'm thinking that a single color paint job will accent the geometry of the frame better.
I figure this build is kind of about contrast, the monolithic fork set up, the thin twin tubes of the frame, the chunky chainguard with the delicate snowflake chain ring, fat rear tire, skinny front. The part that will draw it all together is the aged white on the grips, seat and sidewalls of the tires and the red on the chainguard, seat and speedometer. I think over complicating the paint on the frame would just detract from the overall flow.

 

[Missing Link]

I just did a post in the "wanted" section, but I thought I'd throw it out here as well. So, if anyone out there has this rack:

I need one. It's off a girl's Columbia middle weight, late 50s early 60s, I don't need it in great shape, even usable shape. No legs, mounting tabs, a little bent, no problem, I have a plan which may or may not pan out and I need the upper part of this rack. I hope someone out there can help out.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I will say I'm begining to lean more toward simply painting the frame a satin black.

Good choice. Hard to beat hotrod black!
Also, while I'm here, I should mention that I love the name "Bobbed Ross"!

 

[Mtn Goat]

Those bars, light and speedo are looking awesome! Looking forward to seeing your build progress. Bob would be proud!

 

[Missing Link]

Black primer, take 2:

I'm still getting used to the weird weather we get in west Texas. Apparently it'll be in the 70s during the day, below freezing at night, but the worst is the wind. Calm one minute 40-50 mph the next, my last attempt at black was thwarted by such wind gusts. The stand I was using was blown over, the finish, not yet cured was gouged and scratched, I had to sand down about 1/3 of the frame and start over. So today I picked up some clothes line, ran it from the house to my shop, secured the frame to it with an old spoke through the fender mount holes in the rear drop outs, and got it shot.
As of now I've got 2 coats of red primer and two coats of black, if the weather stays nice and the wind stays down, I should be able to start laying the actual paint tomorrow. Then on to all the boring stuff, cleaning and truing the wheels, rebuilding the hubs, scrubbing bearings. I may have to start a second bike just to keep from getting bored and messing something up on this one.

 

[Missing Link]

I decided to change the water in my tub of "bearing stew" and finally got the cone nut on the crank to give and let the chain ring go. I polished it with a little of the hot water/Dawn soap mixture and...

not too shabby.
I was going to use a 52 tooth Ross lucky 7 style chainring, but it stuck out from the front of the chainguard, no rubbing, just looked silly. This one is original to the bike and in far better shape than I thought, plus the thin lines echo those of the frame while the chunky chainguard, follows the fork. I've got to figure out how to repeat this with the seat. I think I've got an old crashrail I snagged off a girl's Flightliner somewhere that might work. But as I've previously mentioned I've been in San Angelo 6 weeks and still haven't unpacked my shop completely, finding said crash rail may be quite a task.

 

[Missing Link]

I f igured while the frame was still in primer I'd tap the holes where the headbadge had been riveted on. Easier said than done, I had to drill them out a tiny bit with a hand drill, then I couldn't find my tap handle, but using vice grips, I got the job done.

 

[Missing Link]

I tried to salvage the headbadge, it had 2 layers of paint and at some point someone sanded ut with 80 grit, it was rough. I figured it wouldn't really be seen except by those hardcore guys who really drink in the details, so I gave it a new/old life. I shot it with satin black and then went in with some steel wool and brought out the raised points. I redid it 3 times till I got it exactly how I wanted it.

Now for some reason I have The Ramones' "Rockaway Beach" stuck in my head

 

[squirreldh]

I do like those original 5 pointed star style chainrings!

Sent from my SM-G550T1 using Tapatalk

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Headbadge looks perfect!

 

[Missing Link]

Digging through some boxes of junk today, I stumbled upon the crash rail I'd been looking for.

 

[Missing Link]

Wind was down today so I started with paint. 1st coat Rustoleum satin black.

 

[Missing Link]

I decided to throw the seat and chainguard on to get an idea how everything looked together and ended up taking the too glossy to be called satin, black down with some 0000 steel wool. I think it fits together a little better now.