Annie the 1981 Sears Free Spirit 3-Speed

[Walter Zoomie]

A build I showed you in my introductory post. She's come a long way. Named for the co-worker's daughter who will be receiving it.
Rescued from the scrapper's trailer. Some fine tuning and final tweaks, and she's off to her new owner!

It rides really nice as it is. Buttery smooth and solid.
(I put waaaaaaaay too much money in this thing, but it makes me happy!)

 

[Walter Zoomie]

Fairly well sorted (I think), with all her bits. It looks good and rides nice. It pleases me to look at it, and it makes me smile.
I wanna keep her for maybe another week and give her daily test runs to make sure she doesn't crap the bed on her new owner when I hand her over.

Lessons learnt:

-No matter how much prep I do, rattle can spray jobs just aren't durable enough for my liking. Two primer coats, three color coats, and two clear coats, wet sanding, and it still scratches when I look at it sideways. I need to focus on the beater look.

-I have a lot to learn. This place has been a big help already. Thanks.

-Even a hack driveway resto-mod, (or whatever this is called), can get pricey real quick.

-This is good for the soul.

 

[Walter Zoomie]

This morning, this bike was handed over to Annie, the new owner.
With the bike, I sent along a note which reads as follows:

Dear Annie:

Your dad says you are running cross country. That is wonderful!

It is very important that you stay active, eat right, and stay physically fit. Keep your body strong and clean, and your mind and brain will do the same and you will have a long, happy, healthy life.

I know your mom and dad love you and want you to do these things and are very proud of you.

When you don’t feel like running, you can ride this bicycle with your sister and parents for exercise.

When I found this bike, it was in very bad condition, but I knew I could fix it for a young lady to use.

My own daughter is all grown up now and rides a bike I fixed for her, so she didn’t need this bike.

The first young lady I thought of to give this bike to was you!

I hope you ride it and enjoy it often.

Please use the kickstand when you are not riding it and keep it out of the rain, and it should last a long time so that one day your little sister can ride it too!

If it breaks, don’t worry. Your dad and I can fix it! We have an awesome set of tools!


Lots of love,


Uncle Zoomie

Annie's mother sent the following text to me:

Uncle Zoomie: Thank you so much for Annie's bike and the beautiful letter you wrote her. She was extremely excited this morning. I got tears when she was reading your beautiful letter. This is something that we'll never forget. I can't thank you enough.

Pay it forward. A little goes a long way. Spread some peace, love and joy. This world can use much more of this kinda thing.

 

[Walter Zoomie]

 

[RustyGold]