ORBO Belle: Round 2!

[Bike from the Dead]

I typically don't like using clear coats. But sometimes it can be the only good option. Other options would be things like BLO or polishing compound/wax. Or stopping while you're ahead.

My best advice is to create some test pieces alongside your final parts for experimentation. Have fun!

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll stop while I'm ahead for now, but I'll definitely try experimenting with it down the road when the weather cooperates.

Yeah, I think clear coat is best saved for a fresh new paint job, or if it's a satin clear, over shiny bare metal. I'm not a fan of the "wet look" you get with a high-gloss clear coat over rust; it just doesn't look natural to me. If I want to shine up old paint and patina, I find that rubbing compound and SC Johnson paste wax work wonders without looking "off."

 

[Bike from the Dead]

As I mentioned earlier, on Sunday I ran into a big stumbling block on this project: the rear wheels. I was ready to take apart at least a couple of these rear wheels at my dad's shop and clean up the gears, only to learn that these wheels require more work and specialty tools to take apart than a standard coaster brake hub. On top of that, apparently the wheel I was considering the most is a freewheel, which is different than a cassette wheel apparently.

I've watched a few tutorials on how to work on these wheels, and some show that I can work on them without a couple specialty tools, but I feel I need to spend more time learning about this before I take one of these wheels apart. It doesn't help that the weather in Tulsa has been too cold and wet to clean any wheel hub parts like I want, and I don't really want to spend a ton of money on tools right now. I do have a birthday coming up in less than a month though, so I could buy the tools I need after that. Plus the weather might finally be warm enough to do what I need to do by then.

This whole fiasco with the rear wheels spooked me so much, that on the same day I grabbed a couple other bikes and a bunch of parts and spent the last 2 days mocking them up in the hope that I could have something much easier to build for the ORBO.

I was thinking about building up this Schwinn Fastback frame I had as an old school BMX bike, only for it to venture back into muscle bike territory. (I like how it looked as a BMX bike, but the muscle bike mockup got a genuine "WOW" out of me.)

I also mocked up this AMF bike yesterday. I explored a number of good options, but I just couldn't find a combination that looked right to me.

Despite the hang up with the rear wheels and the weather, I can still make some progress on Belle this week. I've got a few parts that I can put back on the frame, and I could at least mount some wheels and tires on it temporarily so it's at least a roller, if not a rider. That said, I've got other things to do this week and some nasty weather on the horizon, so I don't know if it'll happen this week. We'll see.