BLACKBIRD (Skylark Convertible)

[OddJob]

Well, after a six week detour from the primary build to focus on the fender, very little other progress has been made. So I have spent the last couple of evenings staring at the bike, sipping a beer and deciding how or if I can finish it before the deadline.

It has become painfully obvious that I will not be able to complete all of the body work and paint if I proceed with my initial plan for a polished restoration approach to this build. This leaves me with two options: (1) Drop out of the build off or (2) change my plan.

I don't want to loose my momentum so I''ve decided to drop the early Harley Davidson inspired paint job (for now) and take a more familiar rat rod direction.

I have two competing ideas for the finish. I can either take it down to bare metal and go with a traditional hot rod black primer which will allow me to easily take it back apart this winter and continue with finishing the body work and paint, or I can leave most of the patina as is and focus on creating a complimentary faux patina finish on the fenders and tank. My concern is that I'll like the patina and won't ever get back to stripping it all back down for a redo. I've gone back and forth yesterday and today but as I right this post I'm leaning more toward the latter.

Any thoughts?

View attachment 101261

Well, you can just about guess what I'm going to say. RaT-ina !
You do it so well. And nobody likes black birds anyway.

Speaking of birds....

 

[Brian macumber]

I say ratina too and if you really want to paint the polished restoration you'll still do it.

 

[LBCJ]

Yes, the plug will be on this bike and yes it will be trimmed. The rear fender was also the original plug for the very first Mullet Fenders.

As a matter of fact, I picked up the font fender this afternoon from the fiberglass shop. The rhinoplasty was a success!
View attachment 101204 View attachment 101205

The new mold needs multipal applications of wax before it's used. With time it becomes seasoned and only needs to be waxed after every few times it's used.

This is what I see on the fender. Definitely not a bad thing, lol. #formervwaddict

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Fake patina is...
ok for blending a real patina, and we've all done it. I think sticking to the original repaint is the best way to get to your vision. Black primer is about as rat as you can get and still move towards your final color scheme. Also, How many patina'd bikes do you have vs How many in the HD inspired scheme?

Carl.

 

[handyandy1100]

Flat back, and Git-'er-Done!

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[Duchess]

I prefer olive drab as it looks fine scratched and touch ups with inexact shades and imperfect application add to the military field repair character. That said, I'm not sure an old military look goes with the stylish lines of this bike.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

How about, for the BO, instead of the ‘flat black hot rod look’ giving it a coat of ‘olive’ etching primer as the color.

It would preserve and unify the work you’ve done so far, make it ‘presentable’ for the contest entry and give you a good ‘visual base’ for the final ‘finished’ vision..





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[contraptionist]

I would go with the patina and drink more beer!

 

[HuffnPuff]

I’d go patina on the frame and flat black on the fenders and tank. Blend of patina and rod.

Edit: sorry. I really need to check what autocorrupt has done to my typing before I submit.

 

[OddJob]

I’d go out a on the frame and flat black on the fenders and tank. Blend of patina and rod.

That is a GREAT idea!

 

[Chad T]

How about, for the BO, instead of the ‘flat black hot rod look’ giving it a coat of ‘olive’ etching primer as the color.

I like this idea. Will show off the details and gives a good base for you to follow through with the original plan.

The patina you do always looks great but like you said the bike would probably end up staying that way. Way better option than flat black though. Don't see flat black doing this any justice.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

All of the suggestions have been helpful, keep'm coming!

Every post gets me thinking. I've been swayed in every direction at least until the next suggestion comes along!

Right now I think @HuffnPuff has the best idea at least in the short term. It's definitely the easiest. I think I'll start with that just to get a look and keep my options open. Once I media blast the frame the patina option is out so I'll delay that for now.

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View attachment 101277This is what I see on the fender. Definitely not a bad thing, lol. #formervwaddict

That's awesome!
I'm a VW nut also. ('56 oval Beetle, '66 split Bus, '69 convertible Ghia)

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I have been working on something today that can only be revealed later on. I have to keep at least one or two cards in my hand until close to the end!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The original Skylark used nine sheet metal screw to fasten the skirt guards to the rear fender. That would be too easy so I had to come up with something more difficult and time consuming.

I like the look of smooth rivits but it needs to be removable so I ordered some sex bolts to get the look. Of course they don't come in the length that I need and the heads are too big so that meant more work.

Enter the poor mans lathe.

To turn down the diameter of the screw heads and barrel heads I chucked each one into my drill and used a file to get the size I wanted.

Then to shorten the barrels they went back to the lathe and were cut off with a hack saw.

Here's the result. I left one for comparison.

The screws were cut by a different method. Didn't get a picture, I'll get one tomorrow.

 

[Chad T]

I ordered some sex bolts to get the look. Of course they don't come in the length that I need and the heads are too big so that meant more work.

 

[OddJob]

That 'hardware' nomenclature was virgin to my ears.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I figured that would get a comment or two. The barrel nuts are very similar to spoke nipples. Just say'n.

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As I said yesterday, I didn't think about photos of cutting the screws until I had already finished but here's the method:

Using a scrap piece fo metal I drilled and tapped a hole to thread the screws into. I measured the depth of the hole on the barrel nut and then matched the depth on the cutting jig with the thickness of the metal plus a thin washer. After tightening the screw down I cut the excess length off the back side with a hack saw and cleaned it up a little with a file. Rinse and repeat.

You have to use your imagination for the before picture but here is how it looked after.

 

[MazdaFlyer]

Now there are going to be folks out there having to explain how those bolts work...I remember having to explain the term to our clerical person who typed our architectural specifications before computers. They were used on door hardware.

 

[Duchess]

I like the idea with the hacksaw and the drill—I just held them to a belt sander in the past, but it's more difficult to get the end at a right angle. I also heard them called "Chicago bolts" in case of company that forgot their smelling salts.

 

[kingfish254]

I am going to have to remember the "poor man's lathe".
Great idea and result.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Been working on the fenders getting them ready for black primer.

The front fender still had some bondo along the edge from where I extended it for the mold that needed trimmed away and the nose that was grafted on also had the extra depth from the mold. I marked it and sanded it back to the correct profile.

I was in a hurry to finish and didn't think to take a picture after I sanded it away. There's still some for final shaping along the edge left to do so I'll get a picture tomorrow.