Re: Paint begins, The FC-40
Bring on the paint!
Luke.
Bring on the paint!
Luke.
Death or Glory; the FC-40
- Thread starter two spot
- Start date
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I crowbaring in another update tonight because I'm a little delinquent in getting them posted and the progress pics are piling up. 
*IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER*: this post does not actually contain gazillions of pics. :wink:
Last Monday I dropped a pile of chrome and aluminum parts off at the powder coater to be coated in satin black. I'll definitely update when those are ready. I am hoping to get them before Thanksgiving but we'll see. The whole bike has been broken back down to the frame so I can finish up the final paint. So on to the progress!
Tank sides getting the desert tan interior color down.
Complete paint on the tank body. The desert tan interior was sprayed first. It was then carefully masked and the basalt gray exterior color was laid down. The whole thing was then sprayed with a UV protective matte clear. In the back ground are the metal end caps from the Brooks grips which are now satin black.
Primer on the forks and swing arms.
Final gray and matte clear on the bars.
Overview of the painted parts pile.
The forks are done although the springs are still out at the powder coater. I added a few light gray details on the front fork. That will reflect the two-tone gray on the tank.
The brooks grips with the newly painted black ends.
A few more new goodies, and part of the blacking out of the chrome, new black headset and the new Greenfield kickstand. Also visible are the shifter/cable and the aircraft headlamp switch and wiring harness.
The finished two-tone matte basalt gray paint on the tank. Assembly took the better part of two hours because I had to clean paint out of all 42 holes with a hand tap. If I can toot my own horn for a moment-- I have to say the paint turned out spectacular on this. It is really smooth and the matte finish looks quite nice. :mrgreen:
The tank sides have full gaskets. The interior compartments fit neatly inside. The magnetic latch works great the door closes with a sharp snap!
The compartments slide out easily.
The tool storage compartment has a special cradle that neatly fits a mini air pump.
I am working on a vintage logo that will be made into decals to be applied to the tank sides. Stay tuned for that.
Thanks for looking!
*IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER*: this post does not actually contain gazillions of pics. :wink: Last Monday I dropped a pile of chrome and aluminum parts off at the powder coater to be coated in satin black. I'll definitely update when those are ready. I am hoping to get them before Thanksgiving but we'll see. The whole bike has been broken back down to the frame so I can finish up the final paint. So on to the progress!
Tank sides getting the desert tan interior color down.
Complete paint on the tank body. The desert tan interior was sprayed first. It was then carefully masked and the basalt gray exterior color was laid down. The whole thing was then sprayed with a UV protective matte clear. In the back ground are the metal end caps from the Brooks grips which are now satin black.
Primer on the forks and swing arms.
Final gray and matte clear on the bars.
Overview of the painted parts pile.
The forks are done although the springs are still out at the powder coater. I added a few light gray details on the front fork. That will reflect the two-tone gray on the tank.
The brooks grips with the newly painted black ends.
A few more new goodies, and part of the blacking out of the chrome, new black headset and the new Greenfield kickstand. Also visible are the shifter/cable and the aircraft headlamp switch and wiring harness.
The finished two-tone matte basalt gray paint on the tank. Assembly took the better part of two hours because I had to clean paint out of all 42 holes with a hand tap. If I can toot my own horn for a moment-- I have to say the paint turned out spectacular on this. It is really smooth and the matte finish looks quite nice. :mrgreen:
The tank sides have full gaskets. The interior compartments fit neatly inside. The magnetic latch works great the door closes with a sharp snap!
The compartments slide out easily.
The tool storage compartment has a special cradle that neatly fits a mini air pump.
I am working on a vintage logo that will be made into decals to be applied to the tank sides. Stay tuned for that.
Thanks for looking!
Wow! That is coming out really nice 2Spot! Loving that you are using Desert Tan, that is my favorite 40 Series color!
Luke.
Luke.
this is spectacular.
Thanks guys! Thanks for the kind words.
Tomburr, the paint is just rattle cans but I have years of experience with rattle cans and know a few tricks. The tank had at least four coats of filler primer applied to fill the slightly textured surface of the PVC sheet material. That was all wet sanded before color application.
I am off to the powder coater to pick up parts.
Tomburr, the paint is just rattle cans but I have years of experience with rattle cans and know a few tricks. The tank had at least four coats of filler primer applied to fill the slightly textured surface of the PVC sheet material. That was all wet sanded before color application.
I am off to the powder coater to pick up parts.
HHHMMMM... can't wait to see those parts!!!
Have you seen this? http://www.icon4x4.com/overview/fj/models
I know you'll like it!
Have you seen this? http://www.icon4x4.com/overview/fj/models
I know you'll like it!
On Saturday I got this thing assembled. There are still some final details to work out but the bike is rideable. It came together really well in my opinion. I wanted some parts to have a little texture to them so I was going to powder coat them in "wrinkle finish" but the powder coater convinced me to try "micro-texture black" instead. It looks pretty nice. The cranks, shifter mount and heat guard detail are done in this finish. The seat post, springs and saddle frame are all done in satin black-- as are the fork springs. So here is a look at the nearly finished FC-40 starting with some arty shots processed with an app called "plastic bullet". Let me know what you think.
The regular shots:
I added some stencil details to the light guard. I have a few more paint details like this to add but I am waiting for some laser-cut stencils to be made.
Here you can really see the micro-texture black on the cranks:
There are four light gray stripes on the right fork leg. One stripe represents each bike that I have built so far.
The satin black powder coat on the fork springs.
The heat guard detail on the lower non-drive side seat tube.
And lastly, this is really the focal point of the whole bike, the storage tank, shown open. The magnetic latch seems to work flawlessly. The magnets that lock each of the storage compartments down work great too. I have been riding the bike around the neighborhood and there are no rattles whatsoever from the tank.
The fork on the other hand is sort of noisy when going over bumps. It's quiet while cruising down the street but the swing arms rattle on small bumps and if you actually manage to compress the springs on a big bump then you get a pretty big -clunk- sound. Anyone else have experience with these mega monarch forks? Are they always so noisy over bumps?
Well anyways thanks for checking in. Disclaimer: this post does not actually contain a bajillion pics.
The regular shots:
I added some stencil details to the light guard. I have a few more paint details like this to add but I am waiting for some laser-cut stencils to be made.
Here you can really see the micro-texture black on the cranks:
There are four light gray stripes on the right fork leg. One stripe represents each bike that I have built so far.
The satin black powder coat on the fork springs.
The heat guard detail on the lower non-drive side seat tube.
And lastly, this is really the focal point of the whole bike, the storage tank, shown open. The magnetic latch seems to work flawlessly. The magnets that lock each of the storage compartments down work great too. I have been riding the bike around the neighborhood and there are no rattles whatsoever from the tank.
The fork on the other hand is sort of noisy when going over bumps. It's quiet while cruising down the street but the swing arms rattle on small bumps and if you actually manage to compress the springs on a big bump then you get a pretty big -clunk- sound. Anyone else have experience with these mega monarch forks? Are they always so noisy over bumps?
Well anyways thanks for checking in. Disclaimer: this post does not actually contain a bajillion pics.
outstanding 
Tough, classy, and utilitarian, Wow!
Really nice 2 spot!
Luke.
Luke.
Absolutely amazing!! Well done!!
Thanks guys for the kind words. I really appreciate it. Steve, I'll probably ask my brother to help me shoot the bike when finished. He's pretty handy with an SLR. This weekend I was able to bring the FC-40 over to Motostrano HQ for their cruiser bike event. I saw some cool stuff, sold some old bike parts and, most importantly, I got to show off the bike. It got a great response. People seemed to really like it. I also got to check out some other cool kustoms. There was a wicked Phat chopper with an amazing airbrush paint job. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the Phat but I did get some pics of a really cool Felt custom that was done to look like an old Indian. See pics In Bike Talk thread: http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/cruiser-bike-event-thing-at-motostrano-hq-pics.79849/
I had one hard lesson with the FC. While sitting on display next to the Indian, the bolt holding the kickstand slipped. Fortunately I was right there to prevent the bike from hitting the ground but the fork swung quickly to one side and the spring bracket dented the tank. It's a small dent and I think I can fix it, but a bummer none the less. I need to come up with some sort of bumpers to prevent this from happening in the future. Overall people really liked the FC and they all thought the storage tank was cool. After I came home I unloaded the bike and I realized I haven't yet taken any pics with my MP so I dragged them both out and shot a few pics. Hope you all like em'.
I should have some more progress soon. My laser cut stencils are in the works to add a few more paint details.
Later,
I had one hard lesson with the FC. While sitting on display next to the Indian, the bolt holding the kickstand slipped. Fortunately I was right there to prevent the bike from hitting the ground but the fork swung quickly to one side and the spring bracket dented the tank.
It's a small dent and I think I can fix it, but a bummer none the less. I need to come up with some sort of bumpers to prevent this from happening in the future. Overall people really liked the FC and they all thought the storage tank was cool. After I came home I unloaded the bike and I realized I haven't yet taken any pics with my MP so I dragged them both out and shot a few pics. Hope you all like em'.
I should have some more progress soon. My laser cut stencils are in the works to add a few more paint details.
Later,
They look good together!
Luke.
Luke.
Well I have had this bike for only a few weeks, and it's not even really done yet, but the winds of change are already blowing. This bike was based off of Jonathan Ward's re-imagining of the legendary FJ-40 Toyota Landcruiser.
But the FJ-40 has a bigger cousin. And this bike is going to be modified again as inspired by the FJ-45 pickup.
The 40 series cruisers have some impressive specs not the least of which are the cargo capacity. The little 40 has a 3/4 ton rating and the 45 has a 1 ton capacity! I will be adding the extended wheelbase and cargo hauling ability and building the bike into the FC-45!!!
Stay tuned...
But the FJ-40 has a bigger cousin. And this bike is going to be modified again as inspired by the FJ-45 pickup.
The 40 series cruisers have some impressive specs not the least of which are the cargo capacity. The little 40 has a 3/4 ton rating and the 45 has a 1 ton capacity! I will be adding the extended wheelbase and cargo hauling ability and building the bike into the FC-45!!!
Stay tuned...
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