I've been granted permission to enter this bike since not much has been done to it, so let's catch you up. Originally this bike was a project I bought with the intention of just finding the needed parts, putting it back together and selling it. But, in true "You knew it wasn't going to be that easy" fashion, this bike decided not to be easy... or cheap. I have the problem of having possibly too high a standard when it comes to restorations. So I end up spending stupid amounts of money, which doesn't help me when I'm trying to use money from a restoration to fund another project. But I'm dumb, and I keep at it.
This is the picture I bought the bike from. Looks great, right? Wrong.
Luckily, I got the original tires, which is a huge "plus" for an Aerobee, as they are getting very hard to find and very expensive.
Upon close examination, the frame's paint didn't meet my acceptance level, which was highly disappointing. Someone repainted over the original paint with red, then spray bombed over that with gloss black. Since fresh decals had been applied, I could have lived with it, but there was a large scrape down to bare metal along the left side of the top tube. So... I decided to throw any budget I had out the window and do it right. So I tore off the decals (couldn't save them) and sand blasted the frame of all the layers. When I inspected the frame I discovered a thin crack in the right rear of the chain stay, so I welded that closed.
In my search for parts the only guard I could find was off a coaster version. Unfortunately, coaster Aerobee's used Renegade frames, so the chain guard mount is different. So...
I researched how the coaster version attached. Copied the idea and made a mounting tab out of angle iron, and tacked it to the top of the bottom bracket. I made a few fitment adjustments, including folding in a small section of the bottom of the chain guard to clear the chain stay.
Then I prepped for primer including sand blasting the chain guard. If anyone has worked on an AMF you know that they were not concerned with quality when building these bikes. That means a guy like me who prides himself on an exceptional finish needs to put on a lot of time on prepping the frame. I spent 5 hours on a Saturday just on prep before I shot any etch. I smoothed out the repair weld, and guard mount weld, and several substandard manufacturer welds plus sanded the entire frame smooth.
As proof of me going overboard on prep, I didn’t like the finish of the cut on these fins, so I smoothed them out so they’ll reflect paint better.
I cleaned up the metal with acetone and shot etch primer.
And that's how far I got. I haven't touched it in a couple weeks due to time. But now that the MBBO is here, it's time to resume.
This is the picture I bought the bike from. Looks great, right? Wrong.
Luckily, I got the original tires, which is a huge "plus" for an Aerobee, as they are getting very hard to find and very expensive.
Upon close examination, the frame's paint didn't meet my acceptance level, which was highly disappointing. Someone repainted over the original paint with red, then spray bombed over that with gloss black. Since fresh decals had been applied, I could have lived with it, but there was a large scrape down to bare metal along the left side of the top tube. So... I decided to throw any budget I had out the window and do it right. So I tore off the decals (couldn't save them) and sand blasted the frame of all the layers. When I inspected the frame I discovered a thin crack in the right rear of the chain stay, so I welded that closed.
In my search for parts the only guard I could find was off a coaster version. Unfortunately, coaster Aerobee's used Renegade frames, so the chain guard mount is different. So...
I researched how the coaster version attached. Copied the idea and made a mounting tab out of angle iron, and tacked it to the top of the bottom bracket. I made a few fitment adjustments, including folding in a small section of the bottom of the chain guard to clear the chain stay.
Then I prepped for primer including sand blasting the chain guard. If anyone has worked on an AMF you know that they were not concerned with quality when building these bikes. That means a guy like me who prides himself on an exceptional finish needs to put on a lot of time on prepping the frame. I spent 5 hours on a Saturday just on prep before I shot any etch. I smoothed out the repair weld, and guard mount weld, and several substandard manufacturer welds plus sanded the entire frame smooth.
As proof of me going overboard on prep, I didn’t like the finish of the cut on these fins, so I smoothed them out so they’ll reflect paint better.
I cleaned up the metal with acetone and shot etch primer.
And that's how far I got. I haven't touched it in a couple weeks due to time. But now that the MBBO is here, it's time to resume.
