Lowco Liner (aka Sunday Best)

[kingfish254]

Tires are going to look good on there.
You may even want to consider a couple of rounds of super fine wetsanding before starting the polish. I can't remember the steps I took when I polish SaltHammer years ago. But it seemed the fine sanding helped get everything to a common starting point for the polish.

 

[kingfish254]

I found my steps

Someone asked what my process has been for the cleaning / polishing. Nothing fancy, but here it is.

To start with I had to get the crud off. I'm not sure if it was an old varnish or some scaly corrosion. I had to go over all of the cast pieces inch by inch and scrape it all off. I did this with a dull 5in1 and a small utility knife.

I just made up the rest of the process based on what was close at hand.

First pass, cover area with a little rubbing compound. Start with 1000 grit wetsand using simple green sprayed on as the "wet" part. Cleaning it off every now and then, Then continuing with simple green wet sanding until I feel like I am down to a polishable level on the aluminum. I did this using small 1/2x2" strips of 100 grit sandpaper and my fingers.

Followed by red buff wheel on a drill, Applying red buffing compound block to padding now and then.

Followed by putting some MAAS polishing creme on the frame and using the buffing wheel on a drill again.

Followed by the MAAS again and a hand polish with a rag.

That's all I have done so far. I'll probably follow later with a buffing wheel and the white compound block and some more MAAS (both with the wheel and by hand)

That got me from this

to THIS

 

[Captain Awesome]

I used to polish an awful lot of sportbike frames and wheels. 600 grit wet, 800 grit wet, 1000 grit wet, followed by Wizards Metal Polish and a buffing ball or wheel. Never failed

YMMV

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Small update to stay off page 2….
Second rim is half way stripped

then, while staring at the bike during an endless steam of conference calls, I realized I didn’t like the chunky stem that I bought for it…

so while I was searching eBay for another option, I remembered the one I picked up NOS at a yard sale last year for $5!
I think it looks much better

I may replace or remove the black rubber ‘seal’ on the top nut so keep everything shiny (like the new chrome acorn and regular nuts on the truss assembly.
That’s it, staying on page 1.

 

[kingfish254]

Grips are looking great on the bars, and good switch on the stem.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Thanks! May even polish the top of the stem, if I have any fingerprints left after the wheels…
On that note, I finished stripping the paint from them today.

The flapper disc and wire wheels were either an 80 or 100 grit, so there’s a LOT of scratches to sand out, will probably start with something like 220 or 320 before moving to 400, 800, 1000, then rubbing compound, then polishing compound, then buff…then find hubs and someone to lace them….when’s the deadline again?
Cheers all!

 

[hamqqea]

Hey Doc, I polish rims often. You could go from 220/320 to even 600 wet and then to 1000. For an ideal finish you need to remove all the deep scratches early at 220.

Smoooth stuff. I love single piece cranks, loathe bearing retainers though. Sealed bearings were in abundance years ago at much lower costs. Wish I bought more of them. I totally get why you prefer sealed.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Hey Doc, I polish rims often. You could go from 220/320 to even 600 wet and then to 1000. For an ideal finish you need to remove all the deep scratches early at 220.

Smoooth stuff. I love single piece cranks, loathe bearing retainers though. Sealed bearings were in abundance years ago at much lower costs. Wish I bought more of them. I totally get why you prefer sealed.

Thanks for the advice buddy, gonna start the 220 tomorrow after work

 

[OddJob]

Hey Dr. T, maybe you should expand your product line to include your own proprietary polish? Apparently your 'snake away' is a big seller!

 

[Captain Awesome]

Hey Dr. T, maybe you should expand your product line to include your own proprietary polish? Apparently your 'snake away' is a big seller!

View attachment 197941

Hot commodity down here in copperhead country

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Couldn’t devote any time to polishing the wheels yesterday, but I did manage to get the kickstand ’restored’. It’s nothing special, just an older Greenfield. It’s not ‘vintage’ but I’ve come to like them for their reliability.
Anyway, I want it to ‘disappear’ when attached so I used gloss black appliance epoxy enamel by Rustoleum. I didn’t take any ‘during’ pics, but what I did was scrape off any flaking paint, hit it with a coat of ‘Rust Reformer’ to seal the bare metal, then a coat of black automotive primer, then 3 coats of the gloss black. It should blend in nicely with the frame, pretty satisfied with the result.

I’ve got a couple of more ‘surprises’ coming for the bike, but they either aren’t here yet or need to wait a bit..
Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! Cheers!

 

[OddJob]

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

While I’m waiting for my fingers to heal from sanding on Sunday, I figured I’d paint the seat post and mock-up the the plan for the rear fender bob.
Did a little ’lay it in the ground’ mock-up, my thinking is to cut the very end of the fender off (it’s kinda jacked up a little anyway) above the lower brace and use it as a template for the ‘bob’ using the holes for the braces as a guide. Due to the mounting position of the brace (the little tab on the dropout) I can’t use a ‘stock’ new one, so I think I’m gonna fabricate some from aluminum flat bar, either polished to match the wheels or blacked out to ‘disappear’ like the kickstand and seatpost. Speaking of the seatpost, I’m gonna have to trim it to either lower it and/or bring it forward more, but that can wait for later.
with a little iPhone pic editing

then I rolled it forward for another look

yeah, I think “that’ll do, pig,that’ll do”

 

[OddJob]

And 'bing, bang, boom, bob's your fender'.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

And 'bing, bang, boom, bob's your fender'.

and fanny’s your pack

 

[kingfish254]

I like the bobbed look on this. when you get to that point, try making the rear brace parallel to the seattube angle. Just an idea. Not sure if that would put it too far back or not.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I like the bobbed look on this. when you get to that point, try making the rear brace parallel to the seattube angle. Just an idea. Not sure if that would put it too far back or not.

I want to use the existing holes/brace location. The tab that connects to the lower brace between the chainstays is slotted, I’ll slide the fender ‘up’ on that slot as much as I can, pushing the brace rearward to try to mimic the angle

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

First ‘surprise’ for the build came by in today. This was a Father’s Day gift to myself. Was watching the auction on eBay, tossed a bid on it with 15 seconds remaining and sniped it for a decent price.
The ‘drive’ side is gonna need a little dent removal, but the chrome is good, more ‘dirty’ than anything else. I love it! I think it’s gonna look perfect with the other chrome/polished bits the bike will have.

I’m pretty stoked right now, if I’m being honest.
Also took a trip to @kingfish254 ‘s place today to mock up some stuff. He is letting me borrow a set of 57mm wheels and this Columbia chainguard to mock-up while I polish/build my set. I want something with visual ‘weight’ low on this bike

The rear is gonna be tighter than I thought, definitely going to have to modify the seatstay brace (which is kinda ‘clunky’ anyway) to allow the use of a fender. Having to do that, means I don’t HAVE to use the peaked gothic one, maybe a ‘normal’ chrome one would work….
I did confirm clearance on the fork, no problem there (and no pic). So, the holiday weekend is kicked off properly for me!
Cheers all!

 

[OddJob]

Wow! Living up to your moniker, Dr Tank'- n' stein! I know there's a stein around there somewhere.... Tank is awesome!

Nice kick-off to the holiday weekend. Cheers!

 

[BartRidesEternal]

That tank is gorgeous!
Did Kingfish have a fitting room for all them parts? Seems great that you can go and fit stuff together. Is that a front wheel on the rear? The blue colour looks good too.
I remember a time when you could go to the bike shop and fit tires/fenders and wheels.

I like where your build is heading dr.