Comiung in a bit late I know.... but, I managed to come across a bike that was perfect for the build-off, how could I say no?
I'd spotted this thing a week or so back, but could never manage to catch the old lady selling it at home.... on monday, I finally did. $30 bucks later I'm bashing my knuckles dismantling a nice prewar (?) Hiawatha.
"Nice" is an objective term of course....
Here she be..... before the initial cleanup that is. I swear this thing must weigh 60 pounds.
And during..... tuns out a good 1/4 of that weight was accumulated barn dust and spiders....
I'm a little confused by the paintjob..... there's obviously a black with white pinstripes paintjob under there, but it's definitely not housepainted, and it's under the headbadge too.....
Check out those painted rims.... must've been gorgeous in their day. Sadly both wheels are a total loss.... I didn't so much remove the tires as tear off the rotted rubber and rusty wire around the rims...
That could be a problem..... off to the welders' this weekend....
Certain vagaries of the disassembly process nearly led me to cristen this bike "You .......". Rust, so much rust, so many bolts....
So I'm conflicted..... do I finish de-rusting (already hit it with a brass rotary brush) and just polish/clearcoat the original finish.... or do I strip and repaint? I'm not HUGELY fond of fire engine red, but the patina's interesting.... OTOH this'd make a great canvas to work from
Or, third option..... if anyone knows how to remove JUST the red and get to that original black paint, I'm all ears.
So, thoughts anyone? I have a basic idea of what I'm doing, but need to do the paint side while I can still count on decent weather on weekends....
Glad to be able to participate in any event!
-Elias[/img]
I'd spotted this thing a week or so back, but could never manage to catch the old lady selling it at home.... on monday, I finally did. $30 bucks later I'm bashing my knuckles dismantling a nice prewar (?) Hiawatha.
"Nice" is an objective term of course....
Here she be..... before the initial cleanup that is. I swear this thing must weigh 60 pounds.
And during..... tuns out a good 1/4 of that weight was accumulated barn dust and spiders....
I'm a little confused by the paintjob..... there's obviously a black with white pinstripes paintjob under there, but it's definitely not housepainted, and it's under the headbadge too.....
Check out those painted rims.... must've been gorgeous in their day. Sadly both wheels are a total loss.... I didn't so much remove the tires as tear off the rotted rubber and rusty wire around the rims...
That could be a problem..... off to the welders' this weekend....
Certain vagaries of the disassembly process nearly led me to cristen this bike "You .......". Rust, so much rust, so many bolts....
So I'm conflicted..... do I finish de-rusting (already hit it with a brass rotary brush) and just polish/clearcoat the original finish.... or do I strip and repaint? I'm not HUGELY fond of fire engine red, but the patina's interesting.... OTOH this'd make a great canvas to work from
Or, third option..... if anyone knows how to remove JUST the red and get to that original black paint, I'm all ears.
So, thoughts anyone? I have a basic idea of what I'm doing, but need to do the paint side while I can still count on decent weather on weekends....
Glad to be able to participate in any event!
-Elias[/img]