Need Opinions, Repaint or Leave it Alone...

[kscheel]

Below are some photos of a 1948 CWC Roadmaster frame. It came as a complete original bike that had seen lots of use over the years but, that had little rust or damage. The frame is in its original paint but, that are numerous chips, scratches, and rust. Personally I don't mind the scratches and paint wear but, I really can't stand rust. The top of the top bar is solid old rust. I'm sure the old paint wore off in the last 60 years and the rust replaced it.

The two options I'm looking at are this; 1) leave it alone and clear coat the frame to seal it up and prevent further rust or 2) remove the rust and repaint the red portion (everything other than the white front) of the frame flat black and scotch-brite it to add some wear/sheen to it.

Thoughts?

 

[Henry morgan]

orig patina is always good ... but its a personal thing.. what you like .. what you want for the build ..
you can always build it like it is .. then later change it up .. go back and paint it... that s what is all about here.
not everyone here will like what you do with the bike.. but as long as you like it.. if it works for you then its a cool
bike no matter... only thing I have learned in all this .. you cannot build them to make money .. :lol:
you can flip bikes.. but the ones you build and take the time with .. you will not get your money back .. pretty cheap
bunch here. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Personally I'd leave it like it is but it's your bike.

 

[snydur]

my look at it, its taken 60 some odd years to get that way, and if yo dont like it when its done getting painted it will take 60 some odd years to get back like that. wet sand with very fine paper and clear coat for me.

 

[deven_science]

I agree with these guys above. If it were me, I'd clear coat it, grease what needed to be greased so that it runs good, and call it done. That's a great tank and frame. The only thing I usually do is steel wool any chrome to bring it back a bit, but painted surfaces should get left.

 

[Road Master]

There could be an option 3 - repaint it as built! That's a great combination of parts and paint scheme. Robert

 

[kscheel]

Thanks for the opinions guys. Honestly I wish I had the cash or the skills to restore the bike to like new but, that's not possible for this college student at the moment. Also the chrome overall is fairly worn so, if I did repaint it I'd want to rechrome everything too.

My goal for the project when I started out was to leave as much original as possible, a focus on preservation and light restoration instead of replacement. I do want to ride this bike and I want to ride well so I did opt for new bearings and I got the wheels respoked along with some fresh vintage rubber. I guess I'll probably leave the frame as is and forgo the repaint. I'm sure I'll learn to like it more. I suppose it is better to fall back on the old saying that less is more.

Hopefully the bike will be reassembled this week so I'll post some pics of the final product. By the way, does anyone know of a good source for getting a seat recovered? The original seat is missing the cover so, not the most comfortable at the moment...

 

[jackdaw]

This guy started with a really rough bike and made it gorgeous. I like the way he did it.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.ph ... lden+arrow

My Golden Arrow is in parts, waiting patiently for me to get back to it.

 

[deorman]

 

[kscheel]

I should also mention that when I took the photos of the frame I had already gone over twice with 0000 steel wool and a combination of PB Blaster and motor oil. I then cleaned it with mineral spirits and the photos show the end product. It looked worse than it does now but, I'd like to bring out some of the original bright color of the paint. I'll probably go over it one more time with steel wool and perhaps I'll give that rust remover a try. Then I'll give it a polish with some Mothers and make the final call to assemble or paint the bike.

 

[dos cruiser]

Preservation of a nice original is always a good starting point, because if you change it right off you can't go back.

Mr. Webster says - Preserve- to keep safe from injury, harm or destruction; protect. to keep alive, intact, or free from decay.

I use Turtle Wax Color Back this will bring back and shine and the same time. Good stuff.