Well after reading the forum for a while I decided to do my first build. I have no experience with painting, restoring, or working on cruisers but what the heck you got to start sometime.
I bought this old 1980’s vintage Schwinn from a local guy for $25. Here are some pics right after I bought it. As you can see not in the greatest condition although the frame was in rather good shape besides the paint.
Here is a pic of the handlebars which I still need to cleanup and also the bucket O parts after tearing it down.
So I started sanding and sanding and sanding.... and did I mention I sanded a little bit. This bike was originally white/off white and then it was yellow and then it was green all over a red oxide primer. It took me quite sometime to sand it down. I then used my dremel with a small whire brush to get the hard to reach spots. Here are the results. These pics are before I washed everything so you can see some dust on the parts.
After sanding it down and washing it was time for a few coats of primer. I used Dupli-Color High build.
Now for some paint. I decided on orange as it is my favorite color. Here is where I started to make some mistakes....oh did I mention it was my first time using a rattle can on just about anything as well as my first time painting a bike.....
So be kind since the results are not that great but I feel I could have done much worse. For starters I probably should of chose something different than Krylon although it was all I could find local that had a nice color orange. Secondly Orange does not seem to be the easiest color to paint. In the end I did wind up getting the color even but it is not very smooth. In some spots it is grainy from overspray in the air and you can see this in the second pic although the picture does make it look worse then it really is. Did I mention Houston HUMIDITY stinks!
Here are a couple of pictures of the saddle I purchased. At this point I am not sure if I am going to keep it or not since it has a bunch of scuff marks on it.
Here is a quick pick after a few coats of clear coat. I know it is wrong and not very "Rat Rod" but I put some Schwinn water decals on as well. I had a catastrophe yesterday night. I was clear coating the chainguard and the coat hanger hook I had it hanging on fell. So the paint got chipped up..... Today I sanded the bad spots down sprayed a little primer and put a few very light coats of paint. So far it is looking a little better but I need to do some more work on it.
07/08/08 Update******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Ok so I am getting closer. I kind of liked the look of the bike without any fenders but I already bought some fenders for it so I decided to put the back one on to see how it looked. I am not sure if I like it better or not but I guess I will try and put the front on as well today. I am going to have to bend the front fender pretty far to get it on. I already tried a little bit and I scraped some paint of the inside of the fenders Shoudl have used some painters tape! Since I already scraped the paint I might as well try and get it on.
The only things missing from the bike are the ape hanger bars which I need to pick up from my brother and the chain guard. I had to make a bracket for the chain guard to fit and the paint is drying right now. So I will probably put it on in a couple of days. Anyways here are a couple of pics...
OK.... I just put the front fender on. Here is a pic with the front fender. I wound up scratching the paint a little more on the inside part of the fork but you cannot see it so I am just going to live with it although it is bugging me! :?
Yet another update from the same day but later..... Much better now. The Ape hangers really bring out the bike in my opinion.
07/09/08 Update***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
The chainguard is now on.....Not sure if I like it better with or without but I will probably leave it on since I put work into it..
Later,
Eric
I bought this old 1980’s vintage Schwinn from a local guy for $25. Here are some pics right after I bought it. As you can see not in the greatest condition although the frame was in rather good shape besides the paint.
Here is a pic of the handlebars which I still need to cleanup and also the bucket O parts after tearing it down.
So I started sanding and sanding and sanding.... and did I mention I sanded a little bit. This bike was originally white/off white and then it was yellow and then it was green all over a red oxide primer. It took me quite sometime to sand it down. I then used my dremel with a small whire brush to get the hard to reach spots. Here are the results. These pics are before I washed everything so you can see some dust on the parts.
After sanding it down and washing it was time for a few coats of primer. I used Dupli-Color High build.
Now for some paint. I decided on orange as it is my favorite color. Here is where I started to make some mistakes....oh did I mention it was my first time using a rattle can on just about anything as well as my first time painting a bike.....
So be kind since the results are not that great but I feel I could have done much worse. For starters I probably should of chose something different than Krylon although it was all I could find local that had a nice color orange. Secondly Orange does not seem to be the easiest color to paint. In the end I did wind up getting the color even but it is not very smooth. In some spots it is grainy from overspray in the air and you can see this in the second pic although the picture does make it look worse then it really is. Did I mention Houston HUMIDITY stinks!
Here are a couple of pictures of the saddle I purchased. At this point I am not sure if I am going to keep it or not since it has a bunch of scuff marks on it.
Here is a quick pick after a few coats of clear coat. I know it is wrong and not very "Rat Rod" but I put some Schwinn water decals on as well. I had a catastrophe yesterday night. I was clear coating the chainguard and the coat hanger hook I had it hanging on fell. So the paint got chipped up.....
Today I sanded the bad spots down sprayed a little primer and put a few very light coats of paint. So far it is looking a little better but I need to do some more work on it.
07/08/08 Update******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Ok so I am getting closer. I kind of liked the look of the bike without any fenders but I already bought some fenders for it so I decided to put the back one on to see how it looked. I am not sure if I like it better or not but I guess I will try and put the front on as well today. I am going to have to bend the front fender pretty far to get it on. I already tried a little bit and I scraped some paint of the inside of the fenders
Shoudl have used some painters tape! Since I already scraped the paint I might as well try and get it on.The only things missing from the bike are the ape hanger bars which I need to pick up from my brother and the chain guard. I had to make a bracket for the chain guard to fit and the paint is drying right now. So I will probably put it on in a couple of days. Anyways here are a couple of pics...
OK.... I just put the front fender on. Here is a pic with the front fender. I wound up scratching the paint a little more on the inside part of the fork but you cannot see it so I am just going to live with it although it is bugging me! :?
Yet another update from the same day but later..... Much better now. The Ape hangers really bring out the bike in my opinion.
07/09/08 Update***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
The chainguard is now on.....Not sure if I like it better with or without but I will probably leave it on since I put work into it..
Later,
Eric
