Paint or Patina?

[2Slow]

I have this Schwinn girls 24 inch skiptooth that I am going to start working on but I can't decide what to do as far as the finish. This bike is like a archeology dig where you can see all the layers or previous civilizations. In places there is bare metal, rust, the original Schwinn blue with white accents. Then you can see where a previous owner painted it candy apple red with hand painted white pin-stripes. I know value of the bike is not a consideration with a 24 inch girl bike, so do I go back to the factory colors, re-create the hot rod candy red with pin stripes, or leave it as the rat it wants to be with everything showing? Opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[user 135]

I like those pinstripes. Maybe a combination of the two. Paint the frame and leave the ratty fenders, chainguard and fork.

 

[Gdcast]

In my humble opinion, you can paint any bike candy red, with or without pinstripes.
But can you reproduce this patina without much stress on another bike?
Leave this one show proudly her past, she has an unique unreproducible skin color, perfect rat!
I´m working on a rat project right now, trying to get it look similar to this, and I know is gonna be a very hard task.
This patina is a gift from the Rat Bike Gods, don't throw it away! :wink:

 

[Markm]

throw some clearcoat on 'er... :wink:

 

[cobrafreak]

Like Jay Leno says,"It's only original once". Clear coat it with satin to preserve and enjoy.

 

[vibr8shun]

Keep the frame and fork patina (clearcoat), then everything else either paint, chrome, and re-accessorize (come on...we are all Rat Rodders). Save all the old stuff just in case you want to bring it back to original. :mrgreen:

 

[K-dregg]

Every time i see a beautiful wreck like that "restored" i die a little bit inside.. If you paint it it will just be a colour, if you let it be you have a bike with some real history, roll with that..

 

[beast775]

looks good as is.

 

[vibr8shun]

hmmmm....after looking closely at the ..."patina"....I hardly doubt that Schwinn used red,light blue, and cream/white as a standard color. Accepting that red color as part of preserving the...."patina"....is crazy, the red IMO is not original. NOw if you can remove the red....yeah preserve to your hearts content. Someone else added to the history of this bike, and by default, you should too...are you not somebody worth making and preserving your own mark? I say yes! Someone else started the process with a red spray can and some pinstripes...add to it

 

[big AL]

hmmmm....after looking closely at the ..."patina"....I hardly doubt that Schwinn used red,light blue, and cream/white as a standard color. Accepting that red color as part of preserving the...."patina"....is crazy, the red IMO is not original. NOw if you can remove the red....yeah preserve to your hearts content. Someone else added to the history of this bike, and by default, you should too...are you not somebody worth making and preserving your own mark? I say yes! Someone else started the process with a red spray can and some pinstripes...add to it

I agree If it was the standard color "patina" I would leave as is but it's not.

 

[2Slow]

Thanks for all the input. I think the satin clearcoat idea is a winner. I don't know what i'm going to do with this bike. It was part of a deal on some other bikes. It is now a project for the sake of a project. When I have a purpose in mind (ie. flip, gift, rider, etc...) I tend to have a clearer vision of how to do a bike. I will clear it and make it rideable until a purpose for it comes along.
Thanks again, I have respect for all your opinions.

 

[2Slow]

I deciced to leave the patina alone and just repack everything, thow on some bars, grips, lights, and seat I had laying around. I ordered new white walls and here she is in all her ratty glory.

Thanks for all the advice. Anybody want to buy it?

 

[Tommy Atoms]

Yeah... but not with that seat. :lol:

 

[g-ratter]

I second the motion. That is butt ugly. :lol: :lol:

 

[masterpoop63]

keep the seat :mrgreen: cause people dont like it

 

[ScurryMurray]

I'm glad you decided to leave it as is. It looks great with that finish. (You get the idea about the seat, so I won't go there.)

 

[2Slow]

As far as the seat, sure it's ugly but so is the rest of the bike. I like it, I tried some others on it including a red/white schwinn seat, this one just had that vibe I wanted. I think I'll keep it. Thanks for the input. Maybe "Butt Ugly" is the new name of this bike. Here are is another angle of it.

 

[GreatWhite00]

I dig it. If the seat is comfortable I'd leave it.

 

[Gdcast]

Great to know you kept the patina. Bike looks great!
I don´t quite like the seat, but hey, opinions are like butts!...
Everyone has a different one! :lol:

Good job!!!