Sears Free spirit : AMF freebie

[Ride 'em High]

A very cool building superintendent let me pick a bike and some parts from a squad of rides left behind over eight years.

As I ride my designs daily I was always a little meticulous about losing the leg room where my other bike frame's top bar bends but I was curious as to whether the straight bar might better support my weight. Especially as my frames tend to rip at the weld or just above. So I chose this ole Sears/AMF joint to play with.

I've been collecting these parts in hope karma might drop something like this into my lap.

I painted the frame with Testors/Rustoleum metal flake then clear coated with Duplicolor. The fork shows the original frame color after WD40-ing what seemed like solidified grease over adhesive reside from the entire frame. I find that forks almost always get better factory paint than does the rest of the bicycle with a faint fade showing more metallic shine in the middle. Shame to paint it but I dig the detail at the top.

I bought the Hot Pink Tannus before I fell in love with this seat fabric so I have to rethink the lighter pink. Got some darker ones to try too. I drool over those cables which are a nice pinkish-purple now but with time they tend to lighten so my tire choice may be based on this.

These are the Vegas Pink Tannus just above

 

[Ride 'em High]

The gold chronicles. I'm using a discontinued Duplicolor Metalcast color because it looked more orange than the updated offering. I was happy with it in some light, disappointed with it in others.

You can see It coats well but produces an ugly green hue at differing angles that just doesn't work with my color choices. If I weren't trying to match it to a nicer finish and tones of red then it could have contended for best OTC faux-gold [translucent] spray.

Different metals and finishes produced varied results as was the case with this neck. Unpolished aluminum at the head shone less green but lacks realism.

That fender was silver. Close, but I just can't see covering my cranks with this. Sanding it off before clear coating is a breeze so testing is care-free but sanding it off the crevices of my cogs would be time consuming. The arms would turn out yellow, the sprockets green and the pedals might need to be a store bought gold finish. I went for a second try with a thinner coat.

Still matching decently at a certain angle but too noticeable at others.

To reiterate this is a very good product if all your parts are uniformly polished and of the same metals, but now I've painted myself into a corner and must commit to learning how to electroplate.

 

[Ulu]

You get the same issues if plating over different metals. They often don’t match exactly.

 

[ingola]

The gold chronicles. I'm using a discontinued Duplicolor Metalcast color because it looked more orange than the updated offering. I was happy with it in some light, disappointed with it in others.
View attachment 223918
You can see It coats well but produces an ugly green hue at differing angles that just doesn't work with my color choices. If I weren't trying to match it to a nicer finish and tones of red then it could have contended for best OTC faux-gold [translucent] spray.
View attachment 223919 Different metals and finishes produced varied results as was the case with this neck. Unpolished aluminum at the head shone less green but lacks realism.
View attachment 223914
That fender was silver. Close, but I just can't see covering my cranks with this. Sanding it off before clear coating is a breeze so testing is care-free but sanding it off the crevices of my cogs would be time consuming. The arms would turn out yellow, the sprockets green and the pedals might need to be a store bought gold finish. I went for a second try with a thinner coat.
View attachment 223920
Still matching decently at a certain angle but too noticeable at others.View attachment 223921 View attachment 223922 To reiterate this is a very good product if all your parts are uniformly polished and of the same metals, but now I've painted myself into a corner and must commit to learning how to electroplate.

Polish all metal to almost chrome finish and it will match if you notice your stem was dull metal cast is a clear coat. If dull underneath itll stay dull.

 

[Ride 'em High]

Polish all metal to almost chrome finish and it will match if you notice your stem was dull metal cast is a clear coat. If dull underneath itll stay dull.

Yes, that fender is continually re-buffed between painting but while polishing dull parts to a shine does show better reflection the varied alloys in the frame's trim, brakes, fenders, etc produce different underlying hues.

 

[Ride 'em High]

You get the same issues if plating over different metals. They often don’t match exactly.

It's an high ante crap shoot for sure. Research points toward a 14K solution matching my parts better than the darker 18 or 24k solutions. That and the fact it can be done with a common AC adaptor such as an old phone charger should save a bit. Otherwise I'm out of options.

 

[Ulu]

Usually the current draw is not very high** and if you want to do it outdoors to avoid breathing the fumes you can use batteries.

** The draw will all depend on how much metal you’ve got in the electrolyte solution, and more particularly, the exposed surface area. Of course this will vary with the balance in surface area between the cathode and anode as well.

 

[Ride 'em High]

Usually the current draw is not very high** and if you want to do it outdoors to avoid breathing the fumes you can use batteries.

** The draw will all depend on how much metal you’ve got in the electrolyte solution, and more particularly, the exposed surface area. Of course this will vary with the balance in surface area between the cathode and anode as well.

Thank you! I may hit you up later for advice. Do you have any experiments I can see @Ulu & @ingola ?

 

[ingola]

I have no

Thank you! I may hit you up later for advice. Do you have any experiments I can see @Ulu & @ingola ?

I've used it but the best @OddJob has a muscle bike that's one of the best uses of it I've seen.

 

[ingola]

BO15 - RaTs GaSs...Great year all!...pg 26

. "....on a sunny, Sunday afternoon..". .Rode the Shelby Woody out for a short 5 mile ride for ice cream on this beautiful, 80° low humidity, Sunday afternoon. Def one of the best ridin g rat bikes I've ever built. At least tied for first with a couple others. there should be a sign...

ratrodbikes.com

That's it excellent build.