BO15 Unknown BMX bike - Maybe Western Flyer

[amecks]

I have been working an hour or two a day. Straightened the frame and found it needed more straightening. Good now. Also aligned the forks. Touched up and sanded all the dings, dents and scratches.

Applied the first layer of dollar store paint - Krylon Corrosion Inhibiting Primer - I like the color of this paint - it's darker than in the photo and would make a great olive drab military paint job.

Touched up some rust spots on the sprung fork with a silver Sharpie and a quick wipe. Not perfect but better than brown rust. Cleaned up some other parts also and was pleased to see that the chrome on the rockers was almost perfect. (Rockers - is that the correct term for the suspension part where the wheel mounts?)

This is the silver base coat - applied outside but here it is hanging in my "paint booth" - an 8' x 8' tarped section of the garage in front of the door with 3 shop lights hung.

The silver base coat makes it easier to see when the finish coat is right. I did not use the green shimmer paint but used the glitter as an accent. The glitter fades from front to rear and top down til there's almost none at the back dropouts. I have sprayed the clear coat and walked away - pictures later. The clear brings everything out and I think it will look pretty good. All dollar store paint at a total cost of $5!

 

[OddJob]

Frame work turned out well. That paint is looking good! Keep those updates comin'~!

 

[kingfish254]

Dig the paint booth.
Can't wait to see the paint with the clear .

 

[amecks]

This morning I assembled the fork - Wow that spring is hard to get into place. I used three tapered punches and a brass hammer and finally, just barely caught the pin into the hole.
Someone else mentioned they forgot to paint their chainguard when they painted the frame. So did I. But I got caught up with the paint yesterday. Top Cat-Astrophe silhouette on chainguard.. Now I'm prepping other cycle parts for black metallic paint.
Not sure what I can do today but I think it will start coming together fast now.

 

[kingfish254]

Rat trap and bike is looking great.

 

[amecks]

Thanks Kingfish, and for all the encouragement along the way. It is done. Waiting for an opportunity to get some quality photos.
Determined after a quick test that I was able to use the longer crank. You would have to almost be racing the thing to ground the pedal. Feels a lot better with that extra leverage.

 

[amecks]

The last two build photos...
Cleaning off two layers of black paint and most of the yellow primer from the handlebar assembly.

On the stand for final assembly after testing it with longer crank which worked fine. Much easier to ride with the added leverage. I also rode it two miles later in the day and the added crank length did not cause any problems.

I had hoped my wife would be able to ride this but her knees are in bad shape and she can't ride it. Very disappointing. Following is a photo with the handlebar streamers she requested. After taking several photos of the finished bike I pulled the streamers, raised the seat up to the highest position and took it for a 2 mile ride down the nearby Erie Canal Trail and back on the street. It was fun but hard to ride for a tall adult without making major modifications. I will keep it around for while and take it to the bike show later this year. I will post a photo series in the Finished thread , probably later today.

 

[el Diablo Guapo]

This is such a great build!

Was the seat in that good of condition, or did you do more to it?

I swear I had a chopper with long forks that was this same frame, and had an enormous, purple, flame covered, sparkly seat.

This came out great!

 

[amecks]

I was lucky that the seat top wasn't torn. It had been removed or just cut underneath but it doesn't show. Took a lot of straightening of the seat frame. The "shocks" needed attention. Beside straightening, extreme cleaning and greasing, they had very little travel. I added thick rubber washers under and over the springs to "lengthen" the springs, adding travel and a little extra cushioning.

 

[el Diablo Guapo]

Really nice work!

the un-torn original seat completes the resto, makes it look totally legit

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Nice job!
I had to go back to the first picture to really appreciate the work that you put into it.

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