Each and every day we go about our business and disregard many hidden treasures that are all around us. You never know when someones junk could be the next center piece in your collection. As the great Grinch once said, "one man's toxic sludge is another man's potpourri!!"
I have spent over 30 years going to my grandparents house and just recently found something that had been under my nose the whole time. It was Thanksgiving 2010 and I was outside taking family pictures with Emily and Bryson. On the way back inside I thought that I would cruise around and look for something cool to photograph. I found this old bike sitting next to the shed. It wasn't even nice enough to go in the shed! Immediately I went inside and starting asking about this bike's story. My grandparents were looking at me like, "are you kidding me, you want that?" It ends up that that was my grandma's bike and it was purchased brand new in 1971. It had only been ridden a handful of times and had spent the rest of it's life parked in the harsh weather outside the shed. I saw this as a fun project and a chance to recreate something that at one time played a significant role in my grandma's life. After everybody questioned me and poked fun at my taste in transportation I think I had them convinced that it could be ridden again.
Once I got the bike home, I started to wonder, did I bite off more than I can chew? This thing was covered in rust. But hey, it's nothing a little WD40 can't handle!
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| Years of sitting outside took it's toll |
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| WD and some steel wool, Voila! |
I think for the next few weeks, I pretty much lived in the garage. As the rust started to melt away and I could see nice, clean, shiny chrome I started to see some potential. I will admit, there were a few pieces that I bought and replaced, I just couldn't get them clean enough. There is a great bike shop in East Portland called City bikes. It is a coop and has tons of old, odd, vintage and cheap bike parts. I was able to find the exact same handlebars, a new chain guard and a front basket. Oh and the best part...the bell!
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| Gotta have a bell, if you really wanna cruise! |
After disassembling the entire bike and cleaning up the the chrome and random small parts, it was time for paint. I was not really digging the old brown, and thought that a nice bright red would bring it back to life. Now this was a nasty job. After lightly sanding the entire frame, and covering the garage in brown dust, I was ready to start. I built a little paint booth in the garage and hung the frame, front fork and chain guard from the ceiling. I put on my grubbies and headed into the booth. First step, primer. I made sure and get a nice even coat of primer, light coats to prevent running. After a few days of drying and some minor touch up I was ready for the red. I was told that a good lacquer spray would be perfect for the top coat. I would not do lacquer again next time, it took more coats than I had expected and it did not dry as hard as I wanted. I had to go back and put a clear coat, even though lacquer doesn't need a clear coat. After the final clear coat was on, it was right where I wanted it, bright red!
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| 1) Sanding 2) Paint Booth 3) Primer 4) Finished Red |
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| This chain guard belonged to another bike, but I liked it's style, so I transformed it to fit my new ride. |
After finishing the paint and reassembling the bike, new parts and all. I needed to fine tune the brakes, grease the bearings and tweak the alignment so that she would be ready to roll. Once these last minute touches were done, we were off on our maiden voyage. Man she rides nice!!
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| Before and After photo shoot! |
All-in-all, I had a great time resurrecting this bike back to glory. The project was fun, the problems were challenging, learning about bikes was interesting and the final result was encouraging! Would I do another one? Absolutely, I'm already looking for another "Diamond in the Rough" for #2!!
