fenders look good lowered down like that. it looks like it now fits the bike more correct. as you can see in the green bike posted how they look like hell:doah: real high in the front? maybe the china people thought we were going to jump this like evil knievel:doah: and we needed the clearance for it and look at the back:doah: somebody drunk when they welded the brackets:chinese: i plan on fixing my front fender too:thumbsup:back is already finish:grind:
http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/project-logs/12275-project-build-rear-springs.html
http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/project-logs/12275-project-build-rear-springs.html
Thanks guys!
Delray you may be right about the :chinese: welders being drunk :drinkup:. But I have my own theory, I am starting to think that they teach welding at their school for the blind! :shrug: I wish I would have taken some better before pics of this bike. The back half of it was no where near square or symmetrical.
I finally have the rear fender mounted and the exhaust finished. I still have some finish welding to do and I need to fab a few brackets and hangers but for the most part all the fab work is done! Now I'm going to rip it apart for prep and paint.
I'm happy I took the time to drop the fenders down nice and tight, at least they are straight now! Here are a couple of new pics. I don't know if I want to post a few pics as I go or just wait till I'm done to show the difference? I hope it comes out as good as some of the bikes I've been watching you guys build! Again, thanks for the kind words guys!
Delray you may be right about the :chinese: welders being drunk :drinkup:. But I have my own theory, I am starting to think that they teach welding at their school for the blind! :shrug: I wish I would have taken some better before pics of this bike. The back half of it was no where near square or symmetrical.
I finally have the rear fender mounted and the exhaust finished. I still have some finish welding to do and I need to fab a few brackets and hangers but for the most part all the fab work is done! Now I'm going to rip it apart for prep and paint.
I'm happy I took the time to drop the fenders down nice and tight, at least they are straight now! Here are a couple of new pics. I don't know if I want to post a few pics as I go or just wait till I'm done to show the difference? I hope it comes out as good as some of the bikes I've been watching you guys build! Again, thanks for the kind words guys!
I made a few changes to the bike before I tore it down. The stock air filter and housing were in the way when you put your feet on the ground. They were fine while riding, but as soon as you put your right leg down it would catch on the top of the filter even with the upper housing off. So I welded a couple of tubes together and offset them so I could tuck the filter in closer to the center of the bike. It's not something I'd want to run if I was going all out on the performance of the bike but it works good for this application.
And I knew I was going wrap the exhaust and muffler so I added a few pie shaped pieces of tubing to make a transition from the smaller tube to large diameter of the muffler. Now I can wrap the whole exhaust with one continuous piece. I also went ahead and added a brace back to the engine, it's easier to do it now then later!
And I knew I was going wrap the exhaust and muffler so I added a few pie shaped pieces of tubing to make a transition from the smaller tube to large diameter of the muffler. Now I can wrap the whole exhaust with one continuous piece. I also went ahead and added a brace back to the engine, it's easier to do it now then later!
I was cleaning up the frame to get it ready for paint and I found a crack in the down tubes where they were welded neck. The crack goes almost all the way around the tubes, it's only being held in place by about 1/4" where the two tubes are welded together. :scared: The scary part is that I was riding the bike just last week. :doah: At least I found it before I painted it.
What direction do you guys think I need to take with the paint? I'm torn between fixing every little flaw and making it look new/spotless or do I leave a few nicks and dents to give it that well used and broken in look of an old survivor bike?
Here are some pics of the crack.
What direction do you guys think I need to take with the paint? I'm torn between fixing every little flaw and making it look new/spotless or do I leave a few nicks and dents to give it that well used and broken in look of an old survivor bike?
Here are some pics of the crack.
well:shrug: you put all that work into it. make it look good:thumbsup: what kind of paint are you using? automotive paint would be the best:thumbsup: i have use some spray paint in a can before. they do make a primer filler spraycan that works ok to help smooth the frame out before color coating it with a can. it takes 3 or 4 times to sand and primer coat it to make it look ok/good. thats if your on a budget and automotive paint is out of the question.
I definitely want it to look good, I just can't decide if I want it to look old and used of if I want it to look showroom new. Part of me wants it to look as if it could have been used 60 years ago and part of me wants it to look refurbished and new! :shrug:
I bought several cans of spray paint to decide on the color I wanted and then I took it to the local paint supplier to have them match it and flatten it out a little more.
If I go for the old look ( which I'm leaning towards) I'm going to use my airbrush to add some artificial patina to make it look period correct!
I bought several cans of spray paint to decide on the color I wanted and then I took it to the local paint supplier to have them match it and flatten it out a little more.
If I go for the old look ( which I'm leaning towards) I'm going to use my airbrush to add some artificial patina to make it look period correct!
