Corona has brought me back to working on some mini bikes I found five years ago in an old house. There were four in there, a K&S, a Bonanza, a MTD (I think) and this Sears bike. I took it apart and used some old DuPont 606s lacquer compound to buff the original paint out, also the chrome. It looks pretty good, so I want to do it up as original. What I think is the original motor (Tecumseh with Craftsman numbers on the plate) is another story and the purpose of this post. If your going to keep the bike as original as possible would you strip the paint off the motor and paint it or leave it rusty. I'm going to clean the motor up and overhaul it, but should I paint it? I'm thinking it will look goofy with the original paint, with the 40 years worth of patina. You can see the fan housing is mostly a thin layer of rust.
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