- Joined
- Jul 19, 2009
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
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I picked up a 1960 something Shelby Hiawatha at a rummage sale for $35 because I wanted a cruiser and didn't want to drop $500 on a new one. This Shelby looked like a good candidate for a rat rod, so in the truck it went.
And then I had to get it apart and paint it. I used a wire wheel on my angle grinder to buzz the paint off in about an hour, and then shot it with etching primer (I LOVE that stuff!!!).
Next came paint. I wanted to keep the same color theme as the original, so I shot it in Acrylic Enamel from NAPA with a generous dose of hardner (recipe calls for 8:4:1, but I used 8:4:1.75). I also wheeled the chainring and hit it with chrome paint and touched-up SOME of the rust on the rims, but not all of it. Then came the new headset, new seat, new seat post, new bars, new grips, new tubes/tires, new pedals, and mounted a water bottle cage and my Garmin GPS on it. I love the Flying Penguin!!!! I ride this bike everywhere, and it turns heads.
And then I had to get it apart and paint it. I used a wire wheel on my angle grinder to buzz the paint off in about an hour, and then shot it with etching primer (I LOVE that stuff!!!).
Next came paint. I wanted to keep the same color theme as the original, so I shot it in Acrylic Enamel from NAPA with a generous dose of hardner (recipe calls for 8:4:1, but I used 8:4:1.75). I also wheeled the chainring and hit it with chrome paint and touched-up SOME of the rust on the rims, but not all of it. Then came the new headset, new seat, new seat post, new bars, new grips, new tubes/tires, new pedals, and mounted a water bottle cage and my Garmin GPS on it. I love the Flying Penguin!!!! I ride this bike everywhere, and it turns heads.