This summer I was at the MCC (the local Thrift shop) I asked at the counter what kind of bikes they had in the back that needed to be fixed yet. They took me to the back room and this one bike that looked 1960s ish that stood out from the rest. I was with another person looking for a bike for his friend who needed a bike that was basic and simple to ride. and this one fit the description. So i left so he could buy it.
The next week I was looking at the bikes at the same thrift shop and on the shop floor was that bike for $25! So i bought it. I took the bike home and it looked like it would need a paint job etc. I Figured that I could use this one for a daily driver to work and that I would just paint it flat black and give it red rims for that rat rod look. Then i got curious because I remembered that even when old paint pre 1970s was flat (and this bike was very flat it looked like and WW2 olive green paint) it could still have a shine buffed into it. So I bought some mothers polish and spent the saturday afternoon polishing the green to a new deep shine. I also polished all of the original chrome to look as good as new. I then tuned up the bike by re-greasing all of the bearings and putting on a new set of tires and tubes. Here is the bike after the detail and tune up:
The next week I was looking at the bikes at the same thrift shop and on the shop floor was that bike for $25! So i bought it. I took the bike home and it looked like it would need a paint job etc. I Figured that I could use this one for a daily driver to work and that I would just paint it flat black and give it red rims for that rat rod look. Then i got curious because I remembered that even when old paint pre 1970s was flat (and this bike was very flat it looked like and WW2 olive green paint) it could still have a shine buffed into it. So I bought some mothers polish and spent the saturday afternoon polishing the green to a new deep shine. I also polished all of the original chrome to look as good as new. I then tuned up the bike by re-greasing all of the bearings and putting on a new set of tires and tubes. Here is the bike after the detail and tune up:
