Hugo's "Dead Parrot"

[Gerwin Brommer]

Hugo, oké ! But I want the same style nuts in front AND back.
By the way, do you know where your wingnuts came from ?
I got mine of a passengerseat of a moped.

 

[Hugo]

My wingnuts are for bicycles, the old European style of everyday bikes. Even if they fit the rear hub, I'm not sure if I would be able to tighten them sufficiently by hand to keep the hub from moving due to chain tension.

Hugo

 

[Hugo]

My paint makes the primer all mushy and gooey! And I sprayed that primer everywhere! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! :x :x :x

Hugo

 

[Hugo]

I might pull it off, after all. The primer only reacts in certain spots, don't know why is that. The resulting texture might even blend in nicely with the "barn find" theme!

Well, I removed and smoothed all the cable stops, brake pivots and derraileur hanger.

The chainguard was looking a bit plain so I got a bathroom aluminum vent plate and...

...made some fake air intakes. You can't go wrong with fake air intakes, that's what I always say. :wink:

I removed the rear fender bracket that was spotwelded, leaving a big hole that will be covered up by a reflector. I tried to weld it back on at the end of the fender, but thin metal and poor welding skills succeed in creating very nice round holes. I welded the hole shut as best as I could and pop-riveted the bracket back on.

I'm planning on doing some further painting /primer-reacting this weekend.

Hugo

 

[RawBert]

that vent is AWSOME!!! great idea....

 

[xddorox]

Hmmmmm, I concur. Vents will definitely be in a future build.

 

[user 135]

Me three on the vents. cool and innovative idea.

 

[aka_locojoe]

...made some fake air intakes. You can't go wrong with fake air intakes, that's what I always say. :wink:
Hugo

Drill some holes in the chainguard behind the vent. No longer fake!

Cool idea Hugo.

 

[Hugo]

Thanks, guys. Just remember, they're called Hugo vents! :wink: :mrgreen:

I ran all over town trying to find some thin (4mm) masking tape. I call it Chip Foose tape. No luck. I ended up getting some rubbery sealing tape that I had to cut in half length-wise.

I applied the masking tape along the fenders with the help of a little gadget, an L-shaped bit of metal. Worked great, since the tape is very thick. The end result would seem very professional, had I been successfull in cutting the tape straight. I was not.

Masking is fun. I took ideas for the paint scheme from factory paint jobs I saw here at RRB.

The early stages of painting. Note some funky primer reaction near the seat collar.

I'll have to spend the entire afternoon trying to remove this ultra-sticky residue from the improvised masking tape, trying not to mess up the paint. :x

Hugo

 

[Hugo]

It's official: I suck at painting. This morning I peeled off the masking and got this:

I had to touch up several defects, and succeeded in making them almost as bad. :roll: Then I remasked my fender lines, because they were too wide and wobbly. Now they are thin and slightly less wobbly. For better or worse, I'm finished with paint. Now I just have to do some "weathering" and clear coat it, tomorrow. Then, it's off to reassembly!

I put on two coats of that white paint on one side of the tires, in an effort to make my own whitewalls. The black still shows a bit, and the paint is too thick revealing lots of brush marks. I'll try a diluted third coat tomorrow. If that works, I'll still have to paint the other side... Sigh...

I also redid the front wheel. It was looking miserable, so I unlaced it, polished the hub and rim, and laced it back on with some used black spokes from the parts bin, 2-cross style. Now it matches the rear wheel, wich also has black spokes and got a quick polishing.

Hugo

 

[karfer67]

masking can be tricky i think it looks good and if you are going to weather it the bike will be fine. next time use automotive tape that leaves a cleaner edge

 

[musclebikes]

I like the bike so far,let me say that I think that youve put allot of effort and heart in what your doing and that is what makes a great bike. I think your nailing the "barn find" thing right on the head. It actually has a strong resemblance to an old old bike. Long story short....effort not wasted.

:idea: On the next build-off im sure that there's gonna be at least 5 people sporting the new "hugo vents", i know im gonna be one of them. ha ha

 

[sensor]

hugo ,inventor of bike louvers.
that was a great idea looks very clean!!

 

[aka_locojoe]

inventor of bike louvers

Need to add that to your signature Hugo.

 

[TheDuke]

:lol: Love the "Hugo Vents"! :lol: Had the same problem putting the blue on the front of my frame.Thinking it might be cause it's so cold in my shop!(15d.f. This am)Looking forward tho the finished ride!Nice job!
L8 EM

 

[Hugo]

Thanks for your comments, guys. They make me enjoy this build even more. I'm not taking credit for being the first guy to put vents on a bike, certainly someone has done that before. But since it appears that I'm the first to use them on a RRBBO, then I claim the right to name them.

I've just finished the weathering and clear coating, and it's looking sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! Better than I hoped. I need to get some good pictures, it's really looking nice and it's going to pull the bike together. I'm happy as a pig at a mud convention!

Also, the tires now have 2 coats of funky rubbery weather-proof white paint on the other side, and tomorrow morning they'll have the third and hopefully final coat on both sides. Then, I'll have wheels.

Hugo
"Hugo vents- don't enter a build off without them"

 

[Hugo]

Painting and special effects are done, the whitewalls are done, and assembly is quite advanced! Here's a little tease:

Chainguard and fenders with fake patina.

My wheels. The gueto whitewalls are nothing to write home about, but turned out reasonable. I'm not disappointed. The black spokes match the black chainring and crank nicely.

I removed the plastic cover on the seat quick release lever, and found this stamped on the metal lever: an owl!

I'm waiting for a call letting me know that my handlebar and seat frame are done. I'm going to run out of things to assemble pretty soon!

Hugo

 

[VicXsaN]

cool fenders and chain guard! nice color!

 

[xddorox]

The finish on that paint job is awesome. You nailed that aged look right on the head! Wow :shock:

 

[Hugo]

The first glimpse of "Dead parrot" (picture sucks, I'll try to get some better ones):

The weathering was fun. First, I tried the tea-bag trick from the weathering post on the How-To section. It didn't work for me, it didn't do anything. Then I went to plan B: I lit a candle and ran it across all the tubes, letting the tip of the flame lick the tubes, depositing a lovely black shadow. I rubbed the shadow to smooth it out a bit. I used some steel wool to mess up the black deposit, and "erase" places with too much black.

TIPS (don't ask how I found out )
-Don't wear your nice wool shirt, you will get candle wax on it.
-Make sure you have removed ALL invisible sticky residue from inadequate masking tape. The candle smoke will adere to the sticky residue making a mess and causing you to wipe everything with WD40 and start all over again.

Then I got out some coarse sandpaper and gently rubbed the paint job with it, in random places. Then I rubbed it agressively on the edges and other places of wear and tear. Also, I got a pencil and drew thick lines along the welds and other spots. I faded the lines with my thumb and got a cool looking dark deposit along the welds and other low spots that adds some nice depth. I also drew some blobs in random spots on the tubes and faded them into big light smudges. The pencil was also handy whenever the yellow paint started showing through.

I also thought of rubbing some silver paint along edges and spots of wear and tear, to simulate rubbed paint revealing bare metal, but I got lazy and skipped it. I did sand the edges and rivits of my fake vents, though, to show off some shiny aluminum. Some flat clear coat and it's done! Easy, simple, fun, and great results [/tooting his own horn]. I highly recomend that you try it.

Hugo