Charlie's bike pt10

Bit more assembly done. Front brake on and set up.

Charlie's bike pt9

Paint is finished and bearing races. Have been pressed back in. I won't say how I did it as IT IS NOT THE WAY YOU SHOULD DO IT! But it just about worked.

Now for assembly!

Charlie's bike pt8

Paint has dried and been smoothed with 1200 grit wet and dry paper and now the graphics are being added before the clear lacquer is put on.

The water marks will need to be vleaned off and the graphics perfectly flat before it is sprayed again.

Charlie's bike pt7

1 can of paint is not quite enough!

Thats really annoying!

I guess I had better get extra lacquer as well.

Charlies's bike pt6

First layer of paint - halfords grey primer!

Charlie's bike pt5

Bike frame being stripped with Nitro Mors.

Make sure it does on nice and thick!

Paint just falls away when it has done its job.

Charlie's bike pt4

Gave up sanding and bought some Nitromors from Halfords. Really glad I did as it is taking far less time to strip the paint and is a lot easier (if smellier!).

It is pretty nasty stuff so masks, safety glasses etc. But the results are great!

Forks are done so far, the rest will have to wait for a couple of days.

Charlies bike pt3

All stripped ready to be sanded for painting.

Headtube cups and bottom bracket cups were a pain to get out as ever. No specialist tools available so very delicate use of the hammer was required!

Now comes a lot of wet and dry paper and elbow grease. I may try to get some help with this bit!

Charlies bike pt1

In preparation for christmas I am fixing up a bike for my eldest son.

We were lucky enough to be given a bike with a decent frame and gear set to use as the base. We plan to strip it down and respray it metalic black with red spider graphics (spider man fan!).

We have started stripping it down and managed to get a few good parts from Halfords reduced! Red seat at £4 and red pedals at £2! Shame the thread on the pedals is the wrong size though! We also got a spider man bell for a few quid.

I have spotted some red V brakes on ebay, by the same manufacturer as the originals for £13 so they will be ordered soon.

Right, more cleaning then!

Charlies bike pt2

Clean bits!

All scrubbed ready to be greased and fitted.

Not exciting but hard work!