16" bike for Tunakid #1 build thread

bare metal and clearcoat. did that as a teenager with a mongoose frame. loved it, right up intil the buick got me. used what i could salvage to build a supergoose that i campaigned in the middle of the state in bmx.

my daughter has no interet in bikes. riding lawnmowers, on the other hand....

is 4 too soon to start building an 18 horse lawnmower/gocart?

keep up the good work. id reccomend the paint over powdercoat. that way its easier to change colors, as well as easier to let him help paint it.

Dusterbd13 wrote: id reccomend the paint over powdercoat. that way its easier to change colors, as well as easier to let him help paint it.

Thanks!

It's supposed to be a Bumblebee themed Rescuebot bike, so it's going to be yellow, with several rescuebot stickers on it. My thoughts were that I would use the HVLP setup and automotive BC/CC, but I am not sure I can let him anywhere near it, isn't that the stuff that kills you or looking at it unless you're behind a lead wall?

Bike frames are probably the hardest things to paint and do a good job. I like powder because of ease of application and durability.

I'd say work with what you have and enjoy the kid being involved

I got some quotes today. To deal with my single stage compressor, the GMC will probably need a Asturo WB gun at around $400 all told. I can wait until fall on that if I can figure out another way to paint the bike. I have three powdercoating quotes. Including stripping the old junk off, the quotes are as follows:

$250

$100 (they will take off $50 if I strip it, although they are not certain that wire wheeling will be sufficient)

$110 (they will take off $35 for stripping as per the above note)

WOW, they differ wildly. I guess the $50 place wins assuming their crap doesn't look like crap.

I kinda like this Tuna55 guy......in a manly GRM way......

Sounds like you need to reference your June issue and call up eastwood. Might be a little more spendy though since you'd need a heat lamp to cure it since I doubt it will fit in an oven.

Personally I'd paint it with duplicolor paint shop yellow. Its a pre-mixed lacquer. Put the little guy in a full face or do the spraying where he can see it but not be near enough to catch fumes.

Either that or fork over the 100 and let them strip then powdercoat. You won't be able to get it clean enough without either chemical stripper or media blasting it.

Are you sure a rattlecan would hold up to a (nearly) five year old?

I was thinking that the only alternative was automotive paint, maybe I could cheap out and do SS, something like this:

http://www.tcpglobal.com/restorationshop/itemgroupdetail2.aspx?WebsiteCategory=Electric+Yellow&WebsiteCategory3=AU+%u2013+Acrylic+Urethane+Single+Stage&selectedsku=

But with primer added in, I'm nearly at the powdercoat cost, and I have to buy the gun (again, I need one anyway, but delaying that purchase has advantages). If powdercoat is more durable (believe it to be) and less work (obviously, because I am paying someone) it sounds like a done deal, unless someone can point me in the direction of supercheap good paint that will really hold up.

Thoughts?

Datsun310Guy wrote: I kinda like this Tuna55 guy......in a manly GRM way......

Thanks!

You want it to hold up to a 5 year old? High temp enamel is good. I'd say rhino line it, but you want stickers on it, and stickers will not hold to liner for E36 M3.

On another topic, I assume Jthw8 is covering stickers for you? If not, Let me know. I have some folks that can get them done.

mndsm wrote: You want it to hold up to a 5 year old? High temp enamel is good. I'd say rhino line it, but you want stickers on it, and stickers will not hold to liner for E36 M3. On another topic, I assume Jthw8 is covering stickers for you? If not, Let me know. I have some folks that can get them done.

jthw8 can do cutting of one color stuff, but I am looking for printouts of full color pictures on some clear decal-stuff (not sure what to call it, is it vinyl?) so I have no leads other than commercial. If you have the technology and the willingness to lend a hand, Tunakid #1 will be eternally grateful. Yeah right. He's five. He doesn't get it at all. I will be eternally grateful. he still yells at Mom when the dinner isn't what he wanted. "Grateful" is something we are still working on.

Seriously, though, just rattle can enamel? Really? That will hold up and not scratch and ding and whatever every time he plops it down?

I bought a spray can of appliance paint recently and have to say that I am impressed with the stuff. Hard as nails.

Another option is "Chassis Saver" products. You can spray it and it looks exactly like powdercoat. Once again, hammer proof. Stripping with a wire wheel will be fine for this product. The better known POR is just a more expensive brand of the same stuff.

And the advice that painting a bike frame is tricky is right on; the nooks and crannies are run factories, so go easy and do a lot of coats from different directions.

Okay, slightly tangent subject.

ChumpCar and Optima batteries sponsored a Build-A-Bike program with the local boys and girls club near Road America this spring. Bussed in something like 75 kids, 6-10 years old. Many hadn't turned a wrench before (many didn't HAVE a wrench to turn), most hadn't had a bike ever, let alone a brand spanking new multi-speed. Bikes had rear wheels on, front's off, handlebars and seat off, pedals off, new helmets and bike locks. Chump required one person per team to help the kids assemble the bikes, I volunteered for my team. Got a kid named Ethan. He's 8, he'd never had a bike, never used tools before. Real real shy, but warmed up once he figured out that he could do the work himself (I didn't turn a single nut or screw on that bike except to check that he got them tight enough. He did ALL of the work). Somebody somewhere has a really neat set of pictures of him holding his assembled bike peering out of my full-face helmet with a million dollar grin on.

Your pictures reminded me. Good on 'ya, TunaDad.

Thanks John@

Maybe this solution is closer than I think. If folks paint their cars on the cheap with Rustoleum, why not on the bike? That safety-yellow ought to be close to Transformer-yellow, and he could help me brush it on (he can't really use a rattle can yet).

Add my vote for rattle-can or brush/n/sand. Prep it right, prime it, and let it cure fully. Any paint is going to get dinged up by a 5-year old. At least the rustoleum you can touch up. One can each of primer and paint should do the whole bike. ~$10.

My 6 y.o. can use a rattle can with one of those trigger attachments. Look into one of those.

The powder quotes look about right. I do a complete strip and single color on a frame and fork for $125. The big commercial places don't want to mess with single pieces so you may get those way out quotes.

If you coat it you will need to get e-v-e-r-y bit of paint off the frame otherwise it will burn and make weird colors come through the powder. You can use chemical strippers, just rinse it well and tell the coater. They will probably go over it quick in a blast cabinet anyway.

We spent some time today. Hurray!

He had a super good day. He behaved at church, listened well, cleaned up after himself. We had yummy waffles for lunch, and sick Tunakid #2 went to bed and young Tunakid #3 went to bed for naps, so we went outside.

Today was a mild day, just trying to spend some time with the wheels and tires. Showing him what a tube was, what a valvestem is, how spokes work, how bearings work. That sort of thing. Here is he, being inquisitive.

We got the tires off, but I wanted him to struggle with it first. Then I asked him what the funny looking screwdriver was with the bent handle (prybar).

We took apart the front bearings, cleaned them up, regreased and reinstalled them. Then we had a visitor. Tunakid #3 wanted to play. He'll be 2 in less than a week.

Pacifier, wrench, hammer.

Yes, my garage is a mess. We have a lot of kids, no basement, only a token attic, and no shed, and Tunakids #1 and #3 had birthday parties this past weekend.

Next up is some new tubes and tires and the cleaning of the crank. Then we strip the paint.

Tuna..

I swing hard between envy of your life and being grateful that mine is now simple by comparisson!

Enjoy, it is gonna go real fast.

Tunakid #1 and I have a date for Thursday night to get some more stuff done.

Made it out there with him! he behaved well so we stayed out until like 9:15. No work on the truck tonight because of this.

Confession: I have never disassembled a coaster brake before. I took it off and all of the pieces fell on the floor. Tunakid #1 had the camera, so here are a bunch of fuzzy pictures of me working on the back wheel.

I eventually got it reassembled and the bearings repacked - good thing I took the plunge, they were DRY.

And here is the kid. I felt bad because he really couldn't do much with the brake, so he helped me with the tubes and tires. I gave him the baby powder and took the camera back.

And here he is, both tires inflated and done, all bearings repacked and greased.

I bought him a cool new chain that I'll unveil later. As such, I could easily cut the old one off. Or, I could make him do it!

He did it, too. He was very excited to use the saw. As we recycled the chain, which he was very happy about.

We pulled the crank out - more super dry bearings. No grease yet, though, we'll have to paint the frame first.

And then Daddy had to do work. I wanted to put the first coat of yellow on so he could see some progress, so I tossed him the sandpaper, laughed at how slow sandpaper was, got the stripper wheel on the grinder, and he took some more pictures.

I got it all off. He tried so hard but could not push the spray can top to make it spray. Darn. I put one light coat on it and we went in, sorry I have no better pics than this.

A fun night. We're getting close now.

And yes, I did clean the lens afterwards.

You need to get him one of these:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/3M-Aerosol-paint-can-trigger//N-26w4?itemIdentifier=557066_0_0

Nothing like two hands and two fingers to get paint everywhere!

vacation for a week and a half - no progress until we get back!

Consider picking up some of these while on Vaca, only $1.59

It's nice to be able to see the home movies.

Brought home a little something for the Tunakid today.

That's right, I broke down and called a powdercoater. They quoted $100, $35 to coat and $65 to strip. Then I dropped it off, and the guy said it was going to be $30 to coat, then I picked it up and the total was $90 - whatever. Weirdo guys took a week and a half longer than they said, too. Anyway, the quality is great,a nd the pictures do not do it justice.

It was late when we got out there. His bedtime is usually 8:30-9:00, and his brother Tunakid #2 did not cooperate going to bed and I had to give Tunakid #4 a bath.

Here is what we did. A lot of it is me, and don't let that fool you, he did the most work, he just takes a lot of pictures.

I had him knock the races back in for the fork, I just set them in place and held the frame - here I am doing just that.

Action shot!

Notice the little hammer. It's his. It was mine when I was a mere lad.

He did this all himself.

Nice job, eh?

Admittedly, I did a lot of the crank myself. It's a bit harder with the left threads and the spanner nut (especially as I do not own a spanner)

No pedals, set just sitting there, no chain, no grips... but look at his face!

He was so excited, he was talking to himself walking inside.

The balance off the bike is shipping here via Amazon, and we'll have it done by the weekend for the Swamp Rabbit trail - very cool.

Now the best part. My Dad didn't do this stuff with me at this age. It wasn't until I was a late teen that he did anything really garage-y, and he was pissed most of the time.

I told him I didn't get to do this with my Dad when I was his age.

He said "well I love that I am doing it with you!"

and then I got the biggest hug I've had yet. What a great night.

Does anyone have opinions on the necessity of a chain guard or the padded handlebar? I am not sure if 5 is old enough to dispense of those.