restoration advice

greg /

Sep 22, 2001 06:14PM

i was wondering if anyone had any advice on restoring mopeds. i'm torn between stripping my 1979 safari down to the frame, sanding, and painting it (black and blue, or maybe a really obnoxious yellow...). i'd also have to paint the handlebars and rims since i don't want to spend or have the money to get them chromed. the other things is that i'd probably be brushing the paint on since i have some cans of, guess what, blue and black rustoleum.

i don't think brushing the paint will look bad. it looked rather good on my gokart, but i did a kind of camoflouge paint job. it'll just be a very matte finish.

it doesn't look bad the way it is. the paint's a little faded and the logos and stripes are peeling. i might just remove the rust and paint the rims and handle bars. then have fun riding it.

i know it's ultimately a personal decision, i just wanted some ideas from other people's experiences.

any mod general suggestions?

any mopeders in or near lancaster/chester counties, pennsylvania?

btw: i included a picture. it has a minarelli engine too. and i won't be riding it around town. just on trails and in the neighborhood. i'd be too afeared to ride such a vehicle alone in this area :(

is there an easy way to link to pictures you already uploaded? i posted this pic in another thread and it wouldn't let me upload without renaming.

pic: http://www.mopedarmy.com/forums/discuss/download.php?f=1&file=ped_small.jpg

thanks

Re: restoration advice

Vespalad /

Sep 22, 2001 07:24PM

Hello greg, Before you paint your moped, go out and buy some 3M professional formula imperial hand glaze show car finish(or any product claiming to be a 'miracle wax'). I just cleaned up my ped with the stuff and it looks brand new. The color was faded and dull and now is rich and super shiny. Let me know if it works for you if you try it!!

John

Re: restoration advice

dan /

Sep 23, 2001 12:28AM

Greg,

looking at that bike, it doesn't like it is in that bad of condition. i would just try that 3m stuff and go to town with polishing. i think a ton of the rust will come off the rims with light sand blasting and or steel wool. that stuff is amaizing. i have had bikes with painted rims before, what a mess. only do that as a last resort. you would be suprised how much of that rust comes off with tons of work.

dan

moped army

swarm and destroy

Re: restoration advice

greg /

Sep 23, 2001 12:46AM

> looking at that bike, it doesn't like it is in that bad of

> condition. i would just try that 3m stuff and go to town with

> polishing. i think a ton of the rust will come off the rims

well, i think i will try the "miracle" polish. but the paint is much worse than the pic reveals. in fact, the pic makes it look really shiny with a nice deep color. really, it's a faded and rough orange.

the polish might make the orange look good, but the logo and stripes are peeling off.

> with light sand blasting and or steel wool. that stuff is

> amaizing. i have had bikes with painted rims before, what a

> mess. only do that as a last resort. you would be suprised

> how much of that rust comes off with tons of work.

i'm just afraid that the rims will rust again after i sand the rust off. maybe i can spray it with laquer or something? what's wrong with painted rims? can't adjust the spokes?

actually, boiled linseed oil is supposed to protect metal from rusting. maybe i'll use that.

later

Re: restoration advice

jim /

Sep 23, 2001 09:12AM

I JUST finished a full restoration of my 79 motron,,

One tip i got, was head to this web site,, and for $28 you get a pair of perfectly fitting mechanical shocks that work as good, if not better then replacements from the ped companies, for more then half the price.

http://www.northerntool.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/NTE_SEARCH.d2w/report?KEYWORDS=shock&PHOTOS=on

The ride will be much smoother,, and the bike will look better.

(i completely stripped,, sanded, primed and panited my motron from top to bottom,, including the rims, and it looks like a million bucks)

Re: restoration advice

greg /

Sep 24, 2001 12:01AM

yeah, i've been getting the northern catalog since i was in high school. they have some cheap gokart parts that i've needed. in fact, i finally broke down and got a disk and brake for my kart just now. i hate spending money :P

i've seen those shocks in there before but never really thought much about them. i guess they would fit a ped. i'll have to keep that in mind if i get sick of the originals.

thanks

northern's ped

greg /

Sep 24, 2001 12:06AM

sorry. forgot to mention that they've been selling peds for some time now. not much variety. i don't much care for the new peds these days (at least the type in the link). i like the vintage ones :) not that it's much different in basic design than my safari, but something doesn't quite work for me. maybe vintage means character... the spokes on the one below look nice though.

http://www.northerntool.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=7684&prmenbr=6970

later

chrome restoration

greg /

Sep 29, 2001 09:48PM

any ideas on how to restore chromed areas? it doesn't have to look perfect.

i saw this stuff the other day called cold galvanizing spray. it's supposed to put a zinc coating on pipes. so i sanded down my handle bar and sprayed this stuff on.

it looked kinda dull as seen in the right side of the bottom pic. i rubbed it with a soft cloth until it shined, then i waxed it (left side of bottom). looks ok. compared it to the silver painted or galvanized bar mount (top of picture).

if you try this stuff, be sure to let it dry a while (overnight) as it comes off easily until the next day.

overall recults were ok. nothing spectacular, but not to be ashamed of either. i still have more chromed parts that are all rusted (fork, rims, fenders, etc.). any ideas on how to better restore those parts?

on the ones that aren't too badly rusted, i was thinking of rubbing them down really well, cleaning, then waxing them.

silver spray paint might look slightly better, but i don't think it will protect as well as the zinc.

thanks

"miracle" wax

greg /

Oct 01, 2001 03:32PM

well, jesus isn't out of a job :) i got the turtle wax restorative wax. it worked ok, but no miracles. the original color was a cherry red i think, but the more exposed parts are orange. after waxing, a little bit of the red came back, but really only made it shinier. this is good enough for me. beats the crap out of sanding and painting :O

thanks.

MOPED ARMY

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