cuda2k

FINAL ASSEMBLY DAY 2















There she is folks. The photos aren't the best as my camera didn't want to focus very well and the cloud cover didn't help matters. I hope to get some more photos when the sun comes out - when ever that happens to be. A few minor adjustments to be made to the derailluer stops and such. I know there's not much seatpost showing nor seatpost - to - handlebar drop but this bike was meant to be a Sunday cruising and long distance rider so didn't want a very agressive position. After getting this bike finished I think my best fit for a more agressive position would be on a 57cm frame, though 58cm as I've been searching will likely do just as well.

FINAL ASSEMBLY DAY 1

For those following this project - and everyone who may be finally joining in: After nearly 3 months of sanding, painting, buying, deciding, changing my mind, etc etc, I finally started assembly on the Barracuda Mk. I today! Starting with the final wetsanding (it was too cold today to do any waxing) and then with the assembly of the headset and most of the drivetrain the thing finally looks more or less like a bike now. I'm still waiting on the handlebars to arrive, brakes need to be installed, brake and derailleur cables need to be run and finally of course the chain installed. I'll let the photos speak for themselves on the progress:






'Custom Build by Jon Fischer'










Barracuda headbadge with that mischevious grin.


Golden Arrow Front Derailleur and Crank


Golden Arrow Rear Derailleur



Original Post:

After many weeks of hinting at it, mentioning it, and most certainly working on it, I finally have the first sneak peaks at the progress of the paint job. I hope to have the first coat of clear on the frame this weekend and the decals supplied to me by mswantak installed soon after that.

Pre-Clear coat or Decals frame -


The photos really don't do the metalic look of the paintjob justice. It shimers in the sun like nothing I've ever seen before. I have been very impressed and pleased with the Duplicolor Metal Specks paint (Ocean Blue Color)

Completed Fork with Shimano 600 brakes -










Let's see if these photos are big enough to really show off the paintjob. The surface isn't super shiny in the 'gloss' sense of the word, but the metallic paint more than makes up for it. Luker's Shimano 600EX brakes arrived today so I just had to put them on to see how things looked. One small issue is the brake reach, it's close, and may work out fine, but let me know what you all think. Check out the last photo for a close up of the brake to rim relation. I have a pair of Nashbar Long-Reach dual-pivots that I 'could' use on this bike, but I like the look of the 600EX's better with the rest of the group going on this bike. Modern dual pivots would look a bit out of place in my opinion.

Build Componets (edited):

- 100mm Cinelli XA stem and Model 66-40 Bars (with cable grooves for my aero levers).
Tektro R200A Brake Levers, Calipers - Shimano 600EX.
27" Wheels with IRC Duro-Winner II tires (gumwall sidewalls), 6speed 14/28 Shimano Freewheel
NOS Shimano 105 'Golden Arrow' front and rear derailluers
NOS Shimano 105 'Golden Arrow' 42/52 double crankset
NOS Shimano 105 'Golden Arrow' friction downtube shifters
ITM Alloy seatpost with Selle Itialia Flite Gelflow saddle
SPD clipless pedals (silver)

-- many of these parts are currently in service on the Schwinn and have been very happy with the setup thus far. The new crank will supply me with a slightly lower granny gear.

-- I'll post updates and details as work progresses.

bigbossman 

Yer making me sick with all ths painting crapola....

Hmmmmm.....I have an old Nishiki frameset in the shed that I could build into a custom bike...... and my pal mswantak is right around the corner....Hmmmmm....

See?! See what you're doing? AIeeeeeeee............

mswantak

You missed a spot.

chajmahal

Looks great. Rattle can from duplicolor? I've been thinking about sanding and repainting one of my Centurionas. A 77 or 78 LeMans. What year/model is yours? Looks like it has the stamped dropouts but it has water bottle bosses and cable guides along the top of the top tube, mine doesn't.

I see that you plan on posting updates bu is there a previous thread on your process up to this point? I'd be interested to hear about the sanding, prepping, primer etc.

cuda2k

EDIT: I've broken a lot of the photos in the thread when I moved some of my images on my webhost. You can see all of the photos of this bike here: https://photos.thecuda.com/igallery.asp?d=\cudamk1\

The frame is a early 80's (Guessing 82-83) Centurian Sport DLX. One of their lower end models with Tange Infinity tubing. Kind of a crappy picture, but the only one I have of how it looked when I bought it:



These pictures were taken between the 2nd and 3rd coats of color. Coverage on the second coat wasn't great after sanding the first a fair bit and the paint was kinda thin in spots, though I don't see this 'missed' spot that mswantak speaks of. You messing with my mind?

The paint is the duplicolor rattlecan - purchased at the local Walmart, but can also be found in most autoparts shops. Two coats of light gray primer, each coat sanded with 320 grit, first coat of color sanded (a bit too much) with 1500grit. Final color coats were not sanded, and the first coat of clear went on the fork the night this shot was taken (it didn't need the 3rd coat of color). Hoping to end up with a smooth riding bike of ~25-26lbs thats a better over all fit than the Schwinn.

Phantoj

Cool... I have a Sport DLX, but mine is mid-80's made in Taiwan - looks like a Le Mans with the yellow-white fade paint job and the 80's graphics.

I'm thinking of taking the rattlecan to my 80's Schwinn Passage touring frame - it's pretty beat up and had a shifter boss TIG welded on.

Both these bikes are seamed and drawn chromoly - Tange Infinity on the Centurion and Colombus Tenax on the Schwinn.

Phantoj

Looks great, BTW...

How many cans of Duplicolor did it take?

cuda2k

1 and a half cans of primer, two and a half cans of color so far, probably 2 or more cans of clear.

infinityeye

ummm... you forgot to bash the headset cups out the frame! Is that on purpose?

mswantak

Who, me?

cuda2k

Headset was in very good shape so I did a careful job of masking them off instead of removing them. Hopefully it'll be a while down the road before I have to drop the $45 at the LBS to have the headset replaced. It'll probably be a bit of a rough edge around the headset cups where the masking is, but since the original color was blue I hope it won't show much at all.

LOL @ mswantak. I have the decals you made sitting on my desk at home just waiting to be applied to this bike.

Vo2min

That frame's looking good! Looking foreward to pics of the finished product.
Are you going to paint a clear coat over the decals?
Steve

cuda2k

Yeah. Putting down one layer of clear first to even out the paint a bit, then the decals, then probably 2 more coats of clear. I'm giving at least 48 hours between coats of paint to ensure it has dried completely.

cuda2k

** NEWS FLASH **

In an odd twist of fate and chance occurance, I am selling my Schwinn Traveler tomorrow morning to a local fellow who will fit it's 63cm sized frame much better than I do. While I will miss this bike, I am getting a decent price for the frame (keeping most of the components as he is building it as a fixie) and will allow me to go in search of a better fitting frame.

As such I have decided to make some reassignments to what this bike is going to be built with. I have updated the build listing in the original post to reflect new plan. See if you can spot the changes.

well biked

As I've mentioned before, I bought a '79 or '80 Traveler new in high school, rode the thing for years as supplemental transportation, and after having moved on to other bikes, sold it at a yard sale back in the '80's or early '90's. Wish I had it back! But it did fit me, so there's a difference........This thing I've done with the '83 le tour, modernizing it and making it my primary rider as a sort of commuter/tourer, is kind of a return to my youth. I'm lovin' it! I'm glad you're keeping a lot of the parts off the Traveler, that way you're not totally giving it up-

cuda2k

well biked -

I think I have just about replaced every part on the traveler in the last few months. I've only owned it since late May so I don't have a huge attachement to it, and who knows, maybe I'll run across a 60cm Traveler down the road a few years when I have more room to store a full stable of bikes. The Mk. I will be finished in a few weeks time (just in time for the off season *groan*) and will be a beautiful vintage roadie for me to ride, enjoy, and log lots of miles on. It will be my one of a kind, and the more I think about it, the period correct 105 'Golden Arrow' group will compliment the color of the bike even better than the newer 105 parts that had originally been destined for it. As far as the Schwinn - I've made some good memories on it, but I know it's time to move on to a better fitting frame that will better allow me to make the next year's memories even better.

duane041

C'mon man, finish that bike!!!!!
Looks great, and will look even better once the clear is applied; really brings out the metallic.

Oh, by the way, I hear ya on the "photo doesn't do it justice" idea. Same with mine. they sparkle in person, and look 'dead' on a digital camera.

And if you are looking for a 58-60cm frame, I'll keep my eyes peeled for something. I'd love to just do a bike and send it to you, and let YOU find someplace to store it (I have 5 bikes now, and live in a 1-bedroom apartment). As a matter of fact, I may have something that might work. Hmmmmmmm

cuda2k

lol, my fiancee is going to think she married a mad man when she shows up and I have 3+ bikes hanging around the apartment! lol. The game plan for this bike has shifted a bit since I managed to call dibs on the Shimano Golden Arrow parts that sydney had dangled in front of my eyes. I'd been on the look out for more of that group since I first saw the downtube shifters. I had to pass on a Shogun a few weeks ago with the Arabesque Shimano 600 group so couldn't let this get past me. The subtle gold/bronze colored accents on the crank/detrailluers and downtube shifters should really compliment the blue color perfectly.

And as I said - the only problem now is what to do with the newer 7/8sp Shimano group I now have sitting around? Can't let that go on for too long now can I? So currently looking for a lugged steel mid/late 80's frame with the brazed on shifter bosses for downtube shifters and 700c wheels. My friend is giving me a 105 8speed indexed shifter set to go with the rest of the group. As far as color... donno yet.

cuda2k

** UPDATE 11/5 **

Decals went on today. All I have to say is WOW. It's starting to look like a completed frame! Mswantak, thank you again for the wonderful set of decals you produced for me. The other two riders who were at the house with me today when I was putting them on are both likely to be calling you up in the near future for some work. The silver script decal on the top tube and the head tube look so perfect on the blue paint. The downtube decals in white stand out very nicely as well. I do have to confess that I managed to get one side of the downtube decals just slightly lower than the other, and both are just slightly low to the center line of the tube. Not so much that it looks wrong, but enough that one could notice if they looked at it long enough. Perhaps I'm just being a perfectionist. I put a coat of clear over the decals and the rest of the frame today, and I'll probably want to put one more coat on before I say it's done. Sorry, no photos of it tonight as I forgot my camera at home, but I do hope to have more photos by next weekend.

cuda2k

Bump for new Photos! Check out the original post for photos of the completed fork with front brake installed. My Cinelli handlebars are coming from the U.K. so it may be a bit more than a week for them to arrive as they are being shipped Monday. So, next weekend she should be 90% completed, and may even put on my old stem and bars just long enough to take it out for a spin.

mswantak

Cripes -- aren't you gonna clean that thing up before you put it together?

<grin, duck & run>

italianbiker

hey that looks really sharp. i hope mine will come out that good. did u use stripper or hand sand???

cuda2k

Sanded it. 120 grit then 320 grit. 2 coats of primer - sanded with 320 grit between each coat of primer.

lol @ mswantak. yeah, I should have taken my time with it huh?

cuda2k

Update time at the Barracuda Mk. I Thread.

First up - Sunday is going to be final prep on the paint (ie a little bit of wetsanding, a little rubbing compound, and some wax if the temps permit. I'm also beginning the build on Sunday if time allows. I'll be taking photos of the completed frame with decals pre-build for mswantak as well as photos after the build is completed. My Cinelli handlebars are still in transit as I won them on ebay late Saturday evening and they are coming from England and doubt shipping is going to get them to me by this weekend.

Secondly - not sure if I mentioned this before, but unfortunately the brakes that luker was so kind to sell me are not going to work out as the reach is a bit short and I do not feel like attempting to modify the brake arms to get a bit more reach. For the time being I'll be using Tektro dual-pivot long reach brakes (Nashbar branded) till a 'normal' reach brake comes along. Never fear - I'm keeping the beautiful Shimano 600EX short reach brakes to go with my 'other' Shimano 105 group that I have around waiting for a frame.

Third - I don't know who in Cinelli's cork wrap department thought it would be a good idea to include BLACK plastic end caps with their white cork wrap, but they did. I like the Cinelli logo on the endcaps, so I'm breaking out the silver paint this weekend and painting the raised logo silver to stand out even more against the black. Make the best of a less than favorable situation.

-- Jon

italianbiker

your bike is comming along real nice. i'm also in the process of repainting mine. should be done in a few weeks i imagine.

i see that you layed down one coat of clear coat before the decals, then a few more on top of the decals. may i ask why??? how many coats of paint are on your bike??
and also for further ref. what was the total cost of supplies approx. that u spent for the repaint.

looks great