1950's Bike Restoration

I love garage sales.  And by "love" I actually mean I'm totally obsessed and go almost every Saturday morning in the summer.  Sure, some days I come away with nothing but bags under my eyes... but other days I find GOLD.  Pure gold.

One of the amazing gems I found was this charming 1950's bike.  It was $25 and came with a lovely story.  The older woman selling the bike had been riding it since she was in high school and rode it up until a couple of years ago.  This woman is now 80 years old (and quite possibly the sweetest woman on the planet).  I gladly shelled out $25, stuffed the bike in my car, and crossed my fingers that my husband could help me restore it.

The bike was in surprisingly good shape for being over 70 years old!  A few rust spots and the paint was chipping in a few little places, but all in all it looked great!

Now, this isn't a tutorial (sorry), but I will say this was a relatively simple project but I will warn you that it was time consuming.  My husband took about a million pictures of the bike before and while he took it apart.  He labeled everything with what it was, where it went, which end was front, etc.

Next came stripping off the old paint.  I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful brother who has a sand blaster at work, so he helped get all the paint off in less than an hour.  You could do this with a sander too - just be prepared for a little more work.

Finally it was time to prime it then paint it!  I picked the pink because, well... I love pink.  We used a heavy-duty metal primer, indoor/outdoor paint, and several coats of a sealer so the paint is less likely to chip.

Here's my favorite part:

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut flames out of white adhesive vinyl, stuck it on, and covered with more sealer.

My sweet hubby put the bike back together (he said it was easy since he had taken so many pics and labeled everything so well!).  We cleaned up the handle bars and de-greased the chain and chain guard. I think it looks fantastic!

To give it a test drive, we rode on a local bike trail a few miles for dinner.  It was really fun and I LOVE my new bike!!

Moral of the story.... you never know what you'll find at a garage sale.  Don't be afraid to take on a fun project like this one!