My 36 La Salle Rat Project...

[Jaypem]

I feel a bit silly posting this right on top of that awesome Bluebird resto thread, but here it is just the same !
This is my first "rat" build and I am totally hooked !

Started with this house paint blue La Salle...

 

[Jaypem]

Threw a few odds and ends together for a brief Klunker faze...

Dove in with the sandpaper, hoping to find some original paint under there...no luck.
There is a nice sea green paint under the blue, but no sign of any striping or details. I think it was taken down to bare metal at some point.
Anyway, I ended up with a two tone green and blue sanded down finish with alot of bare metal, which I've decided to keep and add some faux detailing to...which is where I am presently at with the project !

 

[CrazyDave]

Very cool! My grandfather loved the cars of the same namesake and had 40's....sweet bike, unique and good lookin! Don't worry about that bluebird, if I spent that kinda $ on something with wheels it is gonna say "JEEP" on it!

 

[the tinker]

Your brief clunker faze could turn out to be anything but brief. Don't feel funny about following the Blue bird post.
The biggest mistake a new hobbyist can make [even if the funds are unlimited] is jumping into an expensive bike first off.
There are lots of bikes out there to buy and the sellers either through their own miss-information or sometimes down right deceit can leave you feeling pretty low after the deal is done.
The neat thing about having a clunker is it's hard to make a mistake. It is whatever you want it to be. No one can walk up to it at a show and say,"You know this isn't the correct wheels on this, and these fenders are for a different year...blah ..blah .... blah..."
Best of all a couple years down the line you could take that same bike and make it look like it did when new.
Make the errors on this bike.You are the only one who will know. Have fun and welcome to the Cabe.

 

[Jaypem]

Thanks for the kind words!
Got a few more pics to post..couple of the items that got me inspires

Peaked fenders on a Schwinn? ?
Sure, why not !
Not sure what these are off of, but the crusty blue/green looks just right with the old paint on the frame. Plus the orange details have helped me sort out my color scheme..

 

[Jaypem]

Next I found a groovy pair of wrap around bars and picked up this Torrington deco neck from a bike friend.. (who also had these mini coke bottle grips !)

Tried out my detail idea on the bars first.

 

[Jaypem]

accidental double post...sorry

 

[spoker]

looks like a great and fun learning tool,great to see ppl try things and find out how to do stuff

 

[Jaypem]

Here are some more pics.
Taping off my details, getting the first coats of paint...

Using metal alkyd house paint..brushing it on to get texture when I sand between layers

Brown first, then white, then orange. Hoping to come up with something similar to the fenders...

 

[Jaypem]

Here are the forks...

10-18Kustoms was kind enough to give me some pointers on making a gooseneck post..