# The Ugly Blue bike ---well No more



## Blackout

This was dubbed the Ugly blue bike when I bought it from Mike (prewarbikes4sale) last year. I was not going to post that I purchased this bike but after cleaning it thought I would share. I was looking (and still am for a Indian) with the flared front fender but when Mike posted this I pounced on it not knowing what laid beneath the Ugly blue paint just because of the front fender basically. After many hours (and beer) this is the results below, the front rim was damaged pretty bad and am still trying to fix that because of the original paint.
as pictured in Mikes ad Pope Barnes Westfield badged








got it home just threw a saddle on and let it sit till this week


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## Blackout

removed badge white under it OK must be some darts started to clean


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## Blackout

cool reverse darts on seat downtube


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## Blackout

still more to go but as it is now just so happy with what was under the Ugly Blue


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## fordmike65

Yowsa that looks great!!! Can't believe some one would paint over that!


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## bikewhorder

That's amazing, what was your paint removal technique?  My attempts with "goof off" have only been moderately successful.


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## catfish

WOW! I love when the orginal paint can be saved like this. Great job!


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## Iverider

Va va voooooom!


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## willswares1220

That bike sure looks great so far and your very meticulous in your work!
How on earth did you carefully strip that ugly layer of paint off without destroying the original paint??
What type of chemicals did you use and what were the separate operations or steps that you took? 
I hope you don't mind sharing with us fellow bicycle nuts here on The Cabe!


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## Blackout

Thanks Guys long process !



bikewhorder said:


> That's amazing, what was your paint removal technique?  My attempts with "goof off" have only been moderately successful.




as for removal goof off pro strength did it 3 1/2 cans so far, had heavy duty goof off but  would not touch it, tried oven cleaner that I cleaned up my Ivorine with would not touch it, different top paints apparently, and used white clothes so I knew when I was biting into original color have around 40 hours in it so far.


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## HIGGINSFOREVER

Never would have believed that was under there.Looks fantastic


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## fordsnake

That's amazing...job well done!


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## rockabillyjay

WOW..now that's amazing. What a great bike...


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## vincev

NICE! Keep going!


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## Freqman1

This kinda reminds me of my house painted Robin in a lovely blue and yellow! It took about three weeks, a lot of Goof Off, rags, and a layer of skin but I was amazed out how well it came out. I'm glad you saved this one I really dig that paint job and it is a sweet bike. Congrats! V/r Shawn


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## Rusty2wheels

Wow!  You have the patience of a saint!  I need to send you my bluebird and let you work your magic on it.  It was covered with latex house paint and I have used half a gallon of goof off and its working, just taking forever.


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## DonChristie

Amazing! That has gone from friggin ugly to beautiful! Nice job!


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## mercrod

Bike looks good. 40 hours are your fingers ok?

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Tapatalk


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## Oldnut

Wow what a home run.seems like that old blue paint preserved the bike.love those motobikes-


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## tailhole

Beautiful bike, fantastic job getting that pretty blue paint off.  It's very inspiring!


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## 66TigerCat

Killer job ! Can't wait to see it completed.


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## oldspoke

Wow ! One hell of a "save" ! That bike really looks great ! I have a Orient chainless that some fool
painted black. You can see the original orange crimson paint peeking through. I have been staring at it for over 
10 years - frightened . I have wondered if the previous owner of my bike roughed the original paint up so his 
over spray would stick.


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## cyclingday

Outstanding!
 Just think of all the guys that passed on this bike, because they could not see the potential underneath that blue layer of amateur paint.
 I'll bet you could hardly contain your excitement when you exposed that first dart. Almost like the couple that unearthed those cans of gold coins in their backyard.
Well maybe not in the same league, but, I definitely think that you have struck some gold with that little gem.


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## bikewhorder

Oh I think I see why I've struggled to remove paint on my own projects, all this time I've been using "Handi Off" instead of "goof off"!

 [video=youtube;KjJ5xolc6GE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjJ5xolc6GE[/video]


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## Cory

I am so impressed right now. I cant wait to try this on a old bike. I have used it many many times on modern bikes to great success. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I527 using Tapatalk


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## olderthandirt

*would never had believed it was ?*

possible to find such great paint underneath ! a truly fantastic save


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## Terry66

Nice man.....I really enjoying seeing bikes that appear too far gone being brought back to original. Something about original paint.......


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## Flat Tire

wow thats just incredible......and I know yer a happy camper!...Last time I tried that all I found was traces of pinstripes and a few patches of orignal paint, and thought to myself 'no wonder they repainted it!" - Nice to see all yer work paid off...


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## Hubs-n-Spokes

Stellar job! Your hard work has paid off big time!


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## bricycle

Wow, wow, wow, wow!!!! did I say WOW!? yikes! amazing!!!!!!


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## wrongway

Wow!! Those darts or arrows!! WOW!!


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## rickyd

*hmmmmmm*

First congrats on a job well done. Second congrats on drawing us in with photo progression.  Third thanks for explaining technique. Lastly thanks for inspiration maybe I will try the western flyer. Rick


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## filmonger

Verrrry Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!


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## chitown

*Pope???*

Amazing bike and amazing job rescuing the paint!

Does anyone else think that looks like a Schwinn fork? Are the top and lower horizontal tubes the same diameter?

Was the crank stamped?


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## prewarbikes4sale

Great Job Russ!


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## Blackout

*Thanks for all the + comments*

I never figured there would be this much paint left on this.



chitown said:


> Amazing bike and amazing job rescuing the paint!
> 
> Does anyone else think that looks like a Schwinn fork? Are the top and lower horizontal tubes the same diameter?
> 
> Was the crank stamped?




top bars are same dia.
no stamping on crank

heres a pic of the headbadge





got the front rim somewhat back in shape also. enough to use for display anyway seen how it has the og paint on it





soaked damaged part of rim in water then clamped up




added a metal brace also so it would have more support to stay where it is (for display screw heads will not matter but may grind them some anyway)




need to figure out what grips would have been on it there is wood that is pinned in the handle bars will get a pic camera bat. is dead


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## bricycle

...hey nice job on the wheel mend.


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## 66TigerCat

How long did you need to soak the wood rim before attempting to straighten it ?


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## Blackout

66TigerCat said:


> How long did you need to soak the wood rim before attempting to straighten it ?




think I had in maybe a hour did put some glue in cracks before clamping, also let it dry for 2+ days before I unclamped it, did kick back a little so if ever a next time may over clamp a little in other direction to allow for kickback instead of clamping flush like I did but guess its a gamble either way.


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## willswares1220

I like a guy that takes pride in his work!! 

  ( another bike saved for the future.......)


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## Lawrence Ruskin

So I tried to use goof off on some spray paint, and it worked poorly, So I went back to the paint store and they told me goof off was meant for latex paint which, I think was the kind on your bike, What do you guys think, I need to get this spray paint off my pin stripes.


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## velo-vecchio

Man your post is burning up this forum - and with reason. Nice job! It must be so rewarding to have gone through the labor. Have you figured out what year it is?


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## bikewhorder

crash said:


> think I had in maybe a hour did put some glue in cracks before clamping, also let it dry for 2+ days before I unclamped it, did kick back a little so if ever a next time may over clamp a little in other direction to allow for kickback instead of clamping flush like I did but guess its a gamble either way.




Sometimes gluing wet wood with water based glues like that invites a future failure.  Not that its super critical in this case but I would recommend clamping it up and allowing it to dry thoroughly, maybe even taking a heat gun to it because even if it feels dry the moisture content can still be quite high and cause the bond to fail.  Also steam works much better for getting wood to bend.  You're not really trying to make the wood wet so much as heating the lignin in the wood which is what actually makes wood pliable.  Once it cools off it loses most of this flexibility.


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## Blackout

bikewhorder said:


> Sometimes gluing wet wood with water based glues like that invites a future failure.  Not that its super critical in this case but I would recommend clamping it up and allowing it to dry thoroughly, maybe even taking a heat gun to it because even if it feels dry the moisture content can still be quite high and cause the bond to fail.  Also steam works much better for getting wood to bend.  You're not really trying to make the wood wet so much as heating the lignin in the wood which is what actually makes wood pliable.  Once it cools off it loses most of this flexibility.




your right in that there are better ways to do this and I should have clarified that, with limited recourses  this was my fix for a og paint display rim.
This rim as stated is for display ONLY and would not recommend any kind of fix to a old wood rim to be safe for riding.


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## Blackout

pedals painted black, again protected some of the nickel






done for now, still little blue here and there in small areas but fingers are done for, stuck my best tires on it wasn't sure with the red tread kinda contrasting with the maroon but its growing on me just need to find correct grips and a darker color leather saddle.


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## markivpedalpusher

Job Well Done! I bet you have 60 - 80 hours of labor in the clean up. But it's all worth it when you're done!


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## Blackout

vintagevelo said:


> Man your post is burning up this forum - and with reason. Nice job! It must be so rewarding to have gone through the labor. Have you figured out what year it is?




Thanks to MrColumbia 's help dates to 1919-21, took along time to clean and still needs some more but has become my favorite at this point.


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## carlitos60

*Take a Look!!!*

Crash; This Saddle Will Look Good and Match the Tires Color Perfectly!!!!







$250 Shipped!


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## Nick-theCut

I must have missed this thread.  Great work Russ!  This bike is like a huge lottery ticket.  It's just a lot of blue to scratch off.  I think the tires look great, I'd love a set myself.  Congrats.


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## Mikeeebikey

*nice restoration, sorta*

I think that is one of the nicest paint removal restoration I have ever seen! Nice work.


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## chitown

*questioning date*



crash said:


> Thanks to MrColumbia 's help dates to 1919-21




Your badge say's Pope Mfg. 

Pope went bankrupt in 1915 and in 1916 reorganized as Westfield Mfg. 

So either the date is earlier or the badge isn't original to that frame. Anyone with catalog pics of this model?


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## Blackout

chitown said:


> Your badge say's Pope Mfg.
> 
> Pope went bankrupt in 1915 and in 1916 reorganized as Westfield Mfg.
> 
> So either the date is earlier or the badge isn't original to that frame. Anyone with catalog pics of this model?




interesting...... I would like to see a catalog pic. also if anyone has one

Badge is definitely no doubt original to this bike.


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## chitown

Maybe a 1916-17?

All the 1918-21 Columbia models I've seen have a double bar but it's basically the Military Model with no truss bars on the fork. I've never seen a Westfield fork like yours either.


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## fat tire trader

I have the 1917 catalog. There is no model like the ugly blue bike, so I think it is later than 17. I do not have the 18 or 19 catalog. This is from the 1920 catalog


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## Larmo63

These are close....


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## SirMike1983

Really outstanding work on the paint removal and cleaning. Doing it right is one of the most difficult restoration tasks because there are so many variables involved. This is one of the best jobs of it I've seen.


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## Blackout

SirMike1983 said:


> Really outstanding work on the paint removal and cleaning. Doing it right is one of the most difficult restoration tasks because there are so many variables involved. This is one of the best jobs of it I've seen.




Thanks took many hours and lots of patience ........ 
I am looking for one or two display stands prefer original for this bike so I can keep the original tires from flat spotting sitting around if anyone can help me out shoot me a PM


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## M & M cycle

*wow*

you did a awesome job with that bike!!


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## fordmike65

If this happens to go up for sale, please keep me in mind. Just what I'm looking for. Thanks,Mike


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## cds2323

fordmike65 said:


> If this happens to go up for sale, please keep me in mind. Just what I'm looking for. Thanks,Mike





Mike,
This was posted in the for sale section on 11-10-16. Just bumped again today.


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## fordmike65

cds2323 said:


> Mike,
> This was posted in the for sale section on 11-10-16. Just bumped again today.



I know, but as a lot of all his 28" bikes. Can't swing that, so wanted to show interest in case he decides to break it up


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## cds2323

fordmike65 said:


> I know, but as a lot of all his 28" bikes. Can't swing that, so wanted to show interest in case he decides to break it up




Best of luck. He's a really good guy to deal with. If he does but won't ship, I'm about 30 miles away and could help ship. Give him a call and see.


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## hoofhearted

chitown said:


> *Pope???*
> 
> Amazing bike and amazing job rescuing the paint!
> 
> Does anyone else think that looks like a Schwinn fork? Are the top and lower horizontal tubes the same diameter?
> 
> Was the crank stamped?





*Diggin' this Schwinn-Built !!

Trumpet-mouth fittings fore and aft
on a one-inch o.d. undertank tube ...
AND the fore trumpet-mouth aggres-
sively placed within the headtube /
downtube junction ....

WOW --- just beautiful !!

Now ... about that chainring ... Miami ...
Hudson, specifically.

As much as I think the ring looks kool 
on this machine ... I would find a more
appropriate ring.

Am keyboardin' on wife's 'puter ... do not
have access to my picture-folder, but I 
believe a Schwinn, 6-torpedo ring from 
the era of 1916 thru 1918 may be appropriate.

Am really in murky water when it comes to i.d. 
of the possible era of the ride.

Generally ... that bicycle design would be near-
impossible to find, again -- as a Schwinn-Built.

Sheeza beauty .........

....... patric*


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## tripple3

for sale here http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/28-nice-og-paint.100824/#post-656844


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## Harold (Pete) Allen

I have a ugly blue bike and I just bought a can of Pro Strength Goof Off to try.  Mine is supposed to be red with white darts and head,  Thanks for the info.


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