# 1987 Mongoose Decade



## KurseD

Had an 87 Malibu Mint Mongoose Decade when I was a kid, it was stolen from me in Daytona Beach in the late 90s. I'm 33 now with 3 kids of my own. (6 & 7 year old girls, 7 month old boy). Plan on doing a resto on this one for the kids to use. They're psyched about it and will get to help some too. The girls are already arguing over who gets it, so I had to lay down the law "It's DADDY'S bike, but he'll share it with you guys." HAHA. I'm VERY busted up (knees, hips, feet) from 2 tours in Iraq as a turret gunner, so I can't really freestyle anymore, but I'd just as much enjoy watching them have fun with it. I can't believe I snagged this thing for $40 on eBay. Looks like the original Malibu Mint under a crap white rattle can job.

Parts it came with:
- No Name Crank, Chain ring, and Peddles.
- OG Dia Compe Brakes.
- Tektro Anodized Blue Levers
- Diamond Back Seat
- ACS Rotor (These weren't OG for decades were they?)
- Skyway OE Rims.
- 2 Spinner Pegs
- OG Frame, Forks, Bars, and Seat Post / Clamp

Planned parts
- White Dominator Seat from Porkchop's
- White Resin (NoName?) Pedals
- White Mushroom Grips
- White Cable Kit
- White Skinwall Street Treads

Dunno about the rest. I'm TOTALLY new to the bike building scene guys. Any suggestions, feel free to chime in. I've changed plenty of tires, chains, etc. But other than that, I just rode the crud out of them BITD. Man this thing bring back some memories!

























So I tried salvaging the OG paint, no luck. After trying some "Motsenbockers Lift-Off" graffiti remover, then "Easy Off Oven Cleaner", lastly "Citrus Strip" and NONE of the above took a dang bit of the white spray bomb off, I give up. I'll bead blast then color match and respray.

Before paint strip experiment-O




After paint strip experiment-O


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## macr0w

Nice. 

Good save on that.

I can't wait to see it restored.


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## KurseD

I can't wait to get it restored! I just missed a decade frame/forks and a dyno frame/forks by a few minutes today. Both for $10


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## KurseD

Took some parts to the shop and sand blasted them. Also got some paint mixed up. Closest thing I could find in the chip book. I don't know if anyone will want to use the codes or not, but here they are.

NASON "FUL-BASE"
845939 IF
CAS 6182
ATLAS GREEN

I don't think it would work for touching up over original paint, but in my case for a total repaint, it should be close enough.


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## KurseD

Couple more hours in the shop. Wire wheeled ALL the decals off  finished blasting the forks, bars, and front brake. frame is about 95% complete. 

While I was blasting the 8 layers of white, silver, and black off the seat post clamp, I came across something interesting. Seems someone switched it out? Hi-Caliber seat clamps were usually a Hutch thing weren't they? Did they ever come on decades???


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## macr0w

That thing is going to look sweet.

Good job


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## KurseD

Finished blasting the frame today. Looks so nice and clean it's almost a shame to paint over it. 










Drop outs are a little beat up. Nothing big, just some gouging I got a trick for that too 










Got the head badge off pretty easy. It has too posts sticking out from the back side. They go through the head tube and are a little smooshed / mushroomed on the inside of the head tube to hold it tight. I just cut them down a hair with a die grinder and pecked it off gently. I'll use some adhesive to put it back on when done. It's got some scrapes and gouges too. Someone painted over the factory hot pink with a dark blue.


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## KurseD

Some Lacquer Thinner, some Q-Tips, and a little elbow grease along with some child labor. BAM, clean head badge. Oh yeah. rubbed a little "Mothers Aluminooninium Polish" on it too.







The silver spots in the pink were actually previous damage. The crappy blue paint came off pretty easy. Think I will leave the battle scars and scrapes as is. Adds personality. I might try to touch up the pink a little, haven't decided yet.


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## Uniblab

I love it when people photo-document their projects! Keep on keeping on


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## KurseD

Thanks man, the feedback helps a lot.


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## KurseD

Didn't get too much accomplished today. I got the old tires and tubes off of the rims. Took the axles out. Touched up the head badge with some nail polish.

Not perfect, but better than silver for sure.


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## Uniblab

You done got your nails did? You go gurl!


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## KurseD

The more I look at it, the less happy with the nail polish I am... I went by the local hobby shop and spotted some "Panther Pink" model paint that matched pretty dang close. I think I'm going to take the nail polish off and give the model paint a try. Anyone else want to chime in with an idea?


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## Uniblab

KurseD said:


> The more I look at it, the less happy with the nail polish I am... I went by the local hobby shop and spotted some "Panther Pink" model paint that matched pretty dang close. I think I'm going to take the nail polish off and give the model paint a try. Anyone else want to chime in with an idea?




"The more I look at it, the less happy with the nail polish *I am*..." Sounds like someone is a fan of Bigfoot from Howie's show LOL

From one modeller to another, before repainting (and before stripping the paint) you might want to try using some Scotchbrite wrapped onto a block to smooth out the sanded surfaces (I noticed scratches). Then polish this with a buffing wheel if you have one (a Dremel tool is a good substitute). This will give a much sharper appearance once repainted as all the unpainted areas will shine like Bender's metal buttocks.

*Leave the areas you want to paint with a rough finish for good adhesion* Be sure to degrease the entire badge after polishing for the same reason...lacquer thinner or acetone should suffice.

You could also try thinning out model paint and letting it flow into the various sections. As long as you don't thin it out too much and don't apply too much it should dam up against those separating walls. Do one color at a time and allow it a day or so to dry before moving onto the next. After all is dry you may want to bake it in an oven for a bit...only use an oven other than the main one lest you suffer the wrath of Hon!! One of those old skool toaster ovens is ideal....just make sure that the part has dried enough to the point that it's no longer outgassing and that you do this preferably outdoors or in a well ventilated area.


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## KurseD

The "Scratches" were actually my fingerprint lines in it... I started goofing around pushing on the nail polish as I had a feeling I was going to end up re-doing it...

It's really impossible to see from the pics but the nail polish was very metallic whereas the original paint was strictly solid.

I picked up the model paint today. Should get time to give it a try tomorrow. Will post update with pics then.


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## KurseD

HUGE thanks to "*Hrkhotrods*" from the bmxmuseum for the trade. Really cool part was it got us BOTH one step closer to our childhood bikes. 

Traded the high caliber clamp for:
-Decade seat post clamp
-Dia-Compe 128 Levers
-Tioga Compact Disk







Other than that, haven't had time to work on it this week. I did start cleaning the rims. Just toooooo dang tired to finish. Will finish them up tomorrow hopefully and post pics.


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## KurseD

Haven't had much time to work on anything. I did start cleaning the mags. So far I have the rear cleaned with soft scrub and soaking in bleach water overnight. I'll post some after pics of it tomorrow when it comes out of it's bath.

Before




Comparison shots. After soft scrub cleaning on left, before clean on right.







Age spots




Couple shots showing the brake rub. Still working on that.







Bathing in bleach water over night.


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## Uniblab

That's outstanding....never heard using bleach on aluminum, will have to try that sometime.


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## KurseD

Uniblab said:


> That's outstanding....never heard using bleach on aluminum, will have to try that sometime.




The mags are actually a composite resin. Like a plastic. I wouldn't try it on aluminum. I actually coated ALL the metal parts in Vaseline to protect them from the bleach.


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## KurseD

Some more progress on the mags today. Finished the bleach bath on the rear and rubbed some of the brake rub off with a razor blade. The humungous cyst on my wrist is keeping me from doing any more work this evening. They're still not perfectly white, but for Skyway OE mags, they're pretty dang white. I'm happy with the results.

Comparison shots.







Brake rub gone on one side.




Also finished the head badge. Not a perfect match, but again, I'm happy with it.


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## macr0w

Good Job On Those Mags.


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## KurseD

macr0w said:


> Good Job On Those Mags.




Thanks. I finished up the front one this morning. Very happy with the outcome.


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