# '72 Twinn Restoration Project: Complete!



## spylab (Oct 23, 2012)

In the spring of 2011 I picked up a '72 Twinn... one of those bucket list bikes that isn't all that rare, but I had ALWAYS wanted. This one was PERFECT; all original, 100% complete, with every part showing all 40 years of its age.

My idea was simple: a resto-mod project to preserve all the original character and original parts, with detail work to push it way beyond what the bike ever was or could have been. I worked on it as the resources became available, and a couple months ago finally finished it. I held my tongue, though, until I could give it a proper photo shoot (having phenomenal photographer friends is a huge plus!)

So without further adieu, an abridged journey to completion!  Full gallery is viewable at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100302060330715.2356265.24400298&type=3


As purchased, in all its Campus Green and Rust glory:








Freshly sandblasted:







Painted Volvo Orange Flame Metallic:







I didn't want to use water-slides, as you can see the halo of the clear on them. I also didn't want to do the graphics in vinyl, as it can peel up, or worse get lint caught in all the edges. So I re-drew all the original graphics down to the millimeter and cut reverse stencils from paint mask vinyl, and decided to spray the graphics on the bike:












Had 'a few' parts nickel chrome plated...







Very exciting day... found a guy who had not one but TWO identical pairs of New Old Stock bow pedals, still in the boxes!







Forget the dumpy vinyl Mesinger seats. I wanted to push the limits here, and did just that. Rodger Pisani at Creative Auto Interiors of Butler, NJ was a pure magician, and hand-stitched the pair of seats, including a blind stitch on the teardrop (which is two separate materials, NOT painted!). I silkscreened the Schwinn S's on there, but the seats are just DREAMY:


----------



## spylab (Oct 23, 2012)

And with that, assembly begins!






(when I said I had 'a few' parts chromed, I meant EVERYTHING)






AND THE FINAL RESULT:
Photography by Mike Marmora of Hoboken, NJ http://www.michaelmarmora.com


----------



## spylab (Oct 23, 2012)




----------



## Metacortex (Oct 26, 2012)

That bike is incredible! I had no idea that Twinns had fillet-brazed frames until I saw your pic of the frame sandblasted. Really awesome work you've done here.

I'd be interested in hearing the details about the painting, stenciling and chroming process (vendor, costs, procedures, etc.) if you are willing to share. Did you stencil and paint the seat tube decal? How exactly were the stencils cut? Was everything clearcoated? Did the chroming of everything cause any problems with bolt threads or the fitting of bearing cups, cones, brake arms, etc.?


----------



## MR D (Oct 27, 2012)

That's a honey of a project. I mean everything you've had done looks perfect...even the pictures!

You should be proud of the work you have into it. All the way, and over the top.


----------



## Hb Twinn (Oct 27, 2012)

*what a perfect job*

That is one good looking Twinn. Fantastic job.


----------



## Buster1 (Oct 27, 2012)

Remarkable, nice job!  What kind of bike stand is that?


----------



## spylab (Oct 30, 2012)

Thanks for tuning in and for the kind words. Sorry for the delayed response; it's been a very interesting past couple of days here in New Jersey, as I am sure y'all can assume.

On to the questions:

@metacortex:

I have to admit that I cheated quite a bit as far as cost figures are concerned. With a brother and father in the auto body industry and a very close friend one of the top antique boat restorers in the country, I had a very helping hand with the paint and chrome costs.

The paint is a straight-up automotive finish. Primer, base coats of Volvo Orange Flame Metallic and several shots of clear coat. My brother was working for Mercedes-Benz of Morristown at the time and had their top painter do the work.

I was my own 'connection' on the stenciling process. I am a graphic designer by trade, and work for a sign company. I was able to scan the chain guard and take reference photos of the top tube to re-create the badging accurately and correctly in Adobe Illustrator. The seat tube decal is New Old Stock... the lettering is too small for an accurate stencil cut in vinyl, and would have posed too many problems that a NOS waterslide decal would not. I cut the graphics at work using a roll of Avery Paint Mask film and a Graphtec plotter, which is specially designed to hold a clean edge, prevent paint runs and most importantly remove cleanly. Before sandblasting I measured and documented the exact positions of every piece of badging, and when I cut the stencils made bounding boxes that provided my alignment edges to ensure that the painted graphics would be in the same spot as the originals. The graphics were purposely painted after the orange was painted and clear coated... firstly to allow some forgiveness if I made a mistake and had to remove the white paint without damaging the orange, and second to provide a contrast in the level of gloss between the bike and the graphics as a detail element. Honestly, I painted them with Rustolem spray paint; coverage is good, durability is good and the process is way less of a hassle than automotive.

Chrome plating was done by Mara Chrome Plating & Polishing in Newark NJ via a personal connection who uses them for numerous boat restoration projects. The big warning I got up front is to make sure the metal is ready-to-go before Mara gets it, and give them notes on any special pieces. They take a while to turn around product and have been known to bypass proper metal prep procedures on metal not plate-ready, so I was sure to strip all pieces with a wire wheel and clean it with a metal cleaner. They really did a fantastic job masking all threaded pieces to prevent binding on assembly...none of the actual threads were plated, which is hugely advantageous as a nickel-chrome plate is more than thick enough to pose a devastating challenge trying to nut and bolt elements together. The end result went together in less than 4 hours total with absolutely no issues whatsoever.



@buster1:

It is a Park Tool PRS-15 work stand. I used a seat post from an unfinished Apple Krate project to give myself a good clamp point (since the Twinn posts are much much shorter) and the stand has been my mainstay for years now. Worth every penny and then some.


----------



## Boris (Oct 30, 2012)

You did an absolutely phenomenal job on your bike. It's drop dead gorgeous!!!!!! Thanks for all the photos along the way. This one goes in my photo file of great bikes!


----------



## racoop81 (Oct 30, 2012)

Stunning! But I have to admit that I'm drooling over your garage even more than the bike!


----------



## vincev (Oct 31, 2012)

Stunning bike! I notice your in Joisey,I hope you avoided all the flooding?


----------



## spylab (Oct 31, 2012)

vincev said:


> Stunning bike! I notice your in Joisey,I hope you avoided all the flooding?




Though I am in the northwest part of NJ and avoided all the flooding many of my friends endured down by the shore and out in Jersey City and Hoboken, the wind did not spare us much in regards to trees. It's like a war zone out there.


----------



## Freqman1 (Oct 31, 2012)

Sweet tandem. I have one exactly like your first pic! All I did to mine was clean it and grease it though. V/r Shawn


----------

