# Oxalic Acid - Resurrecting a 1941 Schwinn Cadillac!



## David Larson (Mar 24, 2019)

I teased about this video in a thread last year - here is the finished product! This took quite a bit of work and time to put together - let me know what you think and if you have any questions!

Here is the link to the video on YouTube:


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## ricobike (Mar 24, 2019)

Having been through this process, as many here have, I can say that I never would have had the patience to document it as you have.  All of my focus was on getting it done right.  Fantastic job on the restore and even more so on the documentation!


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## OhioJones (Mar 24, 2019)

David Larson said:


> I teased about this video in a thread last year - here is the finished product! This took quite a bit of work and time to put together - let me know what you think and if you have any questions!
> 
> Here is the link to the video on YouTube:
> 
> ...



Nice job. Bike looks absolutely wonderful. And your video was well done. Kudos.


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## GTs58 (Mar 24, 2019)

Not only are you good, you're damn fast! Excellent vid and resurrection on the Cadillac. 



Maybe now some will learn and do the OA soak like you did. Lots of OA and a much shorter soak time. IMO soaking for 24 hours or even longer can't be good for the remaining finishes in the long run.


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## mymikesbikes (Mar 25, 2019)

That was awesome, thank you


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## New Mexico Brant (Mar 25, 2019)

Great video David; I really like your music as well. Please keep making tunes and videos!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## SJ_BIKER (Mar 25, 2019)

I have a question on the frame polishing with the power tool....howd you do that without marring/burning the paint? explain the process please...looks like it was a great method.


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## bricycle (Mar 25, 2019)

Nice results, usually Red bikes don't come out that good. (well)


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## OhioJones (Mar 25, 2019)

Would also like to know more about the polishing method you used. What kind of compound? If you could lay it out for us, it would be much appreciated.


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Mar 25, 2019)

Great conservation!
I usually cut the linseed oil with a little bit of lacquer thinner. It adheres to the paint, better, and doesn’t leave too much skin.
Be sure to either burn the rag or lay it out in the sun to dry. I learned the hard way, having one catch on fire....


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## BFGforme (Mar 27, 2019)

Loved the video! It gave me the balls to actually do this....


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## David Larson (Mar 28, 2019)

SJ_BIKER said:


> I have a question on the frame polishing with the power tool....howd you do that without marring/burning the paint? explain the process please...looks like it was a great method.





I have polished original paint on many cars and bikes from the teens-2000's, so I was very careful to start off. But I was really happy to see how durable this old (probably lead-based) paint was. There were a couple areas where I slightly burned through to the red primer. It was almost inevitable - either I had to leave the area hazy looking, or I was going to shine it up and burn through a little bit. I chose the latter.
The paint in those areas was half work through to start with. 


The process in detail: wet sanded with 800 grit sandpaper. Then I wet buffed with 3M #1 compound. I believe I finished with #2 compound (not shown in video). Then I wash off the frame to remove any residue. I dried it off then applied boiled linseed oil. After that was half dry, I wiped off the excess. 
Honestly this made a huge mess lol... Even though I did wet sanding and wet buffing, I wore a mask because dust got everywhere. There was also a mess of pink/red stain from oxidized buffed paint all over the floor. Wear a shirt you aren't afraid of destroying.

Way more work than I hope it would be, and way harder than buffing a car honestly... But it was worth it with this bike. Maybe not monetarily "worth it", but it's nice to know this process can bring back something that was as rough as this bike was!


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## Mitt25 (Mar 30, 2019)

Amazing transformation!!


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