I found this poor beast at a garage sale. What you see is all there was. I probably should have walked on, but it made me sad to see this poor, dismembered Krate that was once someone's pride and joy when it was new. The guy thought he was sitting on gold, telling me that complete bikes fetch $3,000. OK, Buddy. Calm down. You're delusional. I know I can salvage some pieces from it. My question to my fellow CABERS - Question 1 - Is there any way to remove the neon pink from the frame without taking the orange paint underneath along with it? Question 2 - Is it worth trying to remove the pink paint, or should this JD Orange Krate be relegated to being repainted? If the answer to Question 2 is YES (remove the paint), what are your suggestions for the best paint removal option/product to do the job? Thanks very much!
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Garage sale find - sort of...
- Thread starter WCBL
- Start date
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nick tures
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
I would try some good laquer thinner and go easy it might go right to orange you never know, depending on what they painted it with. I have used paint stripper that’s a pain it does work sometimes, I would try that and see, I would have bought it to, good luck on the project
Schwinn Sales West
I live for the CABE
I think you would be best to find a couple of additional "parts bikes" before you make any choices.
You need a decent silkscreened chainguard. Depending on the chain guard paint condition that will determine the new color for the frame.
You need the additional parts bikes for the chrome parts and the missing wheels. If you buy everything separately, you will be into it for a fortune.
Even the parts assemblies you have are still robbed of many small parts like the spring fork and Krate seat parts.
The repaints usually come off of the original baked-on factory paint jobs because the previous owners seldom take the time to properly prep the surface for the new paint. IMO, the paint removal is the least of the problem.
Media Blast takes care of the paint and the rust. Epoxy prime very soon after it's blasted to stop the new rust forming.
John
You need a decent silkscreened chainguard. Depending on the chain guard paint condition that will determine the new color for the frame.
You need the additional parts bikes for the chrome parts and the missing wheels. If you buy everything separately, you will be into it for a fortune.
Even the parts assemblies you have are still robbed of many small parts like the spring fork and Krate seat parts.
The repaints usually come off of the original baked-on factory paint jobs because the previous owners seldom take the time to properly prep the surface for the new paint. IMO, the paint removal is the least of the problem.
Media Blast takes care of the paint and the rust. Epoxy prime very soon after it's blasted to stop the new rust forming.
John
Andrew Gorman
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Goof Off graffiti remover is my first step. Works pretty slowly and doesn't seem to affect factory or "good" paint quickly.
Sped Man
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
It would cost more to restore with original correct parts than it would cost to buy an original one on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. I recently saw a 1969 Lemon Peeler in near mint condition for $1600. Hopefully you didn't pay much for it. This is what happened to me several weeks ago. I tried savaging a lemon peeler. After spending millions I ended up with a nice $1100 Lemon Peeler 
I have to agree with you, @Sped Man . I spent just under $100 on it. The chrome and the ‘68 shifter are rusty, but I’m working on getting them looking presentable. The shifter, frame, crank/sprocket and fork parts should get my money back, but my dreams of resurrecting it from the dead are gone. It was pretty darn rough with too many missing, expensive parts. I still have no regrets about buying it. I just couldn’t leave it there.
