Restoring a 1979 Spitfire

[Danny the schwinn freak]

Hey Danny so I thought it over and I decided to stay with the original paint. I went ahead and rebadged it minus the seat tube badge. The original one is still there and has a good faded look. So me and my 5yr old daughter took a few days and tore it down and parts dipped ever part and regreased it. Next weekend I'll try my shot at some polish on the frame.

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Heck yeah man! It looks amazing. That was a good call. It’s sure a beauty. I have one just like it. It’s one of my favorites for sure. Super cool to do projects like that with your kids. My daughter and I built many bikes together back in the day. We still ride our schinns together almost weekly and she’s 18 now.

 

[Greenidbandit]

UPDATE; so I tried to put some polish on the frame today. When I went to wipe it off, I wiped over the new water transfer decals I put on about 5-6 days ago and messed the top tube Schwinn badge up I thought for sure by now that they would be dry enough to at least likely wipe over anyhow does anybody have any other thoughts regarding possible vinyl stickers or stencils that can actually be painted on. I had one of the thought of possibly maybe putting some clear coat over my next set of decals. Need some help guys your feedback would be greatly appreciated thanks a lot.

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

UPDATE; so I tried to put some polish on the frame today. When I went to wipe it off, I wiped over the new water transfer decals I put on about 5-6 days ago and messed the top tube Schwinn badge up I thought for sure by now that they would be dry enough to at least likely wipe over anyhow does anybody have any other thoughts regarding possible vinyl stickers or stencils that can actually be painted on. I had one of the thought of possibly maybe putting some clear coat over my next set of decals. Need some help guys your feedback would be greatly appreciated thanks a lot.

I personally haven’t had a lot of experience with water transfer decals. I either leave my bikes worn and as is or in a few cases I have had a local pinstriper hand letter them for me. It’s not cheap, but it looks great and holds up really well. I’m sure some of the other guys on here will have some good ideas involving decals. Good luck man.

 

[Xlobsterman]

Here is my original paint 79 Spitfire

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

Here is my original paint 79 Spitfire

View attachment 745694

Dayum, that’s sexy!

 

[GTs58]

UPDATE; so I tried to put some polish on the frame today. When I went to wipe it off, I wiped over the new water transfer decals I put on about 5-6 days ago and messed the top tube Schwinn badge up I thought for sure by now that they would be dry enough to at least likely wipe over anyhow does anybody have any other thoughts regarding possible vinyl stickers or stencils that can actually be painted on. I had one of the thought of possibly maybe putting some clear coat over my next set of decals. Need some help guys your feedback would be greatly appreciated thanks a lot.

Question. How long did you let the decal sit in the water?

 

[ChattyMatty]

Didn't mean to start a flame war about them not being collectible. Just meant that at least here in So Cal you can find totally complete, sharp, original bikes for what the pre-guys end up paying for a nice springer fork. 70/80's Middleweights are 'no regrets' bikes- however you build them, if you love it your way, that's great. There's nothing on a Spitfire that's so hard to find you'd sell your first born to Rumpelstiltskin for it (well ok, if you happen to find a Californa Cruiser, fine I'll grant you that one's hard and there were a couple less-than-common colors). But we've all popped onto eBay, seen that rare pre-war bit, checked the vendors other listings and it's clear they started with a totally complete creampuff and parted the whole thing out becasue the fender bob is worth more than a perfect Spit'.

Ask for 'mil spec' if you don't like you're powder thick, most quality powder shops are happy to do it thin, but lay it on fat becasue that's what people often think they want.

As for the decal issue, dealing with old decals can be tricky. Soak them just long enough for the paper to saturate then remove them from the water. If you just leave them in the water for ten minutes all the adhesive will float away. Let the decal sit out of the water for a minute or three to soften up, then when it's loose gently slide it on. You can also go to your local scale model store and get a product called "decal set" applied to the frame where the decal will go to help it adhere.

 

[Spider]

Here is my original paint 79 Spitfire

View attachment 745694

Gorgeous!

 

[Spider]

I'm interested in obtaining decals for the same bike. If anyone has a line on vinyl or water, please let me know. Good luck with the restore(s) and these bikes look great!

 

[Mondo]

View attachment 739802 Spitfire’s not collectible?? Might want to check out how many are for sale and if they are how much people want for them.

Nice collection!