Fuji Feather refurbishment

Thought to keep a record for myself and might be usefull for someone else.

Decide to bite a bullet as never ridden fixed before. Was looking for a beater to knock around. And scored this nasty boy.

Condition (after sitting in a garden for almost two years):
*stuck seatpost
*stuck quill
*rusty chain
*rusty bolts
*rusty cog
*rusty BB (shell ant threads were ok)
*paint chips rusted
*wheels seems fine (apart that they never saw cleaning and lube)

First things first. Stuck bits.
Dont have a space and and knowign how handy I am - didnt wanted to loose my sight by melting the bits. Didnt wanted to jump to a last resort anyway.
Put frame tits up. Filled fork and seat tube with penetrating oil (sprayed whole can) and left it to soak for few days. Some people reporting you should keep it for a week or two - aint nobody got time for that.
Guess what. Didnt helped a damn thing!
Use the force Luke!!!
clamped fork into vice (next to a crown to avoid fatigue) and smacked it with a rubber mallet. didnt doo nuthin. Time for heavy artillery - bigass metal hammer. few hits and I believe it moved a bit. Few more hits opposite side. started to move a bit. Thanks @Wyshniukas for helping with this one.
Seatpost was easier. it was all tatty and knackered by previous owner trying to remove it so it was a toss anyway. Squeezed into vice by seatpost itself. And used frame as a leverage. After few jiggle'wiggle moves popped out fairly quickly .

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Frame looks tidy enough.

Love these projects. My Raleigh was similar, rescued from a garden hedge, the BB and headset had been packed with marine grease, the seatpost and stem came free easy enough, but the steel wheels and drops where too far gone, new wheelset and some parts bin bits and new cables and had 5 years out of it. Only last year did i strip back the forks and parts of the frame as paint bubbling was very bad, but caught it in time, forks came up nicely and no heavy pitting elsewhere.
Goodluck with the rebuild :)

Next step. Cleaning and new parts.
Lubed and greased the shiee out of it.
gave wheels a shower.
new chainset
new bb
new chain
easton havoc bars - cut down a lot
front brake (you know - first fixed)
disassembled the wheels to give a hubs and overhaul.

Good news. Front wheel is campy hub on MA40 rim. Rear is BLB on H+S.
Bad news. Ordered track nuts - wrong size, duh.
So far looking this:

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So catched up to where I am now.
Next step - painting.

Again - no space to strip it down or use any chemicals. And no nerves or patience to sand it and prime it. Too much rubbing, if you know what I mean ;)
Originally was thinking about cowder poating. But as far as I saw they all look a bit dull - and we want some twist here innit?

Plan:
Disassemble (good thing before the weather comes anyway)
Give it to Armourtex to prep the frame. Remove the paint, degrease and blast primer - If the guys did get what I was asking for - £44 for F+F
Originally all painting plan came after I noticed Spray.bike at bike show. Will give dem a go.

Colours.
First option - fluoro. Tossed the idea away as it looks too hipsterish.

Currently thinking about this:

While the frame will be with armourtex have to come up with some designs. No sick fadez for me.

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I used to own a feather. That thing was pretty indestructible, great bike to lock around. If it was me i wouldn't paint a beater, save the money and let the bike rat.

+1 on keeping the paint. If you don't want to run it into the ground then you could always remove any rust patches and clear coat over, then give the rest of the frame a through clean with a final polish or wax.

Is the seatpost still stuck?

No point painting while it is.

Its not

Keeping the paint is not really an option. As current one is bad and is getting worse.

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If you do go with spraying keen to see how you get on with those new spray paints. Got a Holdsworth frame and fork sitting around as bare metal

Im keen to try it as well. But probably it will be next week. And still cant get the idea forthe colours and patterns.
This one looks sweet.

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people, need your yelp!

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Ignore these people, definitely paint it something fun.

the magenta and mint green one (bottom left).

Magenta/Yellow would be my pick but you can't go much wrong with any of them. Can't wait to see how it looks on the bike.

I will +1 with hhc but also like this one

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That will be it. "Family and friends"voted for bottom right as well. Paint bought.
Next step is to come up with transitions and designs.

Mad painting skillz :D getting the ideas how to lay the paint.

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Looks like this is going to be more interesting than expected. Nice work.

i rekon after this there will be a new thread - "worse then anti" :D

Looks promising, nice idea

Decide to bite a bullet as never ridden fixed before.

IMG_2271.JPG

Never riding fixed to riding brakeless in a matter of days. On platform pedals too.

Probably too late but I'd also go for not painting.

Nah man, got the brakes now. Not jumping into a fire. Anyway, tomorrow is the day, so its tad too late :)

looking forward to see how it turns out!

Did you get those special rattle can paints in the end?

Fruit salad. 5