1995 Marin Indian Fire Trail - Restoration

[pommieMJ]

Hey forum buddies, just thought I'd give you all an update on this restoration project.

After many many months of doing stuff all on this, I finally pulled my finger out and got on with it.

I spent a few days polishing the frame using aluminum foil with autosol and then I discovered jewelers rouge (aka - polishing compoud) which I use for my straight razors. Apply to a soft polishing cloth and then rub on the frame. Makes it shine like a mirror! Unbelievable

I then applied the decals (thanks Gil) and have decided to leave it natural so that I can polish it up from time to time as required.

From the pics, (each posted separately - tips on how to post multiple pics in one post?) it's self explanatory what I've not been able to do and now all I need is a new chain and I'm good to go.

I'll post the final pics once it's completed which should be next weekend.

 

[pommieMJ]

The frame with the decals applied

 

[pommieMJ]

And with it almost completed

 

[npn]

Wow, this is one amazing bike!

Did you polish anything else besides the frame?
Also the decals look slightly different... are they vinyl? Are the borders visible? Can you take a closer shot?

 

[pommieMJ]

Wow, this is one amazing bike!

Did you polish anything else besides the frame?
Also the decals look slightly different... are they vinyl? Are the borders visible? Can you take a closer shot?

Thanks for the kind comments, much appreciated. I polished the cranks and the chain rings, the Onza HO brakes on the front and lastly, the Maniotu 3 forks. I will also use the polish to clean up anything else I put on to the bike to remove small blemishes etc.

The decals are from Gil and yes they are vinyl. The borders are just barely visible when you are up close. They are just very slightly different to originals but bloomin' close.

Once I complete the bike I'll take a few pics up closer to show the decals in more detail.

QUESTION TO ALL:
should I put the original rigid front forks on and submit into the BOTM?

And I welcome any feedback on how to improve the final restoration result.

Thanks.