1988 - Rattlecan Rockhopper

So I picked up this well worn 'Hopper late August from cocodemer:




As the man said in the for sale post:

This was my brothers first proper MTB, and he rode it all over, it has even been to the summit of Ben Nevis! when he bought a smaller hardrock, all the parts were swapped over, so the bike is hung with a full Suntour XCE groupset, from a 1990 or so Hardrock Comp. The bike isnt in great nick, having been my dads work bike for a bit, and I ended up using it for a while after my Kona was nicked ( Sad ) but its a well worthy project if anyone is looking for a bigger framed footnote of MTB hsitory.

So the original plan was to simply touch up the paint, replace what was worn and get those wheels turning again. So I spent a few weeks touching up the paint with a wee pot of modelling enamel that was a pretty close match. At the end of the day, I wasn't happy with the results, so I decided a full strip, repaint and new decals was in order. I'd never done any kind of rattlecan spraying, so I reckoned this was a pretty good learning opportunity.

I began with tracing and photographing/scanning the existing decals. A bit of work in paint.net and then inkscape to produce some vector graphics, and then I handed over what I'd done to gil_m to work his magic and get them printed.

Meanwhile, one rainy Saturday and half a tin of nitromors later, I had a completely stripped frame and forks. Some plastic decorating sheets later, and my man cave was ready for some spraying and/or a bit of the old serial murderering!



So I started with 4 coats of acid etch-primer, with a rub down of 1500 grit between coats. Then another 4 coats of the colour, again with 1500 grit between coats. Finally, 3 coats of clearcoat, with a final rubdown of 1500 grit before the final coat. It's a messy business, even with all the polythene, and I'm glad I invested in a decent facemask and filters.

Anyway, I'm at the point now where I have a half finished bike.



Unfortunately, I definitely got some of the decal sizing wrong, the 'Rockhopper' on the downtube is not long/wide enough, and the one on the seat tube is too big too (doesn't help that I put it on a bit squint too).

Anyway, still pretty happy with the results. The paintwork looks not bad (from several feet away ), although I could have done a better job prepping the frame, and the clearcoating could have been better too.

I'm going to single speed it, and would ultimately like to get a nice set of black cranks on there. Should have it up and running for the end of the month post-Christmas Macretro ride.

2009-01 Update
Ready for the MacRetro Dunkeld meet.



2009-08 Update
Change of tack - Now with drops and slicks. Urbane assault kerbhopper...

As the coo on your sticker say's "Cool as f**k"
Looks a really good job there bud, nice way to get some "therapy" over a weekend.
Also digging the matching pink bottle cage bolts, nice touch

G

thats a spicey meatball....

looks like you have done an amazing job there

Chaser.

Top work buddy Do you have a wee bit of play in those dropouts for tensioning? Should make it clean Especially like the decal work



that tortoise isnae the fastest is he?

kaiser":1snd5y89 said:

that tortoise isnae the fastest is he?

Click to expand...

He's a bit of a slow and steady plodder, just like his owner

Got a bit of wiggle room with the dropouts, so between that and the non-pink half-link I've got, should be able to get decent tension.

Sorry to be picky! But in future i REALLY wouldn't recommend using too many coats of etch primer, and don't rub them down.

You should apply 1 very very thin coat of etch, then a further 'full' coat, allow to tack off (about30mins) then apply 3 full coats of standard primer and if you wish to flat this then allow 24hrs to harden then if required (shouldn't need it) further coats applied after flatting with 500 grit paper.

If you can avoid flatting then do so, the problem with allowing paint to dry and then flatting is you may risk missing some areas that will be left 'unkeyed' thus allowing subsequent paint covers to flake off after time.

The best method, and the one used by many frame sprayers (including me) is the 'wet-on-wet' method. This is simply allowing each layer of paint or primer to dry for no longer than an hour and going from etch primer to top coat with no flatting.

Nice job. That blue looks awesome.

crackin job ZZ great right up and agree with the fella above and his paint suggestions, what were you thinking of! :roll: I would even go one further and suggest you get it powdercoated by a fella in killie and save you the feckin hastle :twisted:

only kidding, looks the dugs indeed I will give it 5 flaming dugs baws

Normally I make fun of Rock Hoppers that get that much attention, but I'll be damned if that isn't a good looking Rock Hopper.