1997 Proflex 957 resto/build thread - FINISHED! wooo

TDIfurby

Retro Guru
Figured I needed somewhere to stick this up.... Am in the progress of rebuilding my old Proflex 957. I took it to bits 2 years ago as the frame started going seriously nasty.

Started off by sanding off what lacquer was left.
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Rear shock taken off and spring removed to tart up
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My first attempt at painting was definitely going for "impact"....
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Now the parts lay around for 2 years getting scratched, and so this weekend with it being nice I decided to have another go.... Started off sanding all my crappy paint off again and this time ensuring I use grey primer :D

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And now they have been given a couple of coats of gloss black, then dusted off with some VW black magic metallic paint. I will leave this overnight to harden off properly, and shall start lacquering tomorrow.

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I have some replacement gearing and am aiming to re-use my Pace RC37 forks as the bike was awesome with them. Shall be retaining the XT V-brakes as well.

What I shall need though is a good value/quality 1 1/8" headset. Any ideas? May have found one now. ;) I will be after some original proflex stickers if that is possible too.
 
welcome to the family good sir, i reccomend you message member Gil_M for those stickers, i'll be watching this thread, there's something appealing about the proflex frames, i liked the red paint though, :LOL:

Good Luck,

Mike,
 
DIdn't have the tool for it so I am keeping my fingers crossed it is fine and will keep on going once I stick the cranks back on :cool:

I have plenty of tools for the car, but not much for the bike unless stuff crosses the gap like a good old 10mm spanner :D
 
Glorious weather today has allowed me to get two good layers of clearcoat onto the frame and parts. Starting to look good and leaving them to bake this evening and tomorrow in the SERIOUSLY nice weather we are having in Devon at the moment. :)

Tomorrow evening I am planning on starting the wet & dry process. Starting with 1500grit then 2000grit, and polishing up using the dual action machine polisher I use for my car detailing. :cool:

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Well, its reached that stage where any other newbie to painting would go "WTF have I done?" Nice scuffed looking surface following a thorough session with 2000 grit wet & dry.

Going to grab some dinner then doing some polishing. Was a bit gutted though as it looked like the swingarm had not taken enough lacquer on - Couple of rough areas. So I have given that another coat tonight and will have to polish it tomorrow. The frame, rear "fork" and the handlebar should come up good this evening! :cool:

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Well, have successfully polished up most of the parts now. Some awkward bits are going to be easier to do when the bike is rebuilt due to it being tough to hold the item and polish at the same time.

If this weekend is dry, I will make a start I reckon. Got a bag of fresh XT gear to replace my old stuff, and hopefully a new 1 1/8" headset will arrive which will allow me to get the handlebar/stem/Pace forks back on.

Still hunting for the 957 stickers - followed a link to a place doing the 856 stickers and emailed asking if they can do that kit with "957" instead - No reply. Have also PM'd Gil_m :)
 
Little update. As my headset hasn't arrived yet I've not bothered starting the build-up of the bike. Instead I decided, after some debating, to fit the RC36 forks to the bike and decide what to do later in regards to possibly changing them for something beefier looking / performing.

So, I took a look at the RC36 and once the cobwebs were blown away I realised how bad it was looking. Removed both crowns/braces and decided I would refurb those. Sanded down with 150 grit and now have a layer of grey primer on. Not sure whether to go black like the rest of the bike or perhaps try a little silver.....

Sanded down roughly
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With one layer of primer
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And if anyone is bothered :D have been spraying up / lacquering my dashboard vent surrounds from out the fabia. Previous attempt had gone quite wrong so ensuring I get it looking right this time.
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Well, have FINALLY decided to try and get this thing back together again. New proflex sticker kit courtesy of a member on here and tried to build it up as much as a I could. Noleen NR2 shock needs re-working/re-charging, suspect the PACE forks will too. Need a pair of rims and 8 speed cassette too as old ones dodgy (unless you can re-coat mavic SUP ceramic rims...?)


Started off with a pile of rubbish in boxes / loose.... Glad I had room to spread out a bit
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Bike starting to come together slowly
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And finished for the day. I am determined to be riding this by the middle of Summer!
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The offending Noleen shocker

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Nice updates and paint job. Couldnt have chosen a better weekend its baking down here isn't it :LOL:
 
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