Stacey's Eclectic Web Pages

Code Name "Lazarus" was given to this project because this bike will truly be brought back from the dead!

I found Lazarus one chilly weekend in November of '01 at a local Flea Market. It was late in the day, he stood... er, well sagged un-attended, in a remote corner of this vendors space. Off warming his bones inside with a cup of coffee, it took me a good 15 minutes to find the owner of this derilict piece of bicycle nostalgia. After some exhaustive negotiations regarding the price...

Me: "Is that your bike out side?"
Him: "er...Which one?"
Me: "The Ross... The Barracuda... The one that looks like a Sting Ray! ummm, the rusty one.
Him: "Oh, that one. Yeah, that's mine"
Me: Perpared for some serious horse trading "Cool! How much do you need to get for it?"
Him: With a chuckle "Hell, give me five bucks... I don't want to drag that damn thing back home!"
Me: With wallet drawn, Abe Lincoln went flying out before I could speak a word. "Um... yeah. Sure. Sold!"

With that we shook hands, I thanked him, walked out the door, and grabbed the bike by the handle bars, and proudly pushed my "Five Dollar Fish" back to the van, grinning ear to ear!

So, begins the tale of Lazarus. What follows, is a photographic and textual description of his resurection. Some pictures are not for the faint of heart. Most will think I'm insane.

So we understand each other, my intention is NOT to restore this bike. To borrow a term from the car crowd, I believe the term is 'restification" = to restore with modifications. But that's not entirely correct. More appropriatly, Period Correct Rejuvination. I want to take away all the dirt, rust & grime, while leave behind all the signs of use and wear that this steed has so rightfully earned. To leave behind the marks of love that it has given to all of it's owners... those who have come before, and those that shall come after me.

	This is it... and yes, I am insane. All the "brightwork" you see isn't chrome. No, it's silver spray paint. Well, except for the rims. They are, underneath all of the munge, chrome. I have no idea what the substance was on them, but it defied all normal clean-up methods. Soap & water would not budge it. Scrubbing with a copper wool pad was futile. Finally, I sprayed it all down with WD-40 and had to with the copper scrubbie. Slowly, very slowly, it started to budge What came off resembled some type of mud, yech! Cool flame job on the seat! Yep... With silver spray paint on it too! More on that later.

	A closer look and you see the chainguard shares title of that wonderful Mopar of same name. You'll also see there is no cable running to the back caliper... Makes one wonder just how they managed to stop? Fred Flintstone? Yes, really... that's silver paint over "mud" on the fender. See the overspray on the seatstay tube!

	Memories of my '66 Plymouth Barracuda are stirred further! Singing..."I see your true colors shining through, that's why I love you" Wow! Talk about sunburn & rust! Compare the exposed area in the photo above to the steer tube in this photo. It's the best way to find an original color... Look where the sun don't shine! More of that hideous silver spray paint, you can see where it was laid on thick to amply cover the brake calipers

	Before on left: The rear caliper as removed from the bike, covered... you guessed it! In that gawd awful silver spray paint! After on right: The front caliper cleaned, polished, serviced and re-assembled. Looks & works much better!

	After scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing, and scrubbing some more this is what I have for my effort. The rear fender is sacked, time for another one!

	Though except for a little divot, and some peppering the front looks great!

	Handlebars and steering neck look servicable.

	As does the crank & chain wheel

	We're stylin' now buddy! Dig those W-I-D-E whites! Wheels all cleaned up, hubs serviced. I did the front myself, the rear 3 speed was done by this retired bike dealer, he charged me $13 to dis-assamble, clean, lube and adjust the hub, plus he replaced 3 spokes and trued the wheel too! This fellow has tons of neat old goodies stored in a two story garage... I'm a constant visitor. Every trip yeilds a new find. New (old) sneakers complete the package.

	What custom is complete wihout flames? This is too kool! George Barris move over. It's my understanding this is a correct original seat for this bike. Look ma, no silver paint!


	e-mail: gmarten@netcarrier.com
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