Bonanza bc1000 first ride after partial restoration!!

[LMUdave]

Well,

It's been a while since I've posted. 3 kids, wife, job, other projects.... And finally I've got this one done!

I had asked a bunch of questions on a previous thread about restoring an old bonanza that I had found on craigslist.
This thread will be the progression/frustration/completion to that project. I took some pics along the way maybe it will help someone, most likely it won't.
I found about three minibike frames on craigslist, sold two of them and some parts and ended up ahead of the game money wise with a nice bc1000 frame, a working 3.5hp briggs, and some spinner wheels.

 

[CarPlayLB]

don't be a tease Dave...post up some pics!

 

[tippycanoenm]

I love bonanzas............post those pics.........lets see what ya did with her

 

[LMUdave]

I'm trying!!! Damn technology.

 

[LMUdave]

Ended up with 2 different badges. One is raised lettering and just says "Bonanza" the other is a standard bonanza badge that I ended up using. Unfortunately the original raised lettering one had been stripped and painted over about 10 times already. Tried using oven cleaner but no luck. Oh well, might just put it on the engine or somewhere.

I tried to find a local powder coater that could do the job for not too much, ended up just painting it with some engine enamel and a can of clear coat (originally this was gonna be a dirt cheap project, but once I got going it was hard to say no to this old girl, I'll probably be powdercoating it sometime soon). The blue turned out a nice color, looks pretty good, but not too durable as you'll see in later photos.

With the help of some OldMiniBikes forum afficianados, I ordered a whole slew of parts from OldMiniBikes.com, a few others came from the local hardware store. Still need to get another bushing for my front wheel that fits just right, until then the washers will have to work.

Ebay had a nice seat that took a little while to be made, but ended up pretty nice. Although the pre-drilled holes were off so I had to drill and angle one myself... oh well, seems to work fine.

 

[LMUdave]

damn.. can't edit pictures onto these!

 

[LMUdave]

 

[LMUdave]

The wheels were from Ebay.... showed up in really rough shape with layers of old paint, rusted shut hardware.... scrubbed em clean and polished... had to remove the old "general tire" set as I just didn't trust the old ones, the old sprocket was rusted up too

 

[LMUdave]

Poor front badge area got 2 big scratches when I went to rivet the badge back on. Oh well, live and learn. Think I want to powercoat this frame anyway now that I've invested this much time into it.




You can see I painted the front foot pegs, but changed my mind and decided to strip and polish them... much better

 

[LMUdave]

This thread is a bit of a fail.. but I'm having a lot of trouble with getting images loaded and matched up.... and I can't seem to edit anything after 5 minutes.... oh well.

Long story short... I got a nice old bonanza running and looking good again.
Took my kids out for a spin and they loved it, can't wait til they are old enough to ride it themselves Although it is awfully fast, might have to cut it back a bit.

Thanks for all the help along the way!!!

 

[KustomKartKid]

Can't beat and old front peg 'nanza with Go Powers....looks good, nice job. :thumbsup:

 

[tippycanoenm]

nice bike dave and the color is awesome too..........once ya start on one well your story is not the only one............you just cant stop yourself from going all the way........its all good tho

 

[LMUdave]

Thanks guys,

Anybody have an idea how much powder coating a frame and forks typically runs??

 

[t555trailblazer]

I just had a trike frame+ fork sand blasted and powder coated for $200. I am happy with the job. Trike frame is a bit larger than a mini bike.