1st post here! Great community!

As the topic says, I plan to restore my childhood bike. I was inspired by midschooljohns 94 rebuild, man that's nice! - http://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.p … 10&p=5 Likely this build will take a while and I will do my best to document as I go. Here's the story of the bike so-far;

My dad bought me this bike new in 91/92 (not sure which year) when I was 10. I remember asking for this bike after falling in love with it, not sure where as no local bike shop had bikes like this. I remember specifically not asking for the team model because I thought I would never get it, so I asked for the non-team version and got it. We bought this in the next town over (2 hours away) and I remember the day I got it. About 6 months to a year later, it was stolen from my back yard. My dad managed to track it down via a reward tip off and with the help of the RCMP the recovered it in a town 9 hours away. We went and got it and I was super excited to have it back.

Fast forward to age 14 when I discovered motocross, cars and girls. I kept this bike up until about 6 years ago when I gave it to the neighbor kid as it was just taking up room in the garage. I've always regretted giving it up. Last Friday I had a major major bout of nostalgia and regret and I asked for it back. As neighbor kid is 15ish and is 6'4" and after clearing it with his mom, they agreed that it would fine to give it back as he's not riding it much anymore. I offered to either buy it or replace it, but they declined.

I picked it up this morning in about the same shape as I gave it to him; well ridden. I have boatloads of questions about restoration. I'm also not sure what my intent is. Am I building a carpet queen, or something to ride again... I'm just not sure. Maybe through the rebuild I will figure this out. I guess I should figure this out as it will help me figure out at what level to rebuild it. Part of me says show-room new (new parts, etc) and part of me says keep all the original parts. Here are a few things about the bike:

• I removed all logos, stickers, etc a couple years after I got it. Boy am I regretting that now!
• I re-routed the back brake cable to make way for my foot. I've since lost the bit for the cable.
• I shortened the lower gyro cable
• I replaced the upper gyro cable for a "cool" white one
• I gave the fork standers away - This bike had them when we bought it
• I likely tossed the bash guard, but can't remember. I really hope I can find it somewhere in a corner - This bike had them when we bought it
• The rear rim is in pretty bad shape (lots of flat spots)
• The chrome seems to be in decent shape
• The hub stickers are very faded (I thought I've seen replacements for these)

I'm no stranger to working on bikes, but I've never attempted a resto before. As I'm new to this, there are a few things I would love direction on:

• Dipping chrome bits: I've read posts about a couple methods on this way. The part I'm really unsure of is the stop process after a vinegar dip.
• Stickers! I'm guessing I will likely have to recreate these. Are there resources for figuring out which fonts were used? I can't find many pictures of a 91.
• Tires: these seem to be hit or miss for locating them, is there a go-to resource for them?
• Paints: I sanded down the pitbull. what paint would I use to restore the brake if I don't replace it?
• If the rear hoop is hooped (sorry, couldn't resist), are these easy to find?
• Chain ring: I sanded the logo off.
• Pedals: they are beat. I've seen a few people file them. Is that a good way to restore? Or should I be looking for replacements?

Anyways, here are a couple crappy cell phone pics. I will follow up later with better pictures. Any help, guidance and/or interest is greatly appreciated.







Spencer