UPDATED WITH THE LATEST PICS!!!
My daughter had to have a purple 16" bike for her first ride when she was 3. It's the bike she learned to ride on and she loved it. Now she's moved up to a 20" and my son is 3 and wants to learn to ride.
And he BEGGED me for a red bike. Rather than search for a red bike for him I decided to make the purple one into a red one. And since he loves fire trucks like they are going out of style I decided to make this a fire truck bike.
He's loving the process of transforming the purple bike to a red one. We're having a great time (I'm doing all the work, but he stands next to me and pretends he's doing something, and that's fine) and this project is so much better than just buying him a new bike.
Not done yet, but here's the progress.
First image is what I started with. It was bright purple and pink when new. My daughter rode the hell out of it.
Second image is after we took it apart and cleaned up all the parts. Then sanded down the frame.
Third image is the red taking shape
Forth image is painting complete and the fire department graphics applied. These are all custom cut vinyl. (Got lucky as a woman I work with has a machine that does that so she made them for me)
The next step is a clear coat over the whole thing to make it smooth and shiny.
See post #36. I'm open to any and all suggestions about clear coating that involve products I can get at Home Depot.
I've got new red pedals and grips coming. I have a light that alternates flashing red and white so it has a real fire truck light! And somehow I'll put a hose on it so he can stop and pretend to put out fires.
Total cost on this (not counting the flashing light that I already had) is running about $55. Not bad for a completely custom bike look and several weeks of fun doing it. Now my son will have what looks like a brand new bike and we get to have a ton of fun doing it.