Well ladies and gents, I've been looking for an old school MTB project for a while. The right opportunity presented itself yesterday via the local Salvation Army store....for FIVE BUCKS!!! It's freakin' filthy, but I think quite salvageable. These are the 'before' pics. I'll be sure to post some progress pics as I tear it down to the frame and bring it back to life. I may modernize a little in the process. In fact, I may BMXify a little in the process!

By the way...does anyone know what year this thing is? I've found some info on the next generation of this model that has the chain stays raised to eliminate chain clatter, and those are around 1990. So I'm guessing this is a late 80's scoot.

I gave it a quick bath to get the initial layer of mud and grime off, pulled the wheels and peeled the tape disaster off the chain stay. Here's the rear triangle after I removed the glue and gave it quick wipe down.

Sweet score! That should clean up nice. I love that fork! Based on the parts, I'm guessing it's anywhere from '90-'94.

My new pedals arrived...and just a wee bit of polishing on the crank arms.

that is super nice. I would love to build up a bike like that. Maybe convert it to a single speed, even.

I had all kinds of modification ideas that popped into my head...including going single speed, and powdercoating. However, I opted to just make it mostly original with a little flair - and just ride it! My new grips and tires are ordered, and on the way. Stay tuned.

Update: My tires are in - I bought Panaracer Fire XC 2.1's. The rims were mismatched. There was one silver and one dark bronze. I went with silver, and the new hoop is here. I deconstructed the wheel, and am building the wheel with the new hoop in the next few days. Meanwhile, all components have been stripped off the frame and fork - and most everything has been cleaned. The bearings are all soaking in solvent to get all the old muck out. Here's the frame and fork with bars, new seat and new quick release clamp - just dry fitted for a progress shot.

Well gentlemen, it's nearly done. I've got to clean, polish and install the brakes, and when my new SRAM chain shows up in another day or two, I've got to install that and tune the derailleurs...and she'll be pretty much done. I'm still considering a fresh coat of powder for the frame and forks...but that can wait for a while.

Leave the paint alone, you'll never find new stickers. It looks great the way it sits.