A few months ago I saw an old B5 Passat with no paint on it, rusted all over, apparently sealed with engine oil to stop it rusting any further.

I liked that look and it made me wonder if I can do it to a steel framed bike, without it perishing to nothing.

Is it possible and how would it be done?

Buy an One on Inbred… has that finish as std? (IME)
Though I can’t guarantee the non-perishing option.

how about wrapping denso tape all over it, then it wont rust, it’ll be great!

I ‘ratted’ up one of my old mini’s. All you effectively do is speed up the rust process, then slow it down again, you can’t stop it once it’s there. (That i know of, as the panels slowly got worse).

So if you did it to a bike frame, it’d need replacing eventually. I considered doing it to my Dialled PA, then decided against it!

coming out of flippant mode, if I do get the chance/need to commute again in the future it will be on a bike wrapped in scotch reflective tape, to make it unattractive to casual thieves but still a safety function @ dusk/night.

True Fab did a nice looking ‘pre-rusted’ finish on some of their frames;

i successfully managed to make a claud butler frame look pretty crap for a commuter.

The more raggily you cut the 3m tape the better.

And it looked like tron in the dark.

Rat look you say?

Isn’t there a paint you can use that gives this effect? I think it’s got bits of iron filings in it that rust. You can then lacquer over the top to preserve the effect.

Stuff like this:

http://www.ugp.com.au/UGP_Rust%20Paint.html

http://www.murobond.com.au/products_rust.html

http://www.blissbee.net/item_9/rusting-paint.htm

Hammerite? Just swirl a brown tin and a gray tin together badly?

like z1ppy says, the reflective tape covered in a layer of grime look works well too…

angryratio – Member
i successfully managed to make a claud butler frame look pretty crap for a commuter.

.

To be fair, it’s a Claud; you didn’t really have to put much effort in anyway.