A Father's day gift To myself

For father's day this year, I bought my dad a book, (as I describe in the last post).  My kids gave me a pair of hand decorated mini duck pillows, cause I like ducks.  But what I really wanted was a new cruiser bike.  Bummer, no ones giving.
So I headed to my shop Sunday and dug around in my spare parts.  I found a frame that was part of a craig's list acquisition.  A fellow collector was reducing his inventory to focus on more specific projects.  This frame was thrown in with a few boxes of parts he had, as well as the frame I originally stopped to get.  Here is the frame I found, although it was horribly bent out of alignment. (likely why it was a free add in)

After some reforming and straightening, it was restored to straight and proper angles.  No bash marks or dents along the stays or bars from my efforts either.  Just a few dimples where the kickstand mounts behind the bottom bracket, but that is unfortunately very common.
The rims and tires came from a resale shop find off of a late 80's ross diamond.  The Ross was painted black with house paint, and severely rusted beneath.  Swapping out the crank and bearings, wheels, and then finding an old cruiser handlebar in my stash, the bike was taking shape.  The only thing missing was a seat that was appropriate for such a style cruiser.  I recently purchased one that fit the bill.
It's a Schwinn cruiser seat from Wall-mart.  Originally I bought it as a replacement on my world tourist, but the original seat proved more comfortable and fitting for it.
Once clamped on, it looked perfect.  It's simplicity is its best feature.  Classic style, fat tires, and a gentle sweep from grip to grip.  Not really as wide as I would have liked to have for bars, but after riding it around the street, they feel great.  This bike also sits very high.  The fit is right, but it feels tall for a cruiser.  Tall is good for me, since being low to the ground on a bike does not feel right somehow, at least to me.

Since it was a self gifted Father's day present, the kids gave me the gift of leaving me alone to build it.  No fights to settle or pestering about anything trivial.  Nobody ended up bleeding or crying from some sibling abuse.  It was a great day.  My new used tape deck was setup and playing most of the morning, and while the weather looked grim, it did not rain.  I suppose I should take it apart again and paint the frame, but I love the old look to it.  Maybe next father's day.