Straight Jacket Refurb

[The Raven]

This is my "daily driver" pair. I use them just about every single workday for good part of the day (not only back and forth to work but even while on the clock if i'm visiting a job-site). Since they were built custom in summer 2007, they have served me well in this role. Now that I have my $49.99 Vault Clearance Scalpels, I decided to retire these Straight Jackets to duty in my wife's car, which means they will be used very sparingly (only when I ride in her car). Thus, I decided to completely disassemble them and clean them up. The lenses needed replacing, since the day they fell into the footwell of my car and got stepped on by me, causing a stone to put a very deep scratch in the left lens. I also figured it only makes sense to order up a new set of socks/bombs while I have them apart.

While they were disassembled I had a brainstorm...I thought of something - I know that at one point before these were discontinued, Oakley added the option to change the color of the stem "lugs". This was not an option when I customized mine in 2007. I was bummed when I originally learned about this change, so I thought why not take this opportunity to fix that? I looked, and the lugs are not available separately anywhere. So I decided to take care of it myself.

First picture is before, all the rest are after. You can only really see it in the close up of the arms, but the paint has a very strong metal flake that looks incredible in the bright sun.

Such a simple change, but it makes a big difference on the whole.

 

[kenejhnsn]

Looks good! I have an old pair of Flak Jacket XLJ's that are in pretty rough shape and was thinking of refurbing them. What kind of paint did you use and what prep?

 

[The Raven]

Looks good! I have an old pair of Flak Jacket XLJ's that are in pretty rough shape and was thinking of refurbing them. What kind of paint did you use and what prep?

The paint is actually HOK's Candy Base. I used a plastic-specific primer, then the HOK base, and DuPont Premium Automotive Acrylic Enamel clear. No sanding, just thorough cleaning with detergent, and a quick wipe with a reducer-dampened cloth. That part was a bit tricky since I painted such a small part...the reducer can damage the finish on the rest of the frame.