Dead Reckoning

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@RustyGold my perfectionist brain is telling me to cut these tabs as I am not going to use a chain guard on this restoration. But I am planning on selling it when it’s done. I don’t know how picky the BMX community is. I mean, I’m already changing the color scheme. Are they going to be up in arms that I cut them off? Should I just leave them because they are original?

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Heheh. That question could be a whole new thread. "Will I mess up if I....."
 
Dropped frame/parts off for powder coating. Forgot a "pre" pic... but picture a lot of bare, sanded metal. Frame, Fork, Handlebars, Seat post... all white.

As I was prepping, I was toying with the idea of going another direction from white. Something that still worked with the red, but maybe was more '81. But in the end, I had set my mind on the white/red combo, and I stuck with it. Powder coating should be done by the end of the week.
 
The problem with finding a decent donor bike is that I now find myself wanting to bring it back to life, vice trashing it. Apparently it's got some historical BMX value, so I reckon I'm going to bring it back from the dead.

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I was looking through all of the Build off Journals to find this photo. I like the your wheel Reflectors on this bike. It must be a Raleigh. I have one of these reflectors on my Schwinn Cruiser. My Klunker Build has a lot of parts from a 1985 Raleigh Elkhorn Mountain Tour and this is where I got the reflectors. I’m always looking for more of these reflectors. Nice bike!!
 

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One issue I anticipated was the diameters changing for the seat post and seat tube. It doesn’t slide in. My first instinct is to file out the seat tube. Before I do, has anyone had a similar experience and corrected it a different way?
 
One issue I anticipated was the diameters changing for the seat post and seat tube. It doesn’t slide in. My first instinct is to file out the seat tube. Before I do, has anyone had a similar experience and corrected it a different way?
BB, head tube, and seat tube are always problematic if you get powder in there.

You can be all surgical and get MEK and some q tips and go to town

Or you can make a cheap sanding rod. Wooden dowel with a slot cut in it and strips of sandpaper

I use these after the rough sanding because it's the exact reason I invested in them

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Got all the sizes I need for common posts, bb and head tubes
 
In my experience powdercoated seatpost would never work as desired. Powder is way unpredictable in its layer thickness and at same time quite soft and plastic. There is a reason they don't powdercoat seatposts at factories, while it is one of the cheapest ways to paint and protect metal.
If i were you i'd try to find a replacement seatpost before having fun with sanding anything, since it can make things worse.
 
In my experience powdercoated seatpost would never work as desired. Powder is way unpredictable in its layer thickness and at same time quite soft and plastic. There is a reason they don't powdercoat seatposts at factories, while it is one of the cheapest ways to paint and protect metal.
If i were you i'd try to find a replacement seatpost before having fun with sanding anything, since it can make things worse.
I was getting a lot powdercoated anyway. And I have no idea what the original seat post size would have been. And it's too late now.

Any way to find the correct size seatpost for an '81 Raleigh R10?
 
@tanksalot I found an old post from 2014 where you got an R10 exactly like this one. You wouldn't still have it for a seatpost measurement, would you? On the net I'm finding guys throwing sizes all over the place. Mainly I'm reading 24.6, which seems to be a really hard size to find.
 
@tanksalot I found an old post from 2014 where you got an R10 exactly like this one. You wouldn't still have it for a seatpost measurement, would you? On the net I'm finding guys throwing sizes all over the place. Mainly I'm reading 24.6, which seems to be a really hard size to find.
I don’t have that bike anymore . Sorry. I know that seat post is a odd size for a BMX bike
 

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