Hello all! I'm new to this forum, and I really like the vibe here so I'm going out on a limb and posting my restoration project that I've undertaken. I know it's not the usual kinda projects that are seen around here, the bike being a Japanese road bike and all, but a few tips and pointers would be great if you see any flaws in my methods.
So I'm off to college soon (wonderful CSU Sacramento
) and I've come to the conclusion that I won't be using my car much (thank you speeding ticket) and skateing everywhere would eventually get only one of my two legs stronger so I asked my parents if I could commandeer a bicycle and bring it with me to college. From a small choice of bikes, I chose my Dad's old racer-ish bike since he doesn't use it all too often.
It's quite old with a little bit of corrosion here and there, but in my eye's, it's nothing a little WD40 and a brillo pad won't fix. Here's some pics in it's current state.
I plan to take everything apart, derust what needs to be derusted, replace whatever parts that need to be replaced, and finally paint it over in something that doesn't stand out. Maybe a dust black or grey and put a single stripe of fluorescent paint or tape on the frame so that I'm visible at night.
Day 1 of restoration
So I bought all the recommended parts the guy who runs the local bike shop yesterday and I got started with cleaning, derusting, and polishing today.
This is what the bike looked like 1/2 way through day one.
This is the work bench.
These are a quick release parts for the front wheel that I sanded down, removed as much rust as possible, and didn't like how the pitting ruined the finish so I started primering them with gray automotive spray can primer and finished them off with two coats of flat black Rustoleum spray can paint. No clear enamel on hand so I said screw it and threw them on the front wheel.
Much more headway has been done since then; got the handlebars off, removed the rust, polished them up, removed the brake handles and polished those up too, took the rack off and cleaned it up a tiny bit (still debating on whether or not to paint it), got the first pass of polishing done on the first wheel, repacked the front wheel bearings with Slick Honey, cleaned up the seat post as best I could, cleaned up the seat hardware and replaced the seat.
To Do List:
2nd pass of polishing for the front wheel
Clean the gears on the rear wheel
1st pass of polishing for the rear wheel
2nd pass of polishing for the rear wheel
2nd pass of polishing for the handle bars
Fix bent brake handle
Remove the front fork and check bearings, repack if needed
Remove brake and shifter line housing, measure and label each peice
Remove brake and shifter line
Clean deraileur
Disassemble brakes
Polish brake calipers
Polish frame and see if I like the original finish or if I should repaint it
So I'm off to college soon (wonderful CSU Sacramento
) and I've come to the conclusion that I won't be using my car much (thank you speeding ticket) and skateing everywhere would eventually get only one of my two legs stronger so I asked my parents if I could commandeer a bicycle and bring it with me to college. From a small choice of bikes, I chose my Dad's old racer-ish bike since he doesn't use it all too often.It's quite old with a little bit of corrosion here and there, but in my eye's, it's nothing a little WD40 and a brillo pad won't fix. Here's some pics in it's current state.
I plan to take everything apart, derust what needs to be derusted, replace whatever parts that need to be replaced, and finally paint it over in something that doesn't stand out. Maybe a dust black or grey and put a single stripe of fluorescent paint or tape on the frame so that I'm visible at night.
Day 1 of restoration
So I bought all the recommended parts the guy who runs the local bike shop yesterday and I got started with cleaning, derusting, and polishing today.
This is what the bike looked like 1/2 way through day one.
This is the work bench.
These are a quick release parts for the front wheel that I sanded down, removed as much rust as possible, and didn't like how the pitting ruined the finish so I started primering them with gray automotive spray can primer and finished them off with two coats of flat black Rustoleum spray can paint. No clear enamel on hand so I said screw it and threw them on the front wheel.
Much more headway has been done since then; got the handlebars off, removed the rust, polished them up, removed the brake handles and polished those up too, took the rack off and cleaned it up a tiny bit (still debating on whether or not to paint it), got the first pass of polishing done on the first wheel, repacked the front wheel bearings with Slick Honey, cleaned up the seat post as best I could, cleaned up the seat hardware and replaced the seat.
To Do List:
2nd pass of polishing for the front wheel
Clean the gears on the rear wheel
1st pass of polishing for the rear wheel
2nd pass of polishing for the rear wheel
2nd pass of polishing for the handle bars
Fix bent brake handle
Remove the front fork and check bearings, repack if needed
Remove brake and shifter line housing, measure and label each peice
Remove brake and shifter line
Clean deraileur
Disassemble brakes
Polish brake calipers
Polish frame and see if I like the original finish or if I should repaint it
