Hi, all. Here's the Grand Record (1976, I think?) that I've been working on for the last couple of months. (C&V has been a great help!) It was my father-in-law's, he bought it from the original owner in the early 80's. He lives by the ocean, so it was covered in terrible surface rust. Since it needed a paint job, I decided to go with my own, non-Motobecane, color scheme, but in a similar pattern with the contrasting head and seat tubes. I had it blasted and repainted at the Color Factory, here in NJ. I lined the lugs myself with a gold Sharpie paint pen.
I rode it a bit today finally, but there are a few more things to do:
- rear wheel could use a rebuild. I have spokes on the way, going to reuse the Super Champion rim and Campy hub
- both hubs seem to spin well, but I'll rebuild those too
- saddle has a lot of wear from being left out in the weather, likely will replace with a B17
- may replace the crankset with a wider range double at some point - it's hilly here!
- the Stronglight headset toothed washer is cracked - it works, but may replace down the line
Besides a lot of polishing tiny bits of hardware, I've also done this:
- handlebars replaced with Nitto Noodles
- SOMA Faux Leather bar tape (not sure if I like this or not)
- downtube shifters (they were Shimano!) replaced with SunTour barcons
- brake levers replaced with Tektro RRL
- stem replaced with Nitto Technomic, partially sanded down to 22mm
- tires replaced with Pasela 27x1-1/4s
- replaced the very rusty brake cable guides
- converted the Nuovo Record rear derailleur to long cage with the SOMA kit
- seized freewheel replaced with IRD 13-32 5 speed (quality does not seem commensurate with price, but it works)
- new cables and housing all around. I did save the old shift housing, but I'm using new compressionless housing for now
- pedals replaced with MKS
ANYWAY - here are some pictures:
Before view:
Close-up of the surface rust:
After:
