jdawginsc 

Phase 1: Purchase and decision to keep. Toughest phase... @ascherer convinced me
Phase 2: Planning and stripping for paint.


Might try to keep the chrome under the paint, even with blemishes. Might be cool.

Some nice brazing I think.

Found that the third coat wipes most of the paint away. Note the beagle steering clear.

This was a bit of a pain, but a labor of love.

Might have been a few pints in brazing this hanger. Definitely not straight...

ascherer 

I accept full responsibility.

jdawginsc 

I’m sort of excited about the build/paint. And actually had fun with the citri -strip shenanigans.

Might end up being a keeper...

ascherer 

How are you going to paint it? When I refinished my Falcon the stripping was ok until it was time to sand. And some of the base coats were mighty pernicious. I think it had primer, silvery undercoat, and color. Sorry, it’s a British frame - colour.

ehcoplex 

jdawginsc , you're giving me just the kind of inspiration here that I need to have at the '69 PX-10 frame I've got that needs stripping..... Of course, the last time I did the citrus strip I said 'never again', but, well, never say never!

Mad Honk 

I wound up fighting with a Mavic rim tonight. I now know why folks have failures with them; They used an epoxy to hold the spokes and nipple in place! Every spoke nipple needs to be heated to over 350* to break the epoxy bond, and a lot of the spokes had the epoxy leak down into the interface between the spoke and nipple. It has taken over a half hour to remove ten spokes, Whew! What were those guys thinking. Smiles, MH

ascherer 

I've got it all back together and it passed the local road test running the rear wheel from my Mk I and the front from my PX-10. I'll take it out for a good run tomorrow and see how I like the transformation. The front hub is on the way so I'll measure everything up and order some spokes. Any recommendations for 700 x 40 or 42 not knobby or only slightly knobbish tires?

noglider 

@ascherer, some swear by the Panaracer Gravel King.

Mad Honk 

Last night I spent about an hour tearing a Mavic Ksyrium wheel apart since there seems to be story about the Mavic spokes being hard to source. I figured used parts are better than no parts so I broke the wheel down. It turns out the spokes are not anything special at all. They are straight pull bladed spokes but they have a different type of spoke nipple. The nipple is a two piece unit that has a normal type of nipple with a special threaded ferrule that holds the spoke in place. I suspect that the folks who have had problems with the spokes in the Mavic wheel have tried to remove them as normally done. Mavic must have decided that Lock-Tite on everything was a good way to keep the wheels in true. So to break each spoke down I needed to heat the spoke/nipple to 350* before trying to remove the spokes from the wheel. The extra time made the spoke removal easier. What I found was that the system is just another method of putting the wheel together. More heat and the nipple part came off pretty easy as well. So Now I feel that I have de-mystified the Mavic special sauce. Pics:

The hub: 20 spoke with CF body and what appears to be a normal cassette.

The spoke nipple assembly as first removed. The alloy outer body is LH thread and the inner body is a normal nipple made of brass.

The three parts of the spoke system after cleaning them up. Straight pull bladed spoke, alloy LH nipple and brass inner nipple.
Smiles, MH

jdawginsc 

Rattle can special. Took some inspiration from past paint schemes you guys have done to the various Jdawgblasphemous brands. Raleigh, Motopecan, Puggits, etc...

The closer I look, the more I see British bike jokes making sense...gaps in braze, off kilter attachments, etc...

Overall though, I am ready to get this painted and ready for the on the road (gravel) challenge.

There will be some panels, and perhaps lug lining?

AdventureManCO 

All the more reason to admire your bravery for wanting to keep it. I might have to start a thread (not Raleigh specific) just to have (and poke) some fun at the various, *ahem* imperfections in these lovely old steads.

smd4

Working on the suspension of our 4-wheel-drive:

bikamper

Those are some big honking springs.

Tiny stuff compared to the leaf springs. Youngest grandson has started wearing 'bling' though he calls it 'drip'. Meh, I was probably into something stupid at his age, too. Monkees come to mind. Anyway, he got a bit seven year old rambunctious and broke a gold chain. He was in tears about it, so grandma asked if I could fix it. Heck, I could barely see it, but agreed. Down to the model making shop and donned my 'seein' goggles. I was able to spread a link, fit it to another link, and crimp it tight. Done. Kid was happy about it. Even better, he calmed down for the rest of the day.

Oh, yeah. Made burgers on the little suitcase charcoal grill. Had a small repair on it cuz I used it as wasp repellent earlier.

curbtender

The thread locker was on the brass head? I've never noticed that before. I'll have to look at my SL wheels.

smd4

Sorry. I should have mentioned that the 4WD is actually an 0-4-0 steam locomotive.

ascherer 

FWIW my Falcon was very well built. Clean brazing, no gaps, beautifully thinned lug points. Perhaps it's true that its more of a late 1960s model, as surmised by the VCC marque expert. In any case, some might say I desecrated it by using spray.bike primer and paint. followed up with a 2k clear coat. Came out OK. Had I been more patient it could have been better, but I've lost no sleep.

ascherer 

Madness.

jdawginsc 

That Falcon looks great. You are selling it short. And it is very true to the intent of the era. And it doesn’t care; it just wants to be used!

Joking aside, for the most part, the Raleigh looks good. Just some quirks.

I’m sort of excited to see what the love is about. It was Serendipity that an International fell into my hands. The one Raleigh that peaked my interest. I had looked at a 73 Grand Prix a ways back, but this is better.

ascherer 

We’re a community of enablers. An International wasn’t on my radar, BITD I wanted a Mk. IV Professional but decades later when I looked at a used frame set it just didn’t call to me any more. That’s when @noglider literally sent me the link to the frame I bought on his recommendation and encouragement.

Thanks for your kind words about the Falcon, you’re spot on. Going with the idea of a period-correct handmade British bike that’s a little under the radar, it hits all the buttons. And serendipity is a player in the game too, my PX-10 and Paramount are in the period-correct side of my stable, and they’re awesome riders. They found me, not the other way around.

Hajo

Finally begane this weekend rebuilding my Chesini. First I had to fit all new decals, that I ordered from Cyclomondo. This was rather easy fortunately. Then some (Chesini panto) parts of the Campagnolo Nuovo Record groupset have been put on. I will need a new set of brake lever hoods, a smaller inner gear for the front (the current 53 - 48 does not fit) and a new set of tyres. Most have already been ordered, such ad the Vittorio Rubino Pro Graphene 2.0 duo pack tyres. Pics will come soon!

bikamper

New plugs in the DeSoto, cleaned and regapped the points. Runs pretty good now for a 76 year old car.
Pulled the battery out of the ATV to test it. Got lucky and found it was low on acid, so I don't need a new one. My free to me ATV is costing me about as much as a free puppy. Or a free bicycle.

In between those tasks, I prepped the "Ol' Phart Lefsa Special" for tomorrow's long-ish ride and loaded it onto the Ural.

gaucho777 

A few weeks ago, I picked up a very early Zinn frame from @curbtender. It bears a lot of similarities to the first frame Leonard Zinn ever built. Judging by these similarities, the lack of any serial numbers (as far as I could find), over the BB guides, and portacatena Campagnolo dropouts, I'd guess it is circa '81-'82ish. Paint is definitely rough in spots, but the headtube and seat tube decals are in great shape (replacements?). Before I give any serious thought to refinishing, I'm going to try to get it on the road and see if I can make the fit work. Leonard Zinn specialized in custom builds for unusual sizes. I have short legs with a long torso. I typically ride 56-57cm without a lot of post showing. This frame measures 53.5cm seat tube but with a 57cm top tube. That might just work, I thought, and so I happily shelled out the low $50 asking price for the frame.

I haven't done much other than start to hang some parts on it. I'm going to try to get it together with some parts from the bins, including some nice Chorus bits and C-Record RD I've had stashed away. The Campagnolo Record crown race is the wrong size, so I'll have to try some other options there. The only expense so far is a cool Gipiemme seat post ($25 at the co-op) that works well with the black frame but needs a lot of wet-sanding and polishing.

djimb

I've been indoctrinating my kids lately. My oldest daughter was in desperate need of a new bike, and having seen my thrifted Schwinn overhaul, she decided she wanted to build her own. We found some NOS Schwinn Fairlady Stingray frames at a local shop and she swapped over the stem/handlebars and seat/post from her old bike. Next steps are BB, crankset, and wheels. She wanted more than one speed, but the frame is basically a BMX frame, so a proper freehub and cassette won't fit. I'm thinking about trying to scrounge up a 3 speed hub for her, as they seem to be 110mm, which should be a perfect fit.

I also got new (used) bikes for the two younger kids, and they helped me tear them down so I can clean everything up. Next weekend is re-assembly!

noglider 

@djimb I love it when an adult helps a kid to build a custom bike. It's the best kind of bike building story.

daverup 

Since I have some experience with a mid 70's Fairlady Stingray, I'll offer a couple of thoughts.
First, our Fairlady (well used) came with the Sturmey-Archer S3C internal geared hub, which was broken. This hub has some rather fragile NLA springs, which are a problem. I did eventually get it sorted out, and it works, for now. The trick is, you need a 3 speed with a coaster brake. I think you can probably buy a new one that would be less trouble in the long run for your kiddo.
Not all of the Stingray forks have the mount for a front caliper brake. You will probably want that too.
The OE crankset was the one piece with bottom bracket. You might be able to adapt a newer 3 piece, but I have not tried.
It would be difficult to adapt the rear fender bridge to mount a caliper brake there, but it is possible.
Good luck with the project!