Hi Amesja, thanks! One more dumb question: Besides the obvious parts and struts holding the book rack on back and the cable and brake clips, what other general parts on a '76 Raleigh are "aluminum or zinc plated or alloy"? The bracket holding the handle bars, for example, has a white corrosion on it, does that mean it is an alloy? Are the bolts and nuts, also not best to soak in OA (some have surface rust on them, mostly the ones around the handle bars)?
Thanks!

Parts from a Raleigh I would not put into OA:

• Fender and chainguard mounting bolts.
• Brake lever mounting bolt & nuts.
• Brake pivot bolt, locknuts and washers.
• Brake cable adjuster and locknut and the cable since bolt and nut.
• Brake pads and brake pad nuts/washers (these will turn black within the hour).
• Seatpost binder bolt and nut. (you might get away with a short soak but watch it.)
• Leather part of the saddle -any acid will attack the leather and getting it wet is not a good idea much less soaking wet. I have put the vinyl mattress brooks directly into a soak and it cleaned up beautifully like new. It takes a LONG time to dry in front of a fan. Spray down the metal parts with WD or other oil so it doesn't re-rust. I imagine you could pull the leather off of a really rusted brooks frame and de-rusting that if you feel up to that. The Vinyl seats went from very ugly and rusted to looking like new after a 48 hour soak. After they dried out fully I wiped more oil on the springs to protect them and they were quiet and wonderful and looked like new.
• The wheelhubs and the spokes. The rims you DO want to get so this is a hard one. The spokes might turn black but they probably already are pretty black on the older bikes. The only way around this is to use a shallow pan like used for drywall mud application under a wheel truing stand or other jig. I usually just dunk it deeper and then clean the spokes back up if they get a bit blackened. The only other solution is to de-build the wheel and soak the rim alone. At that point you might as well put new spokes in too. And then replace with SS spokes and put on a CR18 alloy rim...

Anything with a nice chrome plating will be fine. Anything that is already kind of old or not very shiny might end up darker but it is NOT a big deal to use some rubbing or polishing compound to make it shiny again with a bit of elbow grease so it is not the end of the world if you do blacken something. Just be careful with alloy stuff as it is harder to polish back up and might pit Use a magnet. If it doesn't stick then don't put it into the OA.

Another thing is pedals. They WILL clean up very nicely but the oil/grease inside them will kill your OA in a hurry. It's best to take them apart and degrease each part before soaking if they are rebuildable. If not then use a separate small bath and be aware that the OA will probably not be very usable afterward. Be sure to rinse well and use WD or compressed air to get out all the water before they rust. Re-lube the bearings the best you can with something like heavy gear oil. Non-rebuild-able pedals suck. Some of the non-chromed cheaper pedal parts can be sensitive to OA as well. It's not the end of the world to have to polish them back up.

Hi Amesja,

Once again, such great detail, thank you so much. I am just about ready to go (if my 2 and 4 year olds don't help too much). By the way, what do you think of "Duro" brand Aluminum Jelly to clean the back rack and other aluminum parts and Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish to coat it and the other non chrome parts or is that over kill (I am not trying to get out of hard work, I just want to avoid scratching and such). Cheers!

Never used it. All the aluminum parts or anything greasy goes into my ultrasonic cleaner if it fits into it. Bigger alloy stuff if it is bad enough to need polishing gets rubbing/polishing compound on a cloth. But like I said somewhere else in this thread. Alloy is usually treated with some sort of finish. Burn through that and it will not stay shiny -it'll turn a dull grey with oxidation.

Just spent a few days at the frame shop and after 30 years stuff tends to accumulate and sometimes parts get purchased and then don't get used... came home with 8 new pairs of Mavic rims that were in the graveyard that just happen to be 650A.

Wonder what I will do with these ?

:)

Giant ring-toss game?

Can you tell me where you got that front rack? Nice build!

Excellent idea... :D

Maybe I should save a few for rebuilding 26 by 1 3/8 wheels... will be interesting to have the quintessential English bike rocking some vintage French rims.

Guess the boss bought a bunch to make trailer wheels and after doing that had a bunch of extras that were not needed for anything else... our bikes are typically build on 700c and 26 inch wheels and an odd size like a 650A (albeit nice) is not as universal and at the time, the options for decent 26 by 1 3/8 tyres was limited to pretty low end stuff.

They had been sitting out for years but are in remarkably nice and nearly new looking shape and have never been built up..

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMG_9412.jpg

I so need to build a rack like this...

Hiya folks,
Just the other day at the swap meet I found a Raleigh Golden Arrow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carl_brill/5692668925/

Beauty huh? The hub is a 1936. It's been painted over poorly and all the decals are gone. New tires and pads and I'm going to give it a test ride. Then I will clean it all up and paint it. I dunno what I'm going to do about a seat, the one on it is pooched and I can't afford a classy Brooks or alike so...
Everything works it just needs love and lube.
Cheers

Great find! Don't be so quick to paint it. Better to clean it up first and see what you have. A repaint will destroy the patina it has developed.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/...eee49a3d0f.jpg

I"m assuming these are steel rims? Even so, I bet they were worth something. I need to start dumpster-diving behind bike shops...

Velognome- I am in the process of cleaning it now, it has been repainted recently but a very poor job, gaps, runs and brush marks. But we'll see. There are no decals or striping or anything left. It has Dunlop 26x1 1/4 rims. What kind of tires would look good as replacements? This being from the 30's.

Also, is it alright to break in on a thread like this to show this bike or ? I am new to forums and don't know the etiquette.

Carl, you may be able to remove the paint without removing the factory original paint.

Spectacular Golden Arrow! Looks like a Terry horsehair racing saddle. Keep it as original as possible...it's so cool.

You didn't "break in" that's what this thread is all about. Your machine is lovely and we all appeciate you posting the picks. Hastfully removing even a "repaint" is not a good idea. Once it's gone, it's gone. Take your time to be sure to preserve what is good.

Here's a thread on saving paint jobs: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...t=golden+arrow

Plus ftwelder did a restore on a simular Raleigh a few months back and preserved a paint job many of use would have given up on. (I'll see if I can find the thread for you)

+1. That's a beautiful bike. You might want to start a thread about it, just to make sure everyone sees it; there are at least a couple other guys here who have (or used to have) one of those.

Thanks guys
It is a great bike. I'm stoked that I found it. so two questions, one- what tires would look "correct" and two- what are your opinions on levels of restoration?

I think I'll paint it hot pink and get some lime green Velocity rims. Easy bud, I'm joking, don't spit coffee all over your computer. But no, I dont have the time, money or inclination to do a massive amt of work on it. I appreciate the advice to not be hasty, I might even go finish my Cannondale M500 build befor I get into this.

Thanks for the feedback,
Later
Carl

I would start by "cleaning" it with scratch remover. Sometimes that'll remove cheesy paint laid over the factory stuff. The factory paint is pretty hard and scratch remover will often cut down through the oxidized top layer and a little elbow grease will reward you with a shiny smooth finish and any chips or scratches will not look bad as giving it a patina with character.

If nothing else I'd pull the hubs, bb, and headset apart and regrease and put in new bearings. New brake shoes and oil the cables. If the cables are bad then put in new ones but try and save the housings. A new set of tires will make it ride so much better and it won't strand you or dump you in traffic if the old carcases blow out unexpectedly. That'd be the minimum I'd do -but you don't have to do it all at once.

velognome, thanks for the thread about saving paint jobs, now I'm totally conflicted. So I'm going to decide what to do, do it, and not tell anyone so I don't get flamed.

Also what is scratch remover? And bronze wool to take the rust off the chrome? Then Brasso or what?

I have all day off tomorrow! Ha, I'll work on it then. I can't believe how lucky to find a bike like this. At a bike swap. For $40.

Thanks for the feedback folks, keep it coming!

There are different brands of scratch remover -some folks swear by Mcguires Scratch-X but I think that Mother's is just as good and a great deal cheaper. You can usually pick it up for $6-8 bucks at your local auto one-stop place like Pep Boys or AutoZone.

The stuff is just magic. Just put it on an old T-shirt and rub on the painted parts you want to clean up. It even works on chrome too although I use Oxalic Acid (wood bleach) in a weak solution that makes chrome parts rust-free the easy way. Do a search for Oxalic Acid here on BikeForums and you'll find out all about it.

These are double walled and fully eyeletted alloy rims... actually worth a bunch since they are A: Mavic and B: in a very uncommon size.

Our shop is 30 miles out in the country so one of the reasons there is so much old stuff kicking around is because you'd have to haul it out yourself and there is a lot of acreage surrounding things in which to stash parts that are not getting used.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/...eee49a3d0f.jpg

Just... :love:

I really like the Hercules, i have a few of those in the collection myself.

The rack looks extremely elegant by the way, great job !

Could I trouble you for some information on the manufacturer of those beautiful grips please ?