daka

I prefer to get touch up paint in spray cans, but I don't spray it on to the bike. If you spray the paint into a cup (or even the cap to the spray can) it will start with very low viscosity which is good for wicking into shorelines. As the carrier evaporates the paint will become thicker and it is better for filling chips.

tiger1964 

Great idea! I'll do that instead. Well, at the hobby shop for the Testor's I might buy both. BTW, how long you you usually need to wait for the sprayed paint to thicken?

daka

At room temperature maybe 4 or 5 minutes. If you need thin paint you have to work quickly or keep starting a new puddle to dip your brush, toothpick or q-tip, whatever you are using to apply.

tiger1964 

Very interesting and I'll report back on results. Meanwhile, a photo of the frame and various cleaned and dismantled components:

daka

Wow! You've done all the tedious stuff, should be good fun from here on out. And I think you will find the bike to be a great ride when it is all done.

tiger1964 

Thanks -- but I wish all the tedious stuff was done! I've decided not to machine-polish all of the parts to a mirror shine on this bike, but once cleaned up I'd like the existing finish to hold up. Someone on this forum mentioned Wolfgang Metal Sealant, and I have a bottle. So each little part (or big part) gets wiped down and once dry, buffed. Hopefully the parts will stay nice even if I ride on an unpaved trail (I'm really outside my comfort zone on that), and simply hose the bike down afterward, etc. Wheels, outside of removing the axles/bearings and cleaning those, are untouched and I need a vessel big enough to set them in while cleaning -- too cold outdoors to work comfortably. Anyways, four hours so far today on the Wolfgang sealant and the hands getting tired but I am planning now to Blue Magic the chrome on forks and stays.

Yeah, after all that, reassembly should be a lot more rewarding. Ugh, the Milremo handlebar plugs look rough enough that I should replace them, but on a minor part like that it would not bother me to use something else; last time I looked the Velox rubber plugs not available anywhere.

And I am waiting for some companies selling parts have a mid-winter sale, I need stuff for this an a couple other bikes I hope to finish up.

bertinjim 

tiger1964-

Try Rustines for bar end plugs. They come in a variety of colours.

https://www.rustines.fr/le-coin-vint...-rustines.html

tiger1964 

Thanks, look great. I've bought other Rustines stuff in the past, always through Velo Orange but during Covid the supply dried up and at VO they told me Rustines had gotten out of the business and not resumed making bike stuff. So, available direct from France? I wonder if any other US sources (or maybe Canada)? Those plugs would look, in my opinion, period-appropriate on the Gran Sport (white? Maybe, and I wonder if I can find light blue bar tape that would look good with Lagoon Blue?)

I thought grabbing a can of white and a can of blue paint would be easy. I got the white Rusoleum, but the "nearby" Michael's craft/hobby store was depleted -- the Testor's rack had ONE can of spray paint, in dark military green... otherwise empty. Amazon can get it but not Prime (issues shipping aerosols?) so a two week wait or more. Tomorrow I go in the other direction, there's a Hobby Lobby location and a general hobby shop, the only one around (here I am just outside Washington DC and you'd think there would be hobby shops everywhere). Meanwhile, looking at the spots needing touch-up and a few are through all paint layers and there's "rust" instead of gleaming bare steel. I cannot find my jar of liquid Evaporust, so I ordered a bottle of the gel version to try that out; I figure better as I am not immersing the frame. So sense painting over rust.

Today I'll be reassembling brake calipers, derailleurs, etc. By the way, on the Weinmann brake levers I seem to have lost two of the flanged plastic bushings that go where the levers mate to the bases... easy to find? Will Dia-Compe fit? There's a bike co-op perhaps 7-8 miles away, never been there; I am thinking of visiting in hopes they have a junk bin with some old levers.

Perhaps more photos later...

bertinjim 

tiger1964-

If you are looking for cloth bar tape that is lagoon blueish, try the Viva brand tape from Gran Bois in Japan. Ordering and shipping is easy and fast and the tape comes with white bar plugs in the package.

https://cyclesgrandbois.com/SHOP/BT_viva.html

That is the tape I used on my Carlton resto last year as you can see in the photo below.

steelbikeguy

holy cow! That is gorgeous!

disclaimer: I used to have a Gran Sport, so I'm biased towards Lagoon Blue.
Still, that is just wonderful!! The multiple contrasting panels on the seat tube, the cable housing, etc. Beautiful!

Steve in Peoria

tiger1964 

I've been looking around for GB randonneur bars to replace the bent ones. I gave up and bought a yet of Sakae (sp?) from eBay, price OK, and I'll try to cover up the logo (perhaps a handlebar-mount water bottle cage?

I contacted Wolf Tooth about their RoadLink; they wanted to see a picture, I presume they do not know what a NR looks like. Then they replied that they cannot see any reason why it would not work (nor do I) but do not know if it's been tried with a "claw".

5 MINUTES. That's how long it took the Rustoleum to eat through the bottom of a Solo cup and drop paint all over the floor. After cleanup, I grabbed the much thicker cap for the spray paint. 7 MINUTES is how long that lasted. After another cleanup, I think I need to find a metal container. BTW, no mater where you aim, spraying into a cup means major backsplash, so I smell a lot like mineral spirits right now. Anyway, I got part of the F&F touched up, color looks good, unsure of the # of coats to fill deeper chips yet and can I get the results sanded smooth without ruining the finish, or perhaps give up and leave them as-is.

I followed that link and it's a Gitane for sale. Anyway, did a Google search for "Viva Grand Bois" and found this: VIVA and I am not sure how much 1400 yen is, how much shipping might be, or how long to get. What was your experience like?

Agreed! Lovely bike.

ascherer 

I may have a set of GBs you could have, will check this weekend.

Re: the extender I've bought the check knockoffs for experimenting - had to deal with a Huret dropout and some quick work with a Dremel get me going, but I didn't want to mange one of the Wolf ones gicven the cost, just saying.

Re: paint - try a paper coffee cup.

ascherer 

Ditto - that's so nice it hurts!

bertinjim 

tiger1964-

Sorry about the link. It is now corrected in the original post to:

https://cyclesgrandbois.com/SHOP/BT_viva.html

The 1,400 yen is about C $ 14 so about US $10. My shipping was about a week to 10 days depending on when I ordered from Grands Bois.

52telecaster

You said a mouthful there.

daka

Sorry about the mess on your floor. We avoid the use of disposable plastic and have paper cups as a consequence. I also keep old metal pie pans on the workbench for jobs that involve solvents (like spray paint carrier), even just for cleaning bearings with paint thinner or kerosene.

I have a spare pair of GB Maes bend bars (not the correct Randonneur bars for the Gran Sport, but some people don't like the looks of those anyway) but they are narrow, like 37cm narrow, too narrow for me anyway. Yours if you want them.

Someone commented above that they couldn't get a Huret Luxe to shift onto a 32 tooth sprocket - that shouldn't be too much of a surprise, Huret's products specs. list an upper limit of 30t. Getting a Campy NR with a Rally cage (or clone of that cage) to climb to a 32t shouldn't be a problem with a standard hanger, I think the long cage repositions the upper jockey wheel to permit that, at least that is what the Soma product that I bought indicated.

tiger1964 

Man, scrubbing 40+ years' worth of grime/scale off assembled wheels is a chore, but they look better now after mineral spirits then Simple Green. Still some polishing ahead. And I figure I should tweak each spoke just to ensure they turn, otherwise perhaps PB Blaster applied with a Q-tip?

I'll report back once I try ordering; hopefully I can navigate a Japanese site.

Thanks, but it cleaned up well enough. I found in my basement "paint closet" two spray cans of Candy Apple blue that I used to paint my wife's what-is-it French bike back in the 1980's (since stolen); the paint is likely no good but the caps were METAL. Cool, and one worked today to finish up the touch-up on the white. Blue tomorrow?

Appreciated! I do have the Sakae bars on the way. I think randonneurs look a bit goofy but this frame is a good 1/2" smaller than I am used to so I think the additional "rise" will actually help.

(a) As i think I said earlier, the Gran Sport's owner's son was a childhood friend and his Raleigh had the long cage Luxe and had enough trouble getting onto a 28T that he dropped it in favor of Suntour. (b) I have hopes for the NR if I use both the RoadLink plus Soma's long cage plates. There was a recent topic on converting a NR using a Shimano long cage from some model, it looked even better than Soma's but I do not recall which model.

tiger1964 

Aah, I presume Czech? You got me thinking, I tried Amazon on the RoadLink and there are copies for a fraction of the asking price.

ascherer 

Ah, I didn’t see that. I meant Chinese. Here’s one screwed into a hanger, fits just fine.

repechage

not sure on this bike but there was a period where the Reynolds transfer received a block out blank rectangle that deleted the "and stays"

some shops magically uprated the bike by removing the cover - yeah, sneaky.

Of the tubes that could be exchanged and mean the least, the stays would be the tubes to downgrade. The lesser strength steel would be thicker.

the Campagnolo hubs, cranks and derailleurs would be an up-spec. Terrific.
give it a rebuild. Hopefully a Campagnolo BB is fitted.

tiger1964 

Second coat on the blue should be today, 2 coats on the white done. The former matches OEM better than the latter but I hope buffing it down to smooth the touch-ups (polishing compound OK? or will I need super-fine sandpaper?) will blend it well enough to hide that.

Cleaning up 45 years' worth of grime on the wheels without disassembling them was unpleasant, but after a few hours with mineral spirits and Simple Green (am I repeating myself?) they are OK. I plan to Blue Magic the rims, and I misplaced my ScotchBrite pads so I am getting more to get the spokes pretty.

Sand Canyon tires on the way, they were out of tubes but Amazon had 700Cx 32-47mm Prestas in stock and 1-3/8" works out to 35mm so should be OK. Unlike double-wall rimes where the heads of the spoke nipples are recessed, on the Arayas there jut up into the "tube cavity" so i ordered rubber rim bands instead of simply using the Kapton tape I already have... mistake?

Again, thanks. I think I just placed a valid order but they say on the site that international orders will involve e-mail confirmation and as it's the middle of the night there, it might be a few hours.

Dang spell-checker! Anyway, I like the silver finish but ended up buying the "real" Roadlink this AM and it only comes in black, that at least matches the "claw" hanger. I also order the long cage from Soma, both together should give me a lot of gear range ability. Actually, I have not selected ratios yet; I see IRD makes a 13T-32T but not a 13T-30T. I wonder what other choices in a new freewheel might be out there?

There are 531 triangles on the forks and the frame decal says "531 butted frame tubes" but no mentions of stays . Yeah, the Campy bits include a BB, I could, I guess upgrade the headset to Campy -- to continue the Campification -- but the OEM one cleaned up so nice. If I changed it, I've had really good luck with Velo Orange's sealed headsets. The Campy chrome pedals will be removed and I ordered Shimano M540 SPD pedals instead.

bertinjim 

tiger1964-

The follow on email is a normal part of the international ordering process. You should hear from Grand Bois shortly confirming the order. Typically, you also receive one of their catalogues shipped with the order and it's worth buying something just for that alone.

repechage

maybe, back in the period, Campagnolo had the most length required, might have to use a GS headset or Pista- 3 mm less stack.

tiger1964 

As people do like photos, one is included (not a good one!), as I am starting reassembly. Kinda at a stopping point due to so many parts in-transit from suppliers. After buffing the paint -- especially touch-ups -- with polishing compound and then a coat of wax, it looks pretty good if not "show quality".

Okay, but it's been over 24 hours. Anyway, immediately I got e e-mail stating "Please wait the second mail through Paypal which inform you the shipping fee and the correct price" so I know I'm in their system. And, yes, I would not mind getting a catalog (to much to hope for that it's in English?)

Good to know - a stack-height problem is why I am still running a less-than-perfect headset on my Gitane. The OEM headset went back together fine except, somehow during disassembly, a couple of 5/32" loose bearings were lost. Fortunately I had ordered a small bag of each size a couple of years ago and 9amazingly) remembered where they were, so I have the correct count in there now. Whoever made it, the chrome really held up well!

daka

Looks fantastic!