Carlton Cobra - 1968 - Refurbishment Project

[Justified_Sinner]

Further to the conversation earlier, here are some shots of my "new" Carlton Cobra. I rode it out for 20km today - quite a change from my Ribble CGR-AL Gravel Bike... getting used to the downtube shifter (not had one of those since I was 15) and the toe-clips was a challenge, as was the enormous chain-ring (58, when I am used to 42).
Great fun.

 

[Cycleops]

Lovely bike, a classic. The subject of every schoolboy's dream in its day.

Are you sure that ring is a 58?

 

[Justified_Sinner]

Lovely bike, a classic. The subject of every schoolboy's dream in its day.

Are you sure that ring is a 58?

No! There is no marking on it, so I counted the teeth per section. Approximately 58. Still much bigger than I'm used to.

 

[Illaveago]

That looks nice , it doesn't look like you have any rust spots .
It does look like a big chainring .

 

[Justified_Sinner]

That looks nice , it doesn't look like you have any rust spots .
It does look like a big chainring .

There are a couple of rusty spots just under the seatpost and on the tops of the forks. I may have the whole thing stripped and re-chromed. Being in Birmingham, that is not a problem!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I would live with the slightly imperfect chrome. Modern chrome is generally crap quality unless very expensive, and the processes of stripping and rechroming doesn't do the steel tubing any favours.

 

[Justified_Sinner]

I would live with the slightly imperfect chrome. Modern chrome is generally crap quality unless very expensive, and the processes of stripping and rechroming doesn't do the steel tubing any favours.

Thank you. That is good to know. I will be very, very careful. Fortunately, I work in the Jewellery Quarter and I'm a metalworker with loads of contacts, so I can do the research easily and will post here, of course!

 

[raleighnut]

Thank you. That is good to know. I will be very, very careful. Fortunately, I work in the Jewellery Quarter and I'm a metalworker with loads of contacts, so I can do the research easily and will post here, of course!

Will it not clean up with foil ?

 

[Justified_Sinner]

Will it not clean up with foil ?

I got some of it off with foil but I'm most worried about the little blisters under the chrome at the top of the forks, which is why I was thinking about stripping it.

 

[midlife]

Carlton were very proud of their chrome, put on top of nickel and chrome, I raced my Cobra back in the 70's and have one like yours in the garage

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

If you've got rust blisters then you need to scrape them back to a sound base, then seal the steel, otherwise the rust will spread under the surface coating. So long as the area isn't huge, a bit of touching up with silver paint will superficially look OK. It won't hold up to a close examination obviously, but generally we don't examine bike frames with a magnifying glass. The impression we get of the paintwork or chrome on a bike or car etc, for good or bad, is usually the finish as seen from several yards or more away.

 

[Illaveago]

I got some of it off with foil but I'm most worried about the little blisters under the chrome at the top of the forks, which is why I was thinking about stripping it.

I was wondering if it might be easier to get a spare set of painted Carlton forks chromed?
The chrome on my forks are pretty rubbish. It is a late model Nottingham built one .

 

[Justified_Sinner]

I was wondering if it might be easier to get a spare set of painted Carlton forks chromed?
The chrome on my forks are pretty rubbish. It is a late model Nottingham built one .

That is really interesting - the chrome on the forks does appear to be of a lower quality than the frame. I wonder if that is the case.
Replacing the forks might be a good option, or just looking at painting them again - they were painted originally.

 

[Justified_Sinner]

Carlton were very proud of their chrome, put on top of nickel and chrome, I raced my Cobra back in the 70's and have one like yours in the garage

That's good to know, thanks. It would be good to see pics. of your bike if you have any.

 

[Justified_Sinner]

If you've got rust blisters then you need to scrape them back to a sound base, then seal the steel, otherwise the rust will spread...

Thank you. I actually thought I would get away with just cleaning off the blistered areas and re-chroming but it sounds like more work than that!