Just finished building this one. Involved a variety of tools, powder coat, vinyl and tea 😊

[Survivor Bikes]

 

[Survivor Bikes]

Thanks for the likes folks. Raleigh 18 coming up...

 

[ianrauk]

Have you any before pictures? What's the story of the bike?

 

[Survivor Bikes]

Hi ianrauk, thanks for your interest.

I got this one from a house clearance / vintage type dealer in West Sussex. It had been languishing in an overgrown garden, and was in a pretty bad shape all 'round, and not the best candidate for a faithful restoration. It's one of the last H-frame R20 models, which were replaced in the mid 1980's by the far less iconic U-Frames.

After a complete strip down, I media blasted the frame to bare steel, and inspected all the joints. The steel was excellent; as is usually the case with these bikes. I stripped the fenders too, and did a tiny of of panel beating before the whole lot got an initial coat of flat NATO green powder coat. This was then finished with a coat of powder clear and a set of my own designed graphics. I suppose I was trying to evoke the impression of a Land Rover or Willys Jeep.

Mechanically, I swapped out the Sturmey Archer 'Dynothree' hub with one of my fully serviced AW hubs when I built the wheels. I serviced and retained the front hub during the wheel build, and I serviced the bottom bracket, and head race (keeping both in their original configuration).

Regarding the brightwork, its always a case a salvaging what you can. Sadly with Raleigh chrome parts, it doesn't take much polishing until you're through to the nickel; so it's a balancing act to revive what you can, or to replace parts completely. In this instance the stem and bars were swapped out with an alloy one-piece set from BRN in Italy. The original crank assembly polished up nicely, although the new owner understands that the original brightwork will require ongoing care to reduce the risk of surface rust appearing. (Basically wipe it with a bit of WD40 once a month or more frequently in winter).

The side pull callipers are aftermarket too, I powder coated them black. I had considered brown tyres actually, but I just couldn't find any 37-451 coloured rubber. Then I fitted the brown saddle, grips and outers... and had two cups of tea.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Hi ianrauk, thanks for your interest.

I got this one from a house clearance / vintage type dealer in West Sussex. It had been languishing in an overgrown garden, and was in a pretty bad shape all 'round, and not the best candidate for a faithful restoration. It's one of the last H-frame R20 models, which were replaced in the mid 1980's by the far less iconic U-Frames.

After a complete strip down, I media blasted the frame to bare steel, and inspected all the joints. The steel was excellent; as is usually the case with these bikes. I stripped the fenders too, and did a tiny of of panel beating before the whole lot got an initial coat of flat NATO green powder coat. This was then finished with a coat of powder clear and a set of my own designed graphics. I suppose I was trying to evoke the impression of a Land Rover or Willys Jeep.

Mechanically, I swapped out the Sturmey Archer 'Dynothree' hub with one of my fully serviced AW hubs when I built the wheels. I serviced and retained the front hub during the wheel build, and I serviced the bottom bracket, and head race (keeping both in their original configuration).

Regarding the brightwork, its always a case a salvaging what you can. Sadly with Raleigh chrome parts, it doesn't take much polishing until you're through to the nickel; so it's a balancing act to revive what you can, or to replace parts completely. In this instance the stem and bars were swapped out with an alloy one-piece set from BRN in Italy. The original crank assembly polished up nicely, although the new owner understands that the original brightwork will require ongoing care to reduce the risk of surface rust appearing. (Basically wipe it with a bit of WD40 once a month or more frequently in winter).

The side pull callipers are aftermarket too, I powder coated them black. I had considered brown tyres actually, but I just couldn't find any 37-451 coloured rubber. Then I fitted the brown saddle, grips and outers... and had two cups of tea.

Thats a proper resto

 

[Caperider]

View attachment 527302

 

[Caperider]

That's a sweet bike how does it ride?

 

[Survivor Bikes]

That's a sweet bike how does it ride?

Hey, thanks. It all went together really well, and it cruises 😊

 

[Gunk]

that is fantastic, I love it!

 

[Easytigers]

Very nice!!!