Raleigh twenty. Resprayed and de rusted.

[ianpallen]

This is my Raleigh Twenty R20 1974.
I bought it for £10 as it needed cleaning and a new inner tube on the rear wheel. I had been watching it now and again on Preloved for a long time as it started off at £150. He had it up for £20 and I messaged the seller. I didnt think I was going to get it. But he checked the bike and said hte back wheel would not pump up and I offered him £10 and he said yes. I had to walk 1.5 hours pushing it home as I do not have transport.
The red is how it was when I bougjht it and I stripped the bike down and cleaned all of the shiny bits and sprayed it blue enamel.
I partially rebuilt it.
I have bought new tyre and inner tube, a set of brake blocks and a pair of cotter pins as I had to drill the old ones out.
I dont know if I will fit the dynamo lights or just put battery or rechargeable lights on. I am thinking of putting BMX wheels on it for lightness.
I have yet to clean the wheels up. The rust on it was just surface rust and not bad at all. A wire brush on a drill cleaned it up with no problem and minimal surface rust on the frame.

 

[Deleted member 35268]

Looks like you got a decent finish. Good job

 

[ianpallen]

Thanks. I tried to go easy with rattle cans so I didnt get any runs. Got a couple of small scratches under hte frame, but not down to the metal.
The chrome parts were all cleaned with a wire wheel on my drill. Not polished them, although I have got some Autosol metal polish. The shine is there and a wipe does it justice.
I am having a couple of days off from it as I am gearing myself for wire wheeling the wheel rims in case I dont get any bmx mags.
I am going to take the front light off and put rechargeable led light on and an led on the rear.

 

[ianpallen]

This is my other Raleigh Twenty. It is a 1979 and seems mostly original. It has a twist grip 3 speed selector and rear dynohub. The pedals are not original and I think hte basket and front rack are off a shopper, u less hte shopper also came with Twenty on the frame instead of Shopper.
It is originally from Leicester and as far as I know, it has always been in Leicester where I live.

 

[Gunk]

Never restored a 20 but I’d love to do one.

 

[FrankCrank]

A nerdy thing I discovered recently was that around 1977 the chainwheel Raleigh griffin logo was reversed - you've got a version of each on your two bikes.

Not sure why they changed, maybe to match the headset badge?

 

[bonzobanana]

Looks like both bikes have a dynahub and personally I would want to use them as they are generating electricity anyway.

Great to see another Raleigh back in use. I think the 20's are great bikes and have super reliable 3 speed mechanisms mostly.

 

[sevenfourate]

Great job. Looks really good now. Freshened up a treat ! What make enamel spray do you use btw ?

I grew up with / on BMX’s. And as the bike is not going to be a concours / Factory replica: I say go for it on the BMX wheels 👌 Presume you’re thinking spoked not mag wheels ?

Enjoy…..

 

[ianpallen]

A nerdy thing I discovered recently was that around 1977 the chainwheel Raleigh griffin logo was reversed - you've got a version of each on your two bikes.

Not sure why they changed, maybe to match the headset badge?

I think it was to match the head badge. I am sure I read it somewhere.

 

[ianpallen]

Great job. Looks really good now. Freshened up a treat ! What make enamel spray do you use btw ?

I grew up with / on BMX’s. And as the bike is not going to be a concours / Factory replica: I say go for it on the BMX wheels 👌 Presume you’re thinking spoked not mag wheels ?

Enjoy…..

I used Rustoleum paint. I prefer Plastikote, but it is a lot dearer than hte rustolium..
I was thinking of BMX mag wheels, but think spoked would be better. The alloy mags are very expensive and the other mags are plastic. Thinking of going for spoked alloy wheels. Make is a single speed. If I get to ride it, I am too old to go racing around the streets. lol.
If I could afford it, I would make one electric powered.

 

[ianpallen]

Bought new cotter pins for the blue one and the R nuts are too big for the new ones. Its a shame. I am not going to keep buying cotter pins until I get the correct thread size. lol The gbike has hte R nuts on the front wheel, one on the rear wheel and the cotter pins.
If I buy a BMX bike for the wheels, I think I will change the head set plastic bushing for the bearing set if it fits. Unsure if the sizes will be the same, or might change hte front forks so hte front has V brakes.

 

[ianpallen]

Update on my '74 Twenty.
My bike pump and black brake cables arrived today. I am waiting for brake adjusters to arrive. I am thinking of buying a pair of halogen bicycle lamps and changing the bulbs to LEED bulbs as halogen will flatten the battery quite quickly.