Vintage Battery Cycle Lamps Restoration Modification

[Survivor Bikes]

Evening team. So I’ve assembled this motley crew of lamps to see what can be done with them. Previously, I’ve had a go at dismantling the one in the foreground; but I think instead of grinding off the small rivet heads, it may be preferable to drill them out using teeny-tiny drill bits.

This selection includes brands such as Ever Ready, Berec (which I believe was a UK subsidiary of Ever Ready), Vesta and erm, the black one. Which I can‘t quite decipher; possibly ‘Lanlite’?

Tomorrow I’ll aim to get one dismantled, blasted and straightened. I would have done so today, but I made an unplanned purchase, and then ended up going to collect a... 1976 Puch Pirate! Yeah, me neither 🤣. It turns out to be an Austrian version of a Raleigh Commando, complete with dimpled chain guard etc. It’s gone straight into my boneyard for now, but this is what it looks like:-

See you tomorrow 😊

 

[Survivor Bikes]

Ah, the uniquely satisfying process of media blasting...

 

[Drago]

Wow! I wish I had half the gear you do.

Once again, watching with avid interest.

 

[CharlesF]

Yeah, something new to keep me fascinated! Thanks, @Survivor Bikes !

 

[Drago]

I am thinking of starting a religion, with @Survivor Bikes bikes as my god.

Anyone else want to join The Church of The Rusty Chainwheel?

 

[TheDoctor]

If I was going to worship anything, it would be gaffer tape.
Or Saccharomyces cerevisiae

 

[Survivor Bikes]

Wow! I wish I had half the gear you do.

Once again, watching with avid interest.

Especially for @Drago, at some stage this week, I’ll be trying out our brand new pneumatic pop rivet gun. I’m v excited !

 

[Survivor Bikes]

I’ve just been out to collect this Elswick Cosmo, with an ‘interesting’ custom paint scheme. The vendor assured my that it was nothing to do with him! Somebody really wanted a Raleigh banana

 

[Grant Fondo]

I love the way bike lights look 'of their period'. I rember having a very 60s looking dynamo set, chrome elliptical front light and all that space-age stuff, little fins here and there, updated by the modular plastc 70s lamps from Ever Ready.
Great to see some old lamps being brought back to life though

 

[Survivor Bikes]

Ok, back at the ranch now. I’m going to experiment with a ‘chrome’ effect on this first lamp; just to see if it’s a viable finish. It’s no substitute for real chrome of course, but it’s worth a try.

The Media-blasted parts are ‘out-gassing’ in the curing oven. At around 180°C, any contaminants should be baked out.

We’ll need the oven up to around 200°C in order to cure the chrome effect coat. After that, it will require a gloss clear coat to protect the finish. The chrome effect powder coat, doesn’t have the resilience of regular colours. Sadly, the extra coat of clear reduces the lustre a bit too. I guess you can’t have everything.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Ok, back at the ranch now. I’m going to experiment with a ‘chrome’ effect on this first lamp; just to see if it’s a viable finish. It’s no substitute for real chrome of course, but it’s worth a try.
View attachment 536120
The Media-blasted parts are ‘out-gassing’ in the curing oven. At around 180°C, any contaminants should be baked out.
View attachment 536121
We’ll need the oven up to around 200°C in order to cure the chrome effect coat. After that, it will require a gloss clear coat to protect the finish. The chrome effect powder coat, doesn’t have the resilience of regular colours. Sadly, the extra coat of clear reduces the lustre a bit too. I guess you can’t have everything.

Can you do my frame if it comes out ok

 

[raleighnut]

Ok, back at the ranch now. I’m going to experiment with a ‘chrome’ effect on this first lamp; just to see if it’s a viable finish. It’s no substitute for real chrome of course, but it’s worth a try.
View attachment 536120
The Media-blasted parts are ‘out-gassing’ in the curing oven. At around 180°C, any contaminants should be baked out.
View attachment 536121
We’ll need the oven up to around 200°C in order to cure the chrome effect coat. After that, it will require a gloss clear coat to protect the finish. The chrome effect powder coat, doesn’t have the resilience of regular colours. Sadly, the extra coat of clear reduces the lustre a bit too. I guess you can’t have everything.

Were those lights chromed originally, I seem to remember most were painted a matt grey (almost a 'hammerite' finish but smaller 'dimples')

 

[Gunk]

Were those lights chromed originally, I seem to remember most were painted a matt grey (almost a 'hammerite' finish but smaller 'dimples')

I think he’s just putting his own twist on it.

 

[Survivor Bikes]

Well I finished one of those lamps in high chrome effect powder yesterday... and it was, quite frankly, rubbish!

Those chrome effect coatings are fine for candy finishes (like the Raleigh Eighteen I did recently), but no good on their own.

Never mind; I've got oodles of lamps and an entire spectrum of coloured powders to throw at them. Including, a silver hammered finish, which @raleighnut quite rightly identifies as the authentic aesthetic.

It's a bit off topic I know, but I've also picked up a couple of cool retro torches ('flashlights' for our colonial cousins); a Pifco Superbeam and an Ever Ready Space Beam. They're made largely of pressed steel, and should freshen up a treat.

 

[Drago]

Go for silver hammered! That's the finish of a real Englishman.