tds101
Grumpy old man waiting for the weather to ride...
- Location
- New York, USA
I'm definitely interested in how the restoration works out... I hope it's not too expensive.
What on earth have I bought!
- Thread starter Gunk
- Start date
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These full strip downs and rebuilds are always expensive and this one needs a lot of parts.
Fastpedaller
Über Member
Good work getting the hinge moving. A worry (for me) would be buying a used Brompton and finding the hinge pin moving where it shouldn't but rusted in place where (from new) it moves. I hope I explained that correctly. 
A quick update, virtually everything I need for the restoration is now here, just waiting for a seatpost to arrive.
This afternoon I started on the rear triangle, I used one of these
Which was very effective and much less aggressive than using a grinding disc.
I treated the bare metal with Jenolite, sanded it all down and gave it about three good coats of etch primer.
Once completely dry I’ll puff over a guide coat, sand it back and use some very fine stopper to fill any imperfections, however I am completely happy with the structural integrity of the triangle, it’s come up much better than I thought it would.
So my plan of action is to finish the triangle first, then touch up a few small areas on the main frame, the forks and handlebar stem just need cleaning and cutting back, once I have a complete restored frameset I will then move on to restoring all the cycle parts although quite a lot of stuff has had to be thrown away and replaced.
For those that are interested it’s going to come in at around £500 finished (included the cost of the bike) although I have used quite a lot of stuff that I had already accumulated.
This afternoon I started on the rear triangle, I used one of these
Which was very effective and much less aggressive than using a grinding disc.
I treated the bare metal with Jenolite, sanded it all down and gave it about three good coats of etch primer.
Once completely dry I’ll puff over a guide coat, sand it back and use some very fine stopper to fill any imperfections, however I am completely happy with the structural integrity of the triangle, it’s come up much better than I thought it would.
So my plan of action is to finish the triangle first, then touch up a few small areas on the main frame, the forks and handlebar stem just need cleaning and cutting back, once I have a complete restored frameset I will then move on to restoring all the cycle parts although quite a lot of stuff has had to be thrown away and replaced.
For those that are interested it’s going to come in at around £500 finished (included the cost of the bike) although I have used quite a lot of stuff that I had already accumulated.
That's what I was thinking
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
Nice !
I was expecting to clean up and look like sunday socks..... Holey
I was expecting to clean up and look like sunday socks..... Holey
I spent most of the day today finishing the rear triangle. Adding small amounts of stopper and wet sanding, then priming and applying more stopper to the little imperfections, sanding again until I was completely happy with it. I should be able to apply the top coat of satin black tomorrow.
I have also touched in the frame around the top of the seat tube and the BB area, managed to get a perfect colour match so I’ve done it by hand, I’ll cut it back once dry but I’m pretty confident it‘ll be perfectly passable.
Once the triangle is painted, I’ll clean up the seat stem and forks, I’m just waiting for some replacement headset cups to arrive and then I’ll assemble the complete frameset. But good progress today, It’s turning into a very nice bike.
I have also touched in the frame around the top of the seat tube and the BB area, managed to get a perfect colour match so I’ve done it by hand, I’ll cut it back once dry but I’m pretty confident it‘ll be perfectly passable.
Once the triangle is painted, I’ll clean up the seat stem and forks, I’m just waiting for some replacement headset cups to arrive and then I’ll assemble the complete frameset. But good progress today, It’s turning into a very nice bike.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Like everyone else, I am impressed by what you are doing with that bike! I thought from the original photos that it would fall apart when you tried to clean it up.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
i had a feeling the triangle would be sound underneath all that flaky stuff. I'm happy i wasn't proven wrong 
i had a feeling the triangle would be sound underneath all that flaky stuff. I'm happy i wasn't proven wrong
Because they’re powder coated they often look worse then they are, this one wasn’t too bad because the bike had not been heavily used, so not exposed to lots of salt. I have seen them where the chain stay bridge is completely rotted out.
I know from the first photos it looks horrendous, but it is completely solid, just slightly pitted on a couple of tubes.
Triangle now top coated, I’ll cut it back when it’s fully dry, I also cleaned the forks, bar stem, removed the levers and grips, the levers are beyond repair but fortunately I have another clean set in my box of bits, in fact they are the slightly later versions which are much better.
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