A Raleigh Twenty Refurbishment.

[FrankCrank]

Much as I admire what's been done thus far, I'm another one who doesn't have the patience to do it.
Wiping things over with an oily rag and then admiring the 'patina' is my preferred method.
Gotta admit that shade of blue is pretty naff to my eyes. Could be jazzed up by drizzling paint over it to match the Pollock Workmate, or some other abstract design?
Anyways, very inspirational stuff you're doing there Carl - keep it coming

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I have restored in the past a Dawes Kingpin, one of the things I noticed about the Twenty is that it is no where near as well made as the Kingpin, not even close. There are gaps in the seams where the seat stays meet the seat tube, where the two braces come down from main tube to the bottom bracket and signs of weld spatter, undercutting, visible lack of fusion.

I think that demonstrates the difference between a huge mass market manufacturer and a smaller, more specialist one. Whilst both Raleigh and Dawes generally made very good reliable bikes, most of Raleigh's output was at the lower end of the market whereas Dawes tended to guard their reputation for quality sports bikes. I bet many a Kingpin was the wife's shopping bike, of a Dawes Sports/Tourer owning husband!
It's quite possible that to save on costs, Raleigh sometimes used cosmetically poor fabrications, maybe welded by an apprentice or other trainee, rather than reject them as scrap. Raleigh probably reasoned that not many price-conscious base-model buyers were going to invert their bike to check the weld quality around the BB.

 

[EltonFrog]

Much as I admire what's been done thus far, I'm another one who doesn't have the patience to do it.
Wiping things over with an oily rag and then admiring the 'patina' is my preferred method.
Gotta admit that shade of blue is pretty naff to my eyes. Could be jazzed up by drizzling paint over it to match the Pollock Workmate, or some other abstract design?
Anyways, very inspirational stuff you're doing there Carl - keep it coming

Pollock Workmate! More like pillock work mate!

 

[FrankCrank]

....how's about Spear & Jackson Pollock

 

[Gunk]

i flushed the hub several times over several days,

has it worked?

 

[roadrash]

has it worked?

yes, it worked

 

[12boy]

I think you are hoax and a charlatan Mr Frog. You have bought entirely new parts from some ancient bike shop with all that NOS stuff languishing under a layer of spiderwebs and Cosmolene, given them a quick brush off and the passed them off as rusted stuff you have magically restored to an appearance as new. It just isn't possible to resurrect old rusty parts, like Lazarus, from the grave. Well done !

 

[EltonFrog]

I think you are hoax and a charlatan Mr Frog. You have bought entirely new parts from some ancient bike shop with all that NOS stuff languishing under a layer of spiderwebs and Cosmolene, given them a quick brush off and the passed them off as rusted stuff you have magically restored to an appearance as new. It just isn't possible to resurrect old rusty parts, like Lazarus, from the grave. Well done !

Oh, if only knew the truth.

 

[EltonFrog]

More cleaning outside today, the brake calipers, spindle and nuts and bits bobs. As you can see the spindle and bottom bracket locking nut where covered in years of grease and grime as were the calipers, chain and the other parts. I had forgotten to take a ‘before photo’ of the other bits, but take my word for it they were just as disgusting as the spindle.

The spindle, the chain and locking ring where cleaned with de-greaser with wire wool and brush with a good wipe down afterwords with GT85 and a clean cloth.

The brake calipers had been soaked in oxalic acid overnight to get most of the rust off, then cleaned and polished.

Raleigh Twenty Brake Calipers

It occurs to me that the Raleigh brake calipers seem to have been made for a budget and are not as good quality as the Weinman calipers as seen on the Dawes Kingpin, the Weinman’s are a much nicer design.

Weinmann Brake Calipers

Above are some of the smaller parts that were in oxalic acid over night then cleaned up with GT85 and wire brush. these parts were all grimy and rusty.

 

[Gunk]

Some really nice work there @EltonFrog I'm enjoying this one.

 

[EltonFrog]

Some really nice work there @EltonFrog I'm enjoying this one.

Thanks. My next job are the wheels, I think I’m going to dismantle the rear one, spokes n all, dismantle the hub and clean it out and re-build . I’ve never done anything like that before, it could go horribly wrong.

 

[roadrash]

I am liking this thread because I know just how much work you have put in , having done the same myself

 

[wafter]

Nice work - especially impressed by the chrome work. How are you planning on protecting it now the rust has gone - I'd guess some sort of wax might not be a bad idea..

 

[EltonFrog]

Nice work - especially impressed by the chrome work. How are you planning on protecting it now the rust has gone - I'd guess some sort of wax might not be a bad idea..

It was bare steel and chrome when it was put on the bike originally as far as I know. I think these bikes it rust in the first place is because of neglect. If one maintains one’s bikes properly they won’t rust. So cleaning and polishing the shiny stuff with a polish and the non shiny stuff with GT85 and and a cloth should suffice, it certainly worked for the Kingpin I restored.

 

[Drago]

What are your plans for the paint Mr Frog?