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[Joe24]

Hello
I'm trying to clean up and get my mums old Dawes Newpin back and working. Its got a 3 speed Sturmey-Archer gears on it. Its all original except for new tyres and new breaks, breaks pads need chaning but tyres are good Not bad really, going by the hub and the information from Sheldon Browns website its a 1969 bike.
Theres bits of grease on the bike thats really stubbon, but is slowly coming off. The chain is black, i keep cleaning it. Anyway of trying and get it back to a less dirty colour, or getting most of the gunk off it?
The hub is slowly getting cleaned, but alot of the paint or coating has come off it.
On the handlebars and seatpost(hope they havent seied up, not checked yet) there is rust on the top, anyway of getting it off. Theres also some on the top of the frame, which has gone through the paint. I thought about stripping the paint off and either spraying it myself, or sending it somewhere to be resprayed, but think it will be too much.
The rims are rusted, the front one not too bad, but the back one is brown with rust. I have thought about taking the wheels off, and replacing them and putting a derailer on it instead of the original hub gears, but i'm going to try and keep the hub gears. Will i need to re-oil the hub inside because it hasnt been used for about 30+ years, and is old, or shall i just leave it.
And the biggest question of all, should i just leave it, or try and get a better frame and wheels and stuff and rebuild 1 bike from 2?
Oh, and anyway of cleaning the rack up? Its abit dirty, but the bit that lifts up with the spring has rusted all round, the spring is still good though.
Thank you.

 

[fossyant]

Rust is a bugger on chromed wheels - and will come back as it's penetrated the chroming. Rust on the frame will need sanding off and treating bofore painting - make sure you sand of an area larger than the rust to see if there is any creeping of the corrosion.

For removing stubborn gunk - wd40 it.

Hubs will need re-oiling - there should be an oil port on the hub.

Whether it's worth it or not..... depends upon how sentimental it is.

 

[Joe24]

No sentimental really, just want to see if i could do it or use the bike to no more about how some of the parts work.
How much oil and what oil do i use? How do i get the old stuff out, put something underneath the hole and tip it up?

 

[fossyant]

Not sure - I had a Chopper with hub gears in my youth, and just topped it up with my dad's engine oil. There is a high chance the gears will be full of crud, or rather solid oil... just try adding some first and see what happens.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Regarding the Sturmey Archer, all you need should be here...
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html

I've had one apart in my youth, dissembled, cleaned and rebuilt..it's not an impossible task...I'm no mechanic.

Rust on Chrome rims is a bugger, clean-up as best as possible and use a cure-rust product. On the frame either the same or for small areas I| just apply some oil on a regular basis. Mostly it's cosmetic more than anything else.

 

[Tynan]

I'd be inclined to ride it some before doing any cosmetic work, they usually work ok on the patio

 

[Joe24]

Cheers for the advice.
I will see if i can take the hub apart, and if i can do anything with it. I have looked on Sheldon Browns site, first place i looked. I tried to find the model number on the website, but couldnt find it.
The rust does look cosmetic, so i'll give that a go at cleaning it up. Theres lots of small sections of rust all over really, just small little bits where the rust has taken some paint off.
I was riden a while ago, but it was a few years ago. I had it upside down and went through the gears, gear 1 i dont think it went in, but besides that it worked. I will go out for a quick spin on it tomorrow to make sure its good.
Cheers

 

[Tynan]

don't forget to take the 'before' picture before it becomes a museum piece too pretty and valuable to be taken outside