Rusty Lenton Sports Reg Harris Model

[midlife]

Black undercoat, I wonder if it was Bonderised BITD??

 

[Windhover]

Update 22/02/2019
Frame and fork lacquered.
Wheels rust treated and cleaned; other parts rustproofed and cleaned.
Starting to reassemble.
Saddle rebuild and handlebar taping to come. Interesting that I could now spend £40.32 on a pair of aluminium bar ends
Cost so far
Purchase price £35.00
Saddle copper rivets £4.95
Handlebar tape £ 8.50
Two Kendra 26 x 1 ¼ tyres £14.98
Two inner tubes £6.94

 

[Illaveago]

Black undercoat, I wonder if it was Bonderised BITD??

I can remember my brother's Humber from the 50's having black prmer. It showed through where the paint wore away.
Bonderising is normally just treating bare metal with phosphoric acid.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Would Raleigh have been using electro-priming techniques as far back as the early to mid 1950's I wonder? It's a very effective means of getting good adhesion and penetration into all the nooks and crannies of fabricated assemblies. Really huge outfits like Raleigh would have had the sheer scale to make investments in finishing technology that would be beyond small bespoke makers.

 

[midlife]

Would Raleigh have been using electro-priming techniques as far back as the early to mid 1950's I wonder? It's a very effective means of getting good adhesion and penetration into all the nooks and crannies of fabricated assemblies. Really huge outfits like Raleigh would have had the sheer scale to make investments in finishing technology that would be beyond small bespoke makers.

Cliff Pratt Bonderised their frames way back when
Bottom right of the advert, and I recall being told as apparently made the frames go black

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Thanks @midlife I like those old period adverts. I wonder if Kromo and Reynolds were both under TI ownership by that time? The photo-shop, Fifties style, of the bloke's head amuses me for some reason! I remember you recently posted another period advert about something else, and there was a frame geometry article on the same page. I was trying to read the article but the print was rather small....

 

[midlife]

The disembodied Head is Cliff himself... Looked a bit different when I worked at his shop in the 70's.

In the basement they still had all the frame building kit and spray booth. It never interested me at the time but now wish I had got "Bunny" to show me how to make frames.......

 

[biggs682]

In the basement they still had all the frame building kit and spray booth. It never interested me at the time but now wish I had got "Bunny" to show me how to make frames.......

That thing called hindsight

 

[Windhover]

That thing called hindsight

 

[Windhover]

Thanks for all the responses. The wheels have now come out of the acid bath and a week of my life has been spent polishing them up. You can only do this if you are retired and are tenacious enough. As David Phillips said it is a labour of love, in other words a lot of hard work and you will have a great bike at the finish but it will not be worth the money you have to spend on it. Too true. The front hub is a 1958 and the rear a 1954. So what I originally thought was an unmolested bike is not the case. The chrome has worn away to the base metal in places. But all the spokes are sound and the wheels are true enough for me to live with. Onwards and upwards....

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

In the basement they still had all the frame building kit and spray booth. It never interested me at the time but now wish I had got "Bunny" to show me how to make frames.......

I bet the working conditions downstairs weren't too great with all the heat & fumes generated brazing & painting in an enclosed space with poor ventilation. You might have welcomed the knowledge, but I bet you wouldn't have been so keen to get up every morning and do it for a living.

 

[davidphilips]

Well done Windhover and keep up the good work, great to see a bike restored i was out on my Lenton a few weeks ago and they are really great bikes, dont worry about what the bike may be worth when finished think of it this way, any one that buys a new bike for say £1000 can not really belive there bike is worth £1000 they would be lucky to get £500.

Anyway picture of my lenton and hope to see your lenton soon.

 

[Windhover]

Well done Windhover and keep up the good work, great to see a bike restored i was out on my Lenton a few weeks ago and they are really great bikes, dont worry about what the bike may be worth when finished think of it this way, any one that buys a new bike for say £1000 can not really belive there bike is worth £1000 they would be lucky to get £500.

Anyway picture of my lenton and hope to see your lenton soon.

Very nice. Looking at yours I can see that I have issues over my handlebars, mudguards and wheel nuts. My handlebars are not stamped Raleigh but are stamped 'Maes' and 'Reynolds tubing'; my mudguards are alloy stamped 'Bantel'. They will all go back on after restoring but will not look Lenton like at all. I'll send you the photos when I take them.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

If you own and run something for enjoyment rather than an investment, it's market value is irrelevant. The only thing I would be wary of though, is projects that are valuable enough to need to be insured, where the insured value is less than the build costs.

 

[raleighnut]

Very nice. Looking at yours I can see that I have issues over my handlebars, mudguards and wheel nuts. My handlebars are not stamped Raleigh but are stamped 'Maes' and 'Reynolds tubing'; my mudguards are alloy stamped 'Bantel'. They will all go back on after restoring but will not look Lenton like at all. I'll send you the photos when I take them.

I didn't think the Lenton came with mudguards, it was up to the shop to fit them if the customer asked (and paid for) them.

This one is in Johns shop in Leicester,