1973 Flandria

[Flandria]

Hi all,

Some time ago I acquired this little Flandria frame, with a full NR group (patent '75). After closer inspectio, I discovered that the frame had suffered from a frontal collision. I made a topic about what to do with the frame, which you can find here: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=261136

Conclusion of the topic and my LBS/framebuilder: or a full restauration including replacing the top- and downtube, or just leaving the frame as it is. My LBS had the frame in his hands and told me there's no risk at all riding the frame in this condition.

Now, a couple of months later, I decided to clean up all the parts and give the frame a cheap powdercoat. Colour will be the original Flandria-red with new decals. In that way, the frame will be smaller copy of my other Flandria (link in signature). I know there's a lot of discussion about powdercoating/lacquering, but with the frame damage in mind I couldn't justify a more expensive respray.

The bike as I bought it:

As said, the group is NR: hubs, front- and rearderailleur, shifters, brake handles and calipers, seatpost, pedals and cranks. The bottom bracket has Campagnolo bolts but is from an unknown brand. Headset is Hattaswan, stem and bars are Cinelli. Saddle is a brown Cinelli Unicanitor. Some of the parts before cleaning:

 

[Flandria]

I wanted to overhaul all the parts completely, so made a point of it to disassemble every little screw and nut of this bike. It was the first time I revised hubs and pedals. I applied a special kind of saddle lotion on the Cinelli and it turned out well. A lot of hours later, this was the result:

 

[Flandria]

Than: the frame. Size is 54 ctc, this means the frame is way to small for me. But hey, can't ride everything, so ... . Tubing is Ishiwata 022 and the dropouts are campagnolo. This is a full-on Flandria racing frame, so definitely worth giving it at second life. Strange enough, it was painted and branded by a bike store in Oostende, Belgium, and has never seen the real Flandria red colours and decals. But the serial number on the left dropout, the datestamp on the seat lug, the distinctive lugs and geometry all make sure it's a real Flandria.

As you can see in the pictures, I'm preparing the frame to bring it to the powdercoater. Any tips on how to protect the BB shell? Oh, and the axle of the rear hub turns out to be broken. Anyone has a spare or an old one I could get for a reasonable price?

I'll keep you updated!

 

[Robbied196]

Lovely job 10 out of 10, looking forward to the finished pics

 

[bikenut2010]

you can protect the BB shell by threading a couple of old cups in a few turns, amazing polish job...by hand or did you use a bench polisher? or just solvent and many hours? top dollar!

 

[Flandria]

you can protect the BB shell by threading a couple of old cups in a few turns, amazing polish job...by hand or did you use a bench polisher? or just solvent and many hours? top dollar!

Thanks! All the polishing was done by hand, a lot of patience, tin foil, WD40, autosol and a lot of cloth. But I have to say, the parts still have some wear and patina left!

Concerning the BB: old cups is a great idea, only problem is I don't have a set here... So I'll add that together with the rear axle on the searchlist . Looking for english thread by the way...

 

[Agency_Scum]

I'm following this, it's lovely!

 

[bugloss]

Might have a rear axel for you.

Tell me more.

 

[Flandria]

Minor update: finally found some time to work on the frame today. Prepared it to bring it to the powdercoater!

To start with, I've degreased and cleaned the frame. Afterwards, I've put screws in the shifter- and bottlecage threads to protect them. Someone gave me a great tip on how to protect the bottom bracket shell when you don't have any spare cups: a simple piece of wood will do the trick!

Afterwards, I've refurbed the chrome on the rear fork. It was a dull and had some speckles of light rust on it. First step was cleaning the chrome with degreaser. After that I gave it a good rub with tinfoil to make it shine again. Finishing touch was applying autosol. Although the chrome isn't perfect (you can still see some very small scratches and some chain damage), I'm pleased with the result.

Bottom bracket protection:

Chrome before:

Chrome before:

Chrome during the clean-up:

Bling bling result:

Not perfect though:

I've also sourced some parts: white bar tape, bar plugs, and period correct decals. Not sure if I'll go for red or white cable outers. Both were used by the Flandria team back in the day. Red looks nicer to me, but white would match the other Flandria better...

 

[Rich34]

Oooh, lovely. Loving it so far, can't wait to see it finished.