Rust and paint nightmare
So, decided to tackle the rust on the interior of the seat tube and the bottom bracket shell. Initially a bit of wire wool cleaned up the BB shell. Then I dropped a string (on a metal loop screw) down through the seat tube and attached a ball of wire wool. I then pulled this back and forth in the tube to clean off the rust. Once i felt the rust had been removed I did the same trick with a rag sprayed with WD40 to wipe the inside of the seat tube. Everything came up looking pretty clean.
Next i decided to sand the bar ends which were heavily scratched. I bought a rust and paint remover wheel from Halfords but it was not even as effective as cheapo sandpaper from the 99p shop! Once i had sanded them with a couple of grades of paper i washed them to remove grease, dried them and then spayed them with grey primer.
I was hoping to be able to match the exact colour the bar ends were before (and bars stil are). But my first attempt is not the best. I'm really struggling to find the exact shade of pale(r) metallic slate as i suspect it was originally anodised.
I also bought aluminum silver spray and gloss lacquer to spray the stem but I'm now having second thoughts.
The alternative is to keep it raw and polish it a lot or lacquer it bare (which I've heard is a no no).
Project continues when this rain stops. Not much else i can do until i can match this paint and then sort out the frame rust.
Getting there tho!
So, decided to tackle the rust on the interior of the seat tube and the bottom bracket shell. Initially a bit of wire wool cleaned up the BB shell. Then I dropped a string (on a metal loop screw) down through the seat tube and attached a ball of wire wool. I then pulled this back and forth in the tube to clean off the rust. Once i felt the rust had been removed I did the same trick with a rag sprayed with WD40 to wipe the inside of the seat tube. Everything came up looking pretty clean.
Next i decided to sand the bar ends which were heavily scratched. I bought a rust and paint remover wheel from Halfords but it was not even as effective as cheapo sandpaper from the 99p shop! Once i had sanded them with a couple of grades of paper i washed them to remove grease, dried them and then spayed them with grey primer.
I was hoping to be able to match the exact colour the bar ends were before (and bars stil are). But my first attempt is not the best. I'm really struggling to find the exact shade of pale(r) metallic slate as i suspect it was originally anodised.
I also bought aluminum silver spray and gloss lacquer to spray the stem but I'm now having second thoughts.
The alternative is to keep it raw and polish it a lot or lacquer it bare (which I've heard is a no no).
Project continues when this rain stops. Not much else i can do until i can match this paint and then sort out the frame rust.
Getting there tho!
