1998 Specialized Rockhopper (Rusthopper?)

[spatuluk]

It's all gone! All the paint.. gone!

I removed the paint from the stays on Wednesday, then on Thursday I took off the chainset and front mech to get the paint that was hiding behind/underneath them. While I was at it, I attached the DP7s, STX RC shifters, and Ritchey seatpost.

Want to see a photo of a naked Rockhopper? I thought you might..


Nitanium!

The only things left to do are:

• Hopefully fix the front shifter. It won't select '3', even with cable unattached, hence the odd mech position in the photo.
  Buff, polish, and coat the seat clamp, cable guides, and head races. Kinda tempted to do the fork, but unsure.
  Wait for the rust fairy! :roll:

 

[spatuluk]

Over the weekend, I attempted to make the fork shiny. I started off by using sandpaper, but it didn't really work.. it remained looking a bit dull, and with bits of dirt and/or powder coat ingrained in the metal. I suspected I'd have to let it rust. :|

On Sunday, I had a brainwave, followed by a root through the shed. I knew I had some weird attachments for my drill that I'd bought for renovating a Mini (a far less successful project), and was pretty sure one of them was a rust/paint remover. I dug out an attachment that looked like this, and had a go at the fork with it while my son was having a nap, not really sure what it would do.

The result was impressive! Gone were all the dull and dark patches; replaced with shiny but quite scored metal.

This afternoon, I attempted stage 2; polishing using wet'n'dry sandpaper. I wasn't sure how well it would work, as I'd read that pure metal is hard to make properly shiny, but I went through the grains and ended up with an almost chrome-like finish! It was surprisingly easy, and it makes me a bit tempted to scrub the rust idea and make the whole bike shiny.. I'm not going to, but I might do it if I ever have to get rid of the rust to sell the bike.

I had about 10 minutes left of my lunchbreak, so I decided to put the boiled linseed oil on, in order to preserve it. The oil has an odd smell, which reminds me of going to the beach in my hometown of Southampton. Nostalgic, but not in a good way - the smell was probably being caused by one of the chemical additives, and my memory of the beach in Southampton is one of feeling sick and itching, due to oil pollution caused by the neighbouring Fawley oil refinery. Lovely!

I found a nice webpage that shows how well linseed oil works as a rust protector: http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=25878



This is where I made a teeeeensy mistake, however.. After applying the oil, I lifted the bike over a rail and into the bike rack by holding the top tube with my rust-preventing linseed oil-soaked hands. :facepalm:

Hopefully I can just sand off the oil, otherwise my bike's going to have two preserved hand prints on the top tube!

 

[spatuluk]

*sigh* I'm still waiting for the rust fairy. It seems that she's not a fan of all this hot, dry weather. :|

First, I tried using a plant mister thingy to spray water on, but it dried up in minutes. I was spraying it 3 times a day, but only got a few tiny spots of rust. This morning, I added some salt to the mix, and things have started speeding up a bit, but it's still limited to where the water took longest to dry out, and is very spotty. No "it's fully rusted in 4 hours!" for me. I might try wrapping the tubes with something soaked in salt water, although I'm not sure what I can use. Maybe paper towels.

There's not much else to do to the bike while I wait, but I did have a brainwave regarding the brake and gear cables.. matt black rubber cable outers! Wouldn't that match the rust really well, in a sort of 'old car wreck' kind've way?

No-one seems to sell cables like that, however, and there aren't any guides that I can find for making plastic look rubbery (am I really the only one who's thought of this? :shock. Silicon tubes all seem to be shiny, and rubber tubes are too thick, but I found something called Plasti Dip, which might just fit the bill! It'd be a pricey experiment at £12 a can, tho.

It'd also be really tempting to spray the whole bike with it!

 

[spatuluk]

This is turning into a bit of a one-man thread! I hope no-one minds my updates and blathering.

After a few days of saltwater treatment, the bike's starting to rust nicely!



That took 4 days to achieve, applying salt water 3 times a day. It looks almost golden in that photo, but it's proper rust coloured up close. Patchy, too.

Hopefully today's weather will have evened out the rust a bit, though. The bike was in torrential rain for 2 hours, and at one point I had to ford some water that I expected to be a few inches deep, but actually engulfed both wheels! Most fun I've had on a bike in ages.

oh, and the linseed oil has failed. The front fork is now starting to look as rusty as the rest of the bike, but I kind've expected that to happen. The smell put me off re-applying it like I should've been doing (once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year...), so I'm going to lacquer it this weekend.

If the weather improves.

Which I kinda hope it doesn't. :roll:

 

[zetecmk2]

looking kool!!!

 

[StuPot]

I'm reading the updates with loads of interest! I'm thinking of doing the same to my team red 1997 RockHopper and yes, it sure is looking good... As strange as it is.

 

[spatuluk]

Abort! Abort!

Ebay made me an offer I couldn't refuse, which means having to kick a bike out of the shed (3 bike limit, and even that's pushing it!).

As much as I like this project, I think I'd rather keep hold of my '77 Carlton Cobra, so the Rusthopper has got to go.

Looking at current ebay prices, Rockhoppers don't go for a lot of dosh. I could probably expect to get £50 for it, but that would also require that I get the frame powder coated, coz I don't think anyone in ebayland would buy it rusty. So, £30 net. I could get more by splitting the components... the Specialized cranks tend to go for just under that!

Therefore, I've listed the frame and forks for free in the for sale forum: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=265318. I'm going to keep some of the components, and sell the others. Gotta keep SHMBO happy! :roll:

It's kind've a sad end to the project, but the project that's replacing it is even more exciting.

Farewell, Rusthopper!

*salutes*

 

[spatuluk]

I don't know if I should post this photo, as it doesn't look anywhere near as swanky as the previous photo, but I suppose I should show how far the rust got before the bike passed on (to someone else):



It was still a bit patchy, with normal steel peeking out from within the rust, and you can see how the linseed oil failed me on the forks. Another week would probably have gotten full coverage, at which point I would've re-sanded the fork and brazed bits to get their shine back (and used lacquer this time around).

Now it's someone else's project. I wonder what the poor bike will have to go through next! :roll:

 

[reanimation]

Hiya, Just to conclude the Rusthopper story for now... Quite an interesting project.
I've taken over the frame and forks with big thanks to Spatuluk. I'm not sure what others would do with it but I'm planning to keep it quite industrial or understated or ratesque. I did have one of these mis sold to me last year which made me interested in them so it's great to have a new project, I also think they are a lot like the old Marins which are still on me hit list!

The rust at present has got to that crusty textured sandpaper state now which as an owner of far too many old Fords, I'm not entirely comfortable with it! We know its only surface at this stage though, and it's currently in a dry space...



Some interesting patterns caused by nature and use and human element!
I've got my hands full at present plus a few projects to get on with, once am ready I'll start a new thread. If any folks are interested I'll post back here then.

So it may end up as a disguised ratty commuter or XC/touring, or city utility beast...
TBH I'm really fighting the urge this time to do it all nice and spend much moneys!


The other thing I've noticed in pics and in person is that the right side fork leg is bent back at the top a little. This makes me wonder if the frame got viced to correct forks or something? :facepalm: It's (arguably) not quite posh enough to invest in suspension forks and I do have some hardcore steel forks, for it but never say never. anything could happen yet!

Cheers

 

[spatuluk]

heh. I never noticed the bend in the fork. I'll have to look at my photos and see if I can spot it, too. I guess that might explain why it was always difficult to get the front wheel in..

Some of the sandpaper textures might literally be sand - it got covered in the stuff on Wednesday, while I was commuting on the Trans Pennine trail in the rain. I meant to brush it all off before I handed the bike over, but I was in a bit of a rush on Monday. :roll: