boy"O"boy's Pace RC100S

[boy"O"boy]

Hi all, just seen Videojetman's build thread for his RC100 and realised I hadn't got round to starting one of my own :roll:

Some background -

I bought my RC100S from Burkeredh on the forum here in June this year.
When advertised, I realised that this was an opportunity to own a unicorn that was too good to miss! - and after a brilliant transaction with Burkeredh, I was now the new owner of a Pace RC100 - one that appears on Rich's fantastic website too!

Link to Burkeredh's original thread -
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7780

Every retro project I have undertaken so far has required 'a bit of work' so to speak - and this was no exception. One of the plus sides of this latest project however, was that burkeredh had done a great job in assembling getting all the specific RC100 parts together, the Suntour parts being NOS, Mavic 231 rims, Chris King no threadset, NOS continental baja tyres all included in the package.

1st thing I did as soon as I'd recieved and assembled the Pace, was to ride it round the block a couple of times - grinning like an idiot.
Then I sat down...looking at the bike of course! and decided a plan of action. Having seen Pete_Mcc's and Dr S's fantastic examples, I decided I wanted an 'as new' example and set about listing the parts I'd need to complete.

I had the ideal basis to start from, I needed the original RC30 '531' legs - which after 3 months or so of searching, Robmac kindly sold me a pair. The frame had been powdercoated in a thick 'battleship grey', so thick in fact...you couldn't seen the frame number. The bullseye's and stem had been powdercoated in 'pillar box red' - all extremely useable as was, but not the RC100 I had in mind.

I went away to think about it. Get my research together, gather those parts I would need, email Rich with loads of questions about 'what was specific about the RC100S?'

- then project Al-Mega suddenly came together, and spurred on by 'neon BOTM', the Pace went on the back burner. Until Videojetman's RC100 build thread appeared!....

 

[boy"O"boy]

Continued...

So, research done and project Al-Mega complete - the decision was made to strip down the existing build, cataloging and bagging all the parts as I went.
Slightly daunted by the prospect of damaging any of the RC100 specific parts, I was surprised by how easy it was to disassemble. The only parts I didn't remove then were the headset and bottom bracket bearings - choosing to do this at work with a vice and a proper drift.

Although I tried to preserve the top tube cable guides without damage, naturally they broke when I removed them but was able to salvage enough to see what they originally looked like. Unfortunately, as had happened to the previous guides before the powder coat - the ends had broken off and were rattling around in the top tube. Both the seat tube and head tube ends are closed meaning these bits are well and truly stuck! After reading petemcc's thread - I going to go down the silicon sealer route rather that drill any holes! Watch this space for updates on the line guide situation!

So. Frame finally stripped, the threaded bolt holes such as grease nipples, bottle mounts, magura mounts and rear mech hanger had longer bolts of the same size inserted to protect the threads.

Several liberal applications of nitromors around the bottom bracket area and a bit of scrapping - the frame number that had been hidden by the thick powder coat was finally revealed.

Restoration of Pace RC100 frame# RC0286 was underway.

boy"O"boy

 

[boy"O"boy]

Continued....

A hell of a lot of nitromors and a sharp scrapper later, the majority of the thick powder coat was off. Some areas were still proving stubborn after 6 or 7 coats though so I decided to hand the frame over to 'the boy's at work to put the frame and parts through the media blaster. The bottom bracket and head tube were bunged up with milk carton caps to protect the surfaces and the cable guide holes also filled to prevent anymore stuff rattling around in the top tube!

A few days later, the frame was back....a few tiny bits still needed removing with an x-acto knife but the paint had finally gone. A "bastard of a job" was the description on the note with it.

All parts now stripped but workload means they'll be unlikely to see any paint until mid Feb. So, what to do next?

Well. The RC 30 fork crown is an anodised grey/gunmetal colour on the 'S' as opposed to black, so the crown was cleaned and polished - then dropped into a local anodiser/finisher who said there may be a bit of a wait until they get more items in a similar colour as it's only a small item and to keep the costs down. - fair enough. I'm not in a rush

Future installment -
The appliance of science....watch this space!

 

[sinnerman]

......tease...

 

[tintin40]

One of the best GB mtb's made.

 

[boy"O"boy]

Graphic proofs.
* updated text to follow * 10/01/12

 

[feetabix]

I won't cheapen things with needless comments.....your country needs you in its hour of need, if Churchill rode he would have an rc100 to fly the flag whilst raising morale!....good luck!...






Stands respectfully upright and and salutes....

 

[JustKev]

With the "Boys" history this should be good. Hurry up Ben!

 

[Dossa]

Going to be another stunner, Ben, looking forward to this coming together!

More mag scans for reference, apologies if you've got/seen these before

 

[videojetman]

how's the build going ?
looking forward to seeing this done.