Harry Hall 531 Professional (complete)

[gavr]

I can feel a new project coming on. Picked up this little beauty thanks to cellleader, a mid 1980s Harry Hall in 531 Pro. Nothing else on the frame to identify it.

I thought I'd be heading to the paint shop with this one but an afternoon scrubbing with plenty of Mr Sheen and some T Cut (the forks had a garage fight with a can of blue paint by the looks of things) it's come up quite well. There's the odd bit of missing paint worst being the fork crown and a touch of surface rust here an there but not bad at all for its age. It's pearl white with sky blue lug lining, Campag drop outs, a saba bottom bracket, concealed brake cable routing and all the braze-ons including race number. A couple of very minor dents don't take anything away from it at all. It weighs in at 2.4kg or so the frame and fork together in size 56 cm.

What to do with it...

 

[Tel]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

That is lovely!

What to do with it!? Well I wanted to be first but as you have the frame already you can be the first member of the 531 flyweight club. A club for retro bike enthusiasts to build the lightest bike they can around a 531 frame. Obviously there are rules....

 

[Renais]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

I think you're on the right lines, leave as is with a good clean and touch up. Personally I wouldn't get over concerned about a perfect paint match so long as I wound up with a good useable bike. Nice frameset

 

[gavr]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

What to do with it!? Well I wanted to be first but as you have the frame already you can be the first member of the 531 flyweight club. A club for retro bike enthusiasts to build the lightest bike they can around a 531 frame. Obviously there are rules....

No big money thrown at this one I'm afraid. Any advice on touching up the paint where it's missing?

 

[Tel]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

Doesn't need too much money spent! Careful selection of parts, drill, hacksaw, grinder, etc

Thinking about this last night and I do actually have a frame I could use myself; my old 1985 Raleigh team Panasonic. Bit tatty now but has lots of sentimental value....

Anyway whatever you decide to do with it I'm sure it will be awesome!

 

[Renais]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

Is it plain white enamel or polychromatic?

I have used fine steel wool and smoothrite (smooth hammerite) with some success. Its surprising how easy it is to accept something which hasn't cost an arm and a leg There is always the option of a professional refurb at a later date if you really get to love the bike and you wont really know till after you ride it :roll:

 

[gavr]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

Is it plain white enamel or polychromatic?

It's a metallic paint so won't match up anyway but perhaps I can get something ok. I'll give it a try, can't do any major harm

 

[Renais]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

Pearl white sparkly nail varnish (tesco?) might be a good enough match for small areas, but you prob know that already

 

[gavr]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

I've had a go at the paint, mixed a little yellow hobby enamel into some white and it's not far off with a light lacquer coat on top - it's nothing special close up but will do the job for now. I found a nice Campag record headset and some dropout adjusters in the parts box, cleaned the bottom bracket threads up and faced the shell nicely. A random pair of wheels to see what this might look like...

 

[Renais]

Re: Harry Hall 531 Professional

Nice work, looks perfectly presentable