Kicking off restoration project - Marin Sausalito FS

[takeawaydave]

Seen a lot of folk on this forum going on about Nitromors which I guess is what I would want to get if available however since its not went down the DIY shop today and bought some "Nitro thinner" which is apparently really nasty stuff containing the likes of Butan-1-ol, 2-Methyl-1--Propanol and Ethylacetate.
Might be having to take this one outside and put on the protective glasses, rubber gloves and mask...
Plan at this stage is to:
a) Check to see of the "Nitro thinner" on an unobtrusive part of the frame to ensure it takes off the lacquer
b) Fine wire wool any lacquer that's left
c) Wet and Dry 800 sand paper the frame lightly
d) Autosol Aluminium for a shine
Ideally I think a finer sandpaper would have been better but that was the finest available.

 

[Canopy]

sounds just like nitromors.. really nasty stuff

 

[takeawaydave]

Bike frame finally completed. Decided to not go for the super polished look and to keep aligned with the original brushed aluminium look.

Mainly worked with Wire Wool grade 00 and then dropped to 000 grade.

Didn't wire wool the welds at all but instead took a wire brush to them in order to make sure they retained their shape.

 

[The History Man]

Nice job. How many hours?

 

[takeawaydave]

Nice job. How many hours?

Thanks ! I lost count actually but I would guess around
20 split over many months.

 

[takeawaydave]

Progress update

Thought it might be time to update this thread just for the sake of completion. Its been over a year since the last update and even thoughg the bike is not yet complete things have been moving along albeit at snail pace.

So the frame was done and purchased a second Mavic Open Sport rim to now have a pair. The Shimano chainset was completed finished and have bought a nice new shiny touring square taper 50-40-30 triple (Stronglight chainwheels with Sugino XD2 cranks) which is now installed on to a new Shimano sealed BB. So far so good.

At the back I managed to buy the cassette with the MegaRange gear and matching rear derailleur as originally came with the bike. As with the front derailleur.

Finally decided I'd rather spend money on a good solid front fork instead of getting a mediocre suspension fork and picked up a Surly Ogre at my local bike dealer today. More than I wanted to spend but from what I understand of this fork it will last and last plus it will have a good resell value if I ever want to sell.





Weight so far 7.7 Kg

Any recommendations on a headset and stem?

Racks and panniers will probably be on front and back at some stage so was thinking of something middle of the road like a Creek Cane 40 and FSA OS 168 Stem and than looking to get some comfy but not too low handlebars with Shimano Sora dual controls.

 

[davidj]

Did the Nitro Thinner have much impact on the original laquer? Or was it removed with the wire wool and wire brush?

 

[takeawaydave]

Did the Nitro Thinner have much impact on the original laquer? Or was it removed with the wire wool and wire brush?

Yes it took some the laquer off.. leaving a thinner layer which I then attacked with wire wool.

 

[takeawaydave]

Further update photo

A little closer towards getting the old bike up and running again.

Added some Velo Orange Casey Crazy Bars and Brooks saddle.

The geometry seems to work well but will only really be able to tell once riding...