Mercian serial number question

[winjohn]

Hi Calling the experts! I just bought this King of Mercia bike that looks well used but rideable. The original owner was now selling since he is 90 and feels he should stop riding it.
He bought the frame set new and had it built up for him but he couldn't remember the year. I've looked for a serial number and the are some quite indistinct digits on the BB which I think look like 8287 does this denote 1987 as the year of manufacture?
TIA

 

[winjohn]

I've just given the Mercian a quick rinse down with Muc off to see what we have and the score is a bit of a curates egg.
The modern bars and stem adapter have to go and I do have a decent 3T stem and bar set to fit, complete with 105 brake levers so that should be fine.
It has very lovely XT canti brakes so they will stay as will the Stronglight cranks, BB and headset.
It has an original looking 105 front mech but the rear mech has clearly been replaced at some stage and I do have a nice XT rear mech that may do but is only a short cage so may only take a 28 tooth cog although with the 26 tooth front ring that's probably good enough.
It has a rather nice aero Campag Athena seatpost that I think should stay and then I have either a turbo or flite saddle that should work.
The wheels are Deore hubs with Sputnik rims which run true and free and it even has decent Schwalbe Marathons. So really I have all the bits I need in my parts bin to make this good to go.
The only question remains, what to do with the frame. It probably looks OK in the distant photo but close up there is a lot of rust though I am hesitant about doing a complete strip and paint job. Any ideas?

 

[Rod_Saetan]

Looks good to me, my 80s KoM also arrived with plenty of surface rust but I was confident it was Ok and have done a couple of thousand miles on it in the last ten years, mostly loaded touring. It’ll be fine.

 

[Jamiedyer]

Looks very nice to me.
1980's 531c King of Mercia in touring geometry, very nice
Also with a great touring kit from the XT through to the Sputniks, enjoy.
I have a similar and it is one of the nicest riding bikes I have ever owned. Love it.

Jamie
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

 

[winjohn]

Looks very nice to me.
1980's 531c King of Mercia in touring geometry, very nice
Also with a great touring kit from the XT through to the Sputniks, enjoy.
I have a similar and it is one of the nicest riding bikes I have ever owned. Love it.

Jamie
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately I will have to sell this one once I have restored it since it is way too small for me at 52cm whereas I ride a 58cm. So I am going for a mild restore, swapping out any bad parts, cleaning and greasing but not repainting the frame. Hopefully I can then sell it for enough money to buy one in my size.

 

[winjohn]

Here's where I am now. Frame stripped, Stronglight A9 headset stripped and checked and regreased. BB not touched but very smooth running.
I have cleaned and gone over the frame with rubbing compound to see what's what with the paint and it does need some work on the blue which is quite faded and worn in places with some rusty spots. I am loathed to do the full strip and get it repainted or powder coated since the details like the hand painted pinstripes around the lugs is still looking good.

I sent an email to Mercian to see if they could supply touch up paint and within an hour had the response, "Probably", if I could supply the serial number. I sent ack the number and am waiting to hear on that score. All the nice bits I took off are fine and after a clean and lube as necessary will slot straight back on. The one iffy part is the combination front brake cable hanger/quick release for the cantis which is a bit rusty and may not be salvageable. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement?

Once it is all back together I will try to give it a few short rides, although as I mentioned it is at least two sizes too small for me so once I am happy it is all sorted I will try to sell it and use the money to get another in my size.