Raleigh Rapide 1983 - Project Old-man - epilogue (P6)

[Jamiedyer]

Looking Brilliant

Looking Brilliant! so far.
Cant wait to see it all back together, I bet he will be really taken aback with what you've done.

Jamie

 

[TGR]

Al,

The bits look great, elbow grease mustn't be in short supply! I think i have some worse scratches than you and i am waiting for some items to help me get rid of them.

Keep up the good work,

Richard

p.s. i will try and remember the item for you this week (if you hear nothing email/pm me)

 

[al-onestare]

Cheers!

Little bit of polishing this weekend. My Explosif took centre fold with it's completion

Lovely brakes:

Having a re-think on the headset and skewers and how to preserve them. They are quite tatty so I may end up doing something else with them. What exactly I'm not sure at this stage

 

[Tel]

Coming together very nicely Ah the joys of cleaning bikes to within an inch of they're lives, breathing new life back into a tired old machine is so rewarding.

Regarding Gum hoods you could try these modern Cane Creek: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pr-MAFAC-and ... 51a38cfcf7

Or these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Road-Brake-Le ... 337dbc98c0

Or these!!!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-WEINMANN- ... 484a5f67ba

 

[Deleted member 24574]

Look like excellent progress.

 

[al-onestare]

Coming together very nicely Ah the joys of cleaning bikes to within an inch of they're lives, breathing new life back into a tired old machine is so rewarding.

Regarding Gum hoods you could try these modern Cane Creek: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pr-MAFAC-and ... 51a38cfcf7

Or these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Road-Brake-Le ... 337dbc98c0

Or these!!!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-WEINMANN- ... 484a5f67ba

Many thanks for this, the 2nd set look good and a decent price. I'd love the last pair but the old man isn't worth that much

 

[al-onestare]

Update time.

So apart from the wheels, everything has been polished and spruced up as best I can. The frame was T-cut this weekend and buffed and whilst the patina remains the wonderful pearlescent shines through much more than before.

I had some joy with the BB. I released I had a headset spanner that would fit the flat edged side and without much effort I was able to get it off. The lock ring on the other side was very gently removed with my fair hands and a tea towel (!) and the remaining piece could screw out my hand also. After a good clean, degrease then lube, re-assembled it's super, super smooth.

The pedal bearings had some similar love shown with the same results.

I love the brakes. Now they are assembled wand lubed they work really well. Let's hope the brake blocks are a bit more effective now.

Lovely levers.

Just a little bit cleaner than before!

I like how the seat tube neatly slots into the lug

Fork action.

Some nice frame details including the repair to the centre piece of the R in Raleigh. It came off during it's first clean so I carefully captured it and kept it flat in an envelope. A little super glue and a pair of tweezers did the rest.

On the top tube you can see some of the patina; it's worse the other side but it's not enough to warrent a respray.

She's been put back together (shots to come) minus the wheels which are this weeks job. After that it's the details which leads me onto...

I'd like some good quality skin-wall tyres. I'd also like some fancy black bar tape, maybe with some nice detailing. Finally I'll need cables. What would you recommend?

We're defo on track for Christmas!

 

[Plus one]

These look the biz and a bargain too

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewit ... 0775084067

 

[al-onestare]

Nice! Being super picky I'd like something with a logo that is in line with the overall colour scheme. So the blue logo isn't quite right here.

 

[Plus one]

Yup bit of white spirit solves it