Vintage Raleigh Frame cleaning.

[Markone]

I have a 1989 Raleigh Elix I am cleaning up and refurbing etc, and though the frame sadly has many areas of light coloured rust blemishes breaking through the light blue paintwork I'd like to avoid completely refinishing the frame for the sake of preserving the original finish that remains and decals,too.

What would be the best approach for me to achieve my intended aim for the frame?

 

[t47b]

Re:

What I do is clean with soap and water to remove any grease, then a little watered down white vinegar to treat the rust, when dry then gently T cut do not rub too hard, then a car polish which is after all a mild version of T cut, then to preserve that shiny look use furniture polish, spray on, this seals the surface against air and moisture and will prevent the brown stuff returning. I try to avoid rattle can clear coat as this peels especially in intense sunshine

Caveat: it doesn't rain much here and my bike never gets wet, just dusty, just a rub down with pledge (I believe you can get polish wipes too in the UK)

Original 1978 paint with the odd retouch with a brush to blend out the scratches/chips...

 

[Markone]

Re: Re:

What I do is clean with soap and water to remove any grease, then a little watered down white vinegar to treat the rust, when dry then gently T cut do not rub too hard, then a car polish which is after all a mild version of T cut, then to preserve that shiny look use furniture polish, spray on, this seals the surface against air and moisture and will prevent the brown stuff returning. I try to avoid rattle can clear coat as this peels especially in intense sunshine

Caveat: it doesn't rain much here and my bike never gets wet, just dusty, just a rub down with pledge (I believe you can get polish wipes too in the UK)

Original 1978 paint with the odd retouch with a brush to blend out the scratches/chips...

Thanks for the info I will certainly do as you suggest,but regardless, my frame will always bear the scars of the passage of time I think.Regretfully,at least in a way that your beautifully cared for frame in the enclosed picture does not! :mrgreen:

 

[t47b]

Re:

Ok to give you some encouragement...

My other Imholz had a spot of rust and needed a little touch up before I could t cut and polish it, I painted this with a brush...

Before

During

After

 

[Markone]

Re: Re:

Ok to give you some encouragement...

My other Imholz had a spot of rust and needed a little touch up before I could t cut and polish it, I painted this with a brush...

Before

During

After

Wow!Impressive,there is definitely more hope for mine then than I had so far envisioned.

Great job!

 

[t47b]

Re:

Cheers!

I'm not after perfection, originality is better, you're bound to have rough spots on a 1964 frame, and as long as it looks good from 2 metres away I'm happy

 

[rugbyboyrob]

I have a 1989 Raleigh Elix I am cleaning up and refurbing etc, and though the frame sadly has many areas of light coloured rust blemishes breaking through the light blue paintwork I'd like to avoid completely refinishing the frame for the sake of preserving the original finish that remains and decals,too.

What would be the best approach for me to achieve my intended aim for the frame?

Hi Mark - Did you finish your Raleigh Elix? I've just picked one up and it's got quite a bit of superficial surface rust. I'm just trying to figure out what paint will be the best match for the original colour and I wondered if you can remember what you might have used? How did it turn out in the end? I didn't see a conclusion to your restoration... Cheers

 

[Markone]

Hi Mark - Did you finish your Raleigh Elix? I've just picked one up and it's got quite a bit of superficial surface rust. I'm just trying to figure out what paint will be the best match for the original colour and I wondered if you can remember what you might have used? How did it turn out in the end? I didn't see a conclusion to your restoration... Cheers

Hello,
I just cleaned the frame as best I could using the received advice in the thread above and in this youtube vid,

Touching up of the white fading where necessary was easy to match,of course and for the blue I just used a light blue as close as I could get from a local auto supply store.The blue was only needed on the chain stays,so despite the slight mismatch is not really noticeable.The top tube had some rubbing and paint loss exposing the undercoat I didn't try touching this up I just lightly clear lacquered over the area to seal it.When all this was done I waxed the frame and forks and the frameset ended up looking quite presentable.

I rebuilt the wheels with new hubs and cleaned up the rest of the Exage groupset and rode it like that for a while until I got an excellent full Shimano 1055/56 groupset complete with hubs laced up to Mavic rims.I still have it built up like this and with a 13-21 cassette use it as a training bike,though it's one of my favourite bikes to ride, the frameset is really comfortable and I've done thousands of miles on it.

I really like the Elix it's a very nice looking bike mine is a 21.5'' frame the smallest according to the Raleigh catalogue of the time that was made.If you can I would suggest getting a real wheel with or lacing a rim up to a 126mm Hyperglide hub and freehub as that will not only facilitate smoother shifting over the Exage Uniglide hub and cassette,but will accept 7 speed HG cassettes,which,of course are easily available unlike Uniglide cassettes.

Cheers,
Mark.

 

[rugbyboyrob]

OK thanks Mark. I’m gonna have to do a bit more than that. Mines got rusty surface trails all over it. I’m just trying to identify a reasonable paint match before I start. I’m wondering about Humbrol Sea blue gloss?
I like the bike too. Mines a 22.5” (57cm) and I think it looks great proportionately. I bought a 23.5”Raleigh Record Sprint earlier in the year and realised first time I rode it it was way too big for me. The Elix is a much better fit. I wanted something with 531 tubes and the Elix came up at the right price and distance and here I am.
Despite being a bit rusty, I don’t think it has done mega miles. Seems to be on original tyres. Tape, whilst a bit pushed down, looks like it could be cleanable and salvageable (I think ambrosio is the replacement but pretty rare and costly these days) and the hoods, despite being pretty brown and manky may even clean up with a bit of care and elbow grease (I had a go at one today with mild dove soap and it cleaned up considerably, just left with a few black dots). I might see about getting some 303
Aerospace cleaner for hoods and tape?
One thing that is funny is the rims. The 1989 brochure says
Alesa. One of mine is Alesa, the other is Weinmann and yet they look identical. I haven’t gone into detail but to the untrained eye they look exactly the same. Both stamped Belgium too. Is it possible they came from same factory and are just stamped up differently?
Anyway. Thanks for your input. Cheers Rob

 

[jim haseltine]

If I remember correctly, Weinmann went bust, Alesa bought the tooling and then later were bought by Rigida who eventually were renamed Ryde. The Weinmann name was bought by a company in the Far East.