Raw steel question

naboo

Devout Dirtbag
Hi, I'm currently slowly restoring an old kona hahanna, it was in a right state thrown in a 25 quid job lot of mtb spares from a barn clear out.

I decided to attempt to restore it, it's my 1st retro bike so sorry for any daft questions ill no doubt ask!

I've looked through the threads on the old steel konas on here and they're awesome, I love the repainted white examples but seem to be a few, I also love the strong red/orange frames with black forks etc and black especially matte would be a good shout.

After a couple of weeks of scrubbing the frame like a madman, I want to give raw a try, I'm aware it's "not meant to be" and it may not keep or finish how I plan but I know a sprayer who'll clear coat it for free, so it's worth a punt, if it ages quickly or looks pants ill nitromorse it and get it powdercoated.

For those in the know or have done it what was the final prep you did before spraying the frame?

I literally rubbed the paint off with 80/120 and used wire brushes, wheels etc i have been using 1200 wet and dry and have got a fair finish, I found sanding lengthways brings it to more of a shine but shows up imperfections, I prefer the duller brushed look you get when rotating the paper will the clearcoat take better to a rougher finish?

Any hints would be appreciated
 
Check out my Explosif in the link below, but that was blast-cleaned of course...

...guess the only answer is lots of elbow grease until you're happy with the finish?
 
Cheers, I'm going to clear coat it, I'll go mad if I sand it any further, not wanting mirror finish, guess I'm going for the "terminator" look, just don't want huge amounts of rust to come through.

If it fails ill strip again, we've done the stem and p2s and they look ok so will have to see

The p2s are threaded, can I fit a non threaded stem to them?? I've got the velocity stem but want to put a riser bar on and don't want to scratch the handlebars.

Also where can I get threaded headsets?, seem decent ones are few and far between, any reccomendations? Cheers
 
i wouldn't try going from 120 straight to 1200. try getting the scratches out of the 120 with 240 then 400, 600
 
to put an "ahead" type stem on yuor threaded steerer you will need a steerer tube extender. some like them some done. some say they are ok off road, some done.

the benefit of doing this though is you can also use an aheadset rather than a threaded one
 
Cheers, will probsbly hit the frame for a few more days with some finer paper

May try and open the velocity stem up to allow the riser to sit in it, hopefully without damaging it!

Any power tools that can be used to clean up the frame ie a rotary sander? Don't know if I've got it in me to sand the frame any longer!
 
Take the stem bolt out, put it in the wrong way and put a penny in the slot. Tightening the bolt will open the stem up a bit, should be enough to get the bar in.

Power tools won't be much use on skinny round tubes.
 
There are plenty of good 1" threaded headset's about, as most old road bikes use them.

Have a look at SJS Cycles, Spa Cycles, or Velo Solo they usually keep a sensible selection.

One thing to be aware of is that the crown race on your fork (where the bearing sits) may be JIS or ISO. Get some calipers on there before you get a headset.

As for quill to ahead adaptors; I have them on a couple of my bikes, including my Raleigh road bike, and I have found they work fine.
 
lewis1641":1ysyus5u said:
to put an "ahead" type stem on yuor threaded steerer you will need a steerer tube extender. some like them some done. some say they are ok off road, some done.

the benefit of doing this though is you can also use an aheadset rather than a threaded one

NeilM":1ysyus5u said:
As for quill to ahead adaptors; I have them on a couple of my bikes, including my Raleigh road bike, and I have found they work fine.

Yeah i've used one too and had no problems. I used it with a threaded headset though. I dont think I'd feel happy using one with an aheadset.
 
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