restoring freewheel cassette

Hi
Ive recently started restoring an old raleigh wisp for my girlfriend. Its in an ok condition generally except from the drive chain which is rusted from derailleur to cassette. I know for sure that the fd, chain and wire will neee replacing but im wondering about the cassette. Its very rusty but id maybe salvagable with some hard work. Onvthe other hand I can get a btwin5 speed freewheel cassette for about yhe same as the materials it would cost to restore the old cassette. What do ee think? If I get a new cassette I will also need knew wheels but I was thinking of getting 700cc's anyway as the wheels are also vey rust. Again they may be salvagable but given how hard it is to get decent 27 inch tyres and the weight of chromed steel wheels, is it worth it? Help

It might be worth getting a new freewheel but, not worth getting 700c to replace 27"
The gaps will be huge and it just wont look right

Try hard to find some good quality alloy 27" wheels

First a freewheel and a cassette are two different things. Given the age of your bike you are most likely to have a freewheel. You can clean and rebuild them but its fairly fiddly to strip them down as they are full of small bearings. Its probably going to be much easier to replace the freewheel with a new one. You will need a freewheel removal tool depending on the make of freewheel you have. Some freewheel tools are splined, some have pegs which lock into the freewheel for removal. You could ask your LBS to remove it.

If you currently have 27" wheels changing to 700c will change the caliper reach for your brakes, so you may end up having to replace the calipers as well. If you check out Ebay it should be easy enough to find a pair of alloy 27" wheels. Its also a good place to find a new freewheel and any other items you may need

I have a 14-28 Shimano 5 speed freewheel you can have for a £8 posted.

Ok, im wondering if the wheels are actually 700 now because when I putvyhem up against my racing bike they seem the same size which is bizarre. Do the 700 really look alot smaller when there on the road?

27" = 630mm, 700c = 622mm.

Its not much difference but worth checking if your brake shoes will reach the rim

Yeh I think I will need new brakes anyway as I will more than likely change the set uo to a more modern assassembly. I just got brandless btwin freewheels

Your brake shoes will need to be mounted 4mm lower than before if going from 27" to 700c.

Definitely worth upgrading to all-alloy wheels but unless you want to go in a more modern direction I'd stick with 27" rims. As stated on eBay you'll find low end ones like Weinmann, Rigida, Quando etc for about £50 new.

Having said that, the last Wisp I worked on had 700c wheels!

The price of a new freewheel OR cassette + chain is worth it as your drivetrain will be much smoother and look shiny! If the old freewheel is something nice-ish (ie Maillard etc) it might be worth cleaning it up and sticking it on eBay.