Newbie alert: advice needed!

Hey guys, im a bit of a retro virgin, even though Ive been riding for a while, mainly mountain bikes. Had a few retros in my time but never have I stripped and rebuild one.

started off stripping my Elam but sadly a frozen seat post and 30 odd hours later I decided to give it to the scrap man.

anyways, onwards and upwards, I bought myself what looks like a Raleigh ace, was hoping you guys might be able to clarify that for me. (See pics below) The plan is to strip her down clean her up, replace all bearings and put her all back together using as much of the original; parts as possible but with a slight twist

Ive never been a fan of dropped bars so I thought about flipping and chopping the original bars. thoughts please? any images of any that have been done would be gratefully received

anyways would you be so kind as to shed any light on this steel if possible?

Welcome

Looks like a 1980 Carlton Corsair, the number is certainly 1980 as far as the screen on this cheap tablet goes lol

Shaun

WM0006A72 how can you work the year out from the number? whats the meaning behind the codes? hmm interesting 1980 Carlton Corsair, 531 arnt they?

Hi. On iPhone so a bit slow but here goes

W=Worksop the Carlton factory
M= The months of manufacture, can't remember the code at the moment
0= the last digit of the year of mamufacture , in this case 1980,

tHe rest are the individual ID number

corsair and pro-am were released in 1978 as a matching pair. The Corsair was the demi course tourer hence the rear rack mounts. 531 main tubes, if it is a corsair then they ride very well like all carltons

how tall are you

Shaun

Any seatpost will come out with enough effort! Never scrap a frame for that reason!

Just out of curiosity what's the blue frame sitting in the background in one of your pics? Also good shout having your bike stand in what looks like the front room

Shaun

coomber":1xx4kaj6 said:

Any seatpost will come out with enough effort! Never scrap a frame for that reason!

Click to expand...

the bike been soaked in lube (oh sir) been on the vice and had heat, sadly it wont budge.

The blue frame is the Elam, again Reynolds I believe, really cool paint job on it as well, all original!

I'm 6ft 5 so this Carlton should be perfect! some serous damage to the top tube so just fillered and primed it ready for a nice vinyl wrap!

your replys have been gratefully received

Good spot by Shaun, it does look like a Corsair. Here's an original one I had, all the details look right and some original parts on yours. Looks like the half chrome forks have been lost in the respray though.



Lots more here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/62249235@ ... 700163686/

now that's bloody nice that! im a bit of a ratty lover, grubby frame with a nice set of rims and shinny components

Re:

HMMMM, Been cleaning the components for about 4 hours now and seem to just push what looks like grease around, is there a special way to remove all the crap? someone said petrol?