1987 Saracen Kili-Flyer

Nice Carl.
Always good to see another Kili built up and doing what it should. Eagerly anticipating progress.

Gravy Monster":185pmago said:

I can't wait to see this one emmerge

Electric blue sounds the way forward IMO if you are using a powdercoaters then they should be able to get it chemically dipped to remove old Powdercoat, the stem will need to be as smooth as you can get it / want it (with out filler) as the powder is a layer that will essentially sit on top of any imperfections.

Don't take too long please

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I wasn't sure of the filling properties of powedercoat. So it's going to take a bit of time prepping then, it's quite bad and will need some serious work with progressively smoother grades of W&D.

Carl.

Hooray! Progress. Glad to hear it.

I attacked the stem with my fine sanding block last night and rubbed down the scratches and it now just has a nice key. So I will be visiting the powder coaters later this week with the frame, forks and stem.
QR axles arrived yesterday, so I can strip, clean and re-grease the hubs.
Got to measure up the bench grinder spindle today so I can order the correct polishing kit.

Carl.

drcarlos":695zcxob said:

I attacked the stem with my fine sanding block last night and rubbed down the scratches and it now just has a nice key. So I will be visiting the powder coaters later this week with the frame, forks and stem.
QR axles arrived yesterday, so I can strip, clean and re-grease the hubs.
Got to measure up the bench grinder spindle today so I can order the correct polishing kit.

Carl.

Click to expand...

I'm hopefully getting a polishing kit for my bench grinder, seen quite a few but not sure what to get.

Sound like this is going to be very nice, looking forward to seeing it painted.

Just off to pick up the painted frame, wondering how it will have turned out as we only had the bad pic in the catalogue to match with.
Also got a set of Deore pedals coming and an SR Laprade fluted seatpost has arrived. Both will need re-furbing though.

Carl.

Frame is here:









The finish is good with a decent layer of laquer on top and it's a nice shade of blue that shows off the nice smooth brazed joints.
The stem is causing a few problems as the paint started to bubble in the oven. It's not with my prep but the guy says that the castings are porous and sometimes have to be baked for a few days before painting so he has held onto it to strip, bake and re-coat.
It also to them a lot of work to removed the old paint and is a testament to the durability of the original Saracen paint.
Hopefully get the BB and headset cups in tonight, seatpost polished up. Then over the weekend when I get chance get some new headset bearings and wheel bearings from the LBS.

Carl.

Looking good Carl

Did the stem come out good in the end ?

Stem isn't with me yet, picking it up next weds as the guy wanted to strip it again and bake it for a couple of days to get any impurities out of it. He said that the oven tends to bring them and any air out of the porous castings and it can cause the paint to bubble when baked. He wants to re-do it to get it right.
I did mange to fit the BB and headset cups, then I went mad and stripped and cleaned the chainset then polished it and fitted it. I then carried on and stripped, cleaned and fitted the rear mech and polished one brake arm before I ran out of autosol.
Going to stop at Halfords on the way home tonight to buy more degreaser, Autosol and some brake bolts. Need a new seat QR too.

Carl.