vintage bike help

Hi

I was given this bike and would like to restore it. Any advice or help will be appreciated

I have started to clean it but would like to keep as much original as possible

Lenka

bath in used engine oil and have plenty of wire wool on hand.

Squirt every nut, bolt and joint with something like Plus-Gas or if you can't get this, WD40/GT85, and leave for several days before trying to undo any of them. Also down the handlebar stem/frame and seatpin/frame junctions. Don't force to hard when trying to undo initially, you may round the nuts which won't help. Give another squirt if they won't undo. Heat can help when trying to loosen nuts. Strip it down to the frame, wash and lightly T-Cut the frame and polish. Many methods of chrome cleaning have been offered on here and other forums. Try a few searches but light wire wooling (Brillo pads etc. are OK) should bring off the surface rust followed by wax polish to seal. Clean bearings and replace the balls.

This is only a very brief resume of what might be done. Good luck with it and keep us informed of how it is going and if you need any more advice.

Some inspiration for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bakGDj5XXE8

What make is on the headtube badge?

It's clearly a Raleigh, badged Rudge, probably late 1950's, I used to sell these. A rich maroon colour, and weighs about 50 pounds.

I did up a similar thing recently. I found that a wire brush (very rigid sharp wire) was good for removing rust from bars and rims. You can either sand down the frame (strips of emery cloth work well) and paint it. Or alternatively If you like the rusted look you could either just spray laquer onto the frame or put linseed oil on the frame, that will stop the rust where it stands. Any of these options require the frame to be very clean, just use soapy water and a sponge

I would echo putting in new balls and grease. I would sugest putting a 22tooth cog on the sturmey archer because the gearing on those old things is usually rather high

These things are bomb proof and will last 100 years if cared for

here is a slideshow of what I managed in the back garden with basic tools to show it is doable http://www.flickr.com/photos/55203562@N ... /lightbox/ just scroll through by clicking "newer"

This is a 26" wheel and usually 46T chainwheel, so the low gear is around 50 inches, which should be low enough. If you pedal hard on a low gear with a larger cog you are likely to break the SA gear, Its easy to strip off the teeth on the sun wheel or planets. It's over 50 years old now.

I did not know this, if you have the bike in the lowest easiest to pedal gear, does it actually exert more torque on the little cogs inside than if were in say direct drive?

Jake, these gears worked fairly well on old commuter bikes, when I repaired them they had generally run out of adjustment, and frequently full of rusty water, but not under much stress from the pedals.
Sporting riders in the 1950's always used gears in direct drive. Firstly able to choose ratios, secondly less liable to collapse when pushing hard.
The SA is under more stress the lower the gear.
Obviously to climb a hill at the same speed the stresses would be about the same, its when you try to accelerate that it's worse.
Keith