1983 Raleigh Rapide W.I.P. - links for newbies added

Torqueless,

Thanks for your post, it is actually the option i am taking! I may, in the future, get a respray, but, at that point, the bike will only be hung up to look at - Ian Raleigh made a similar point.

I want to get the minor rusty bits treated so they don't get worse and i thought if i am fixing one bit - fix them all at the same time.

I have purchased rust remover, primer and a white touch up paint to sort out the bad bits. My concern about the discoloured forks has eased a bit - but i have a mindset which always starts saying 'if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well' and i usually use that as a starting point for any problem. Works most of the time except where specialists are required and costs explode and then a rethink is required.

Thanks for your insight - it is appreciated.

Today's update - spent about 5 hours with paint restorer and T-Cut and went over the whole frame - strangely this solved one of my problems - it removed all the small rusty bits and left nice bare metal. I have a primer and touch-up paint to address this.

I visited my LBS to have the BB removed this morning and it turned out he did not have the exact tools to remove it. But, good news, he was able to remove with what he had - the BB was not seized and came out with no effort. Had i tried to do it at home, i would have been able to do it! But there was no charge and i learned quite a bit about local help for getting my bike right - so well worth the visit.

The guy recommended using a frame protector and advised that most old frames rust from the inside out. He had a Colnago frame which went for respray and when it was bead blasted, the metal was full of small rust holes - ready for the skip.

The guy also checked the headset and advised it requires replacement as it has flat-spotted - another few pounds to be spent to sort that out.

Still in a wheel quandry, the OE ones need disasemebled and rebuilt with new spokes and i have a good spare set (in the pics) might have to use the spares for a while and get the OE ones rebuilt at a later stage.

Pondering on .......

Thanks to everyone for their help so far - i could not do this without the guidance and advice.

I visited my LBS to have the BB removed this morning and it turned out he did not have the exact tools to remove it.

Click to expand...

LBS's no longer have three big spanners? sigh..... that's something else i've got to carry on my back when I ride off into the sunset...

_____--- ---____(hastily improvised sunset)

Touqueless,

You are a pretty relentless character, a bit like myself, but you need to caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalm or you will need a huge rucksack to carry your spare frame when you go out! No one mentioned this.

Also, should anyone be restoring a Raleigh, use Brasso on the badge on the front - BEFORE doing anything to the frame in this region - you live and learn.

Thanks to everyone

Headset Update

I have received a new Stronglight headset (aluminium) and having received some advice regarding fitting it, it appears that i should have the the headtube checked and levelled before fitting the new headset.

A few checks on what tools this requires revealed that this is another LBS job! The tool is around £400.

More delays .....

Who suggested that? In honesty it will probably be fine. Personally I'd fit it and providing there are no tight spots i.e it works fine then I'd just go with it.

However if you can wait and want peace of mind then get it checked but again I feel this rather excessive practice if you do not have any headset problems with you current set up.

Tel,

The current headset is not running smoothly at all. I am guessing a flatspot - old age catching up on the bike (bit like me too). The headset has never been serviced since the bike was new and i suspect that all is not well inside. It is a Tange headset which appears to be out of production (not that surprising).

It appears that the only things what have suffered with age and use are the headset and BB - i do not think this is bad in a 29 year old bike with a lot of hard miles on it.

I will probably get the LBS to check it and if it needs any work, they can do it, if not - i can do it myself - MAYBE!

Thanks (yet again)

No problem. I suspect that it's just wear and tear on the headset but yeah get it checked out and then you can be confident that you have a good solid build once it's all back together.

If you've owned the bike from new and the headset has never been removed, then I would think any issue with the head-tube faces/bottom cup/top race seatings would have to be laid at the door of Raleigh quality control dept. AFAIK such measures shouldn't be necessary unless the frame has been knocked about without a headset, or someone has been extremely careless in removing the headset. The problem is therefore pretty certain to be in the headset rather than the frame...

Having said that, I concur that there's no harm in putting your mind at rest about the frame.

Unlikely to be the frame. Ball bearing headsets really are a flawed design, ball races are meant for spinning like wheels.

The forks are usually in the dead ahead position for riding and the force on the individual balls "welds" them microscopically to the race and bits of metal are lost when the microwelds break.........brinelling.

The forks are then "locked" in the dead ahead position....

Needle bearing designs make much more sense...

Just get the LBS to swap the headset over or DIY

Shaun