I've been working on the bike from time to time and now it's nearly ready. I'm waiting for the cotter pins. Then I'll finish it. I didn't want to paint it or do anything to "fake" it's story. Every scratch is in my opinion part of the true story behind the "Blue Flash", as it's model name is. It has won the Norwegian Championship in the 70s, it has been touring several thousands of miles and it was left in a dark and moist cellar to die... I didn't want to erase those battle scars. What I did was gently using steel wool and soap water to remove the loose rust. When it dried up I gave it some transparent, penetrating anti-corrosion oil on the rusty parts. I've changed the wires, handlebar tape, cable tubing, tires and some spokes. Otherwise I've only cleaned and lubed it.
I hope you'll find it interesting to look at the pictures.
Regards, J.
Removed the extras:
Handlebars are not pretty:
Saddle is pretty dried out:
The face of an old warrior:
"Flight steel":
Front derailleur it totally stuck:
Rear derailleur is working but looks bad:
I put most of the parts in lemon acid:
The saddle is coming back to life:
Handlebars are cleaned up:
New life:
It's working again:
Looking better:
Slowly it is getting somewhere: