Carlton Corsair...one careful owner...never raced or rallied

sherlylock

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Not content with one recently acquired Carlton racer project I thought I'd go and buy another...... :facepalm:

Did the silly thing of checking Gumtree yesterday afternoon and spotted an "old 70's Racer" badly advertised for sale in my local area. 3hrs later the deal is done and it's sat in my back garden awaiting some TLC. Not sure I've ever bought a bike quite so quickly.

Turns out it was a bike owned from new by the father of the chap selling it - it'd been stood in his shed for many years but is completely original. The pedals had been swapped out for some horrible plastic jobs (his father didn't get on with the cages), but the original pedals were there to go with the bike.

The guy lived so close to me that I walked round and cycled it home.....! Everything works well - just needs a strip down, re-grease, clean polish, new cables and general recommission. Rode it to work today after pumping up the tyres - it's a bit small for me and safe to say the brakes need some adjustment.....had one slightly hairy moment descending Pier Hill!

531 butted tubing, 27" wheels, Suntour power friction shifters, Raleigh branded derailleurs and stem, Weinmann 610 brakes and Dia Compe levers (with those annoying "safety brake" additions). Even has the original suede saddle and cotton bar tape.

A few hours will be spent on this over the weekend with the intention on selling on to top up the coffers so I can finish off the Super Course project.











 
Spokesmann":pgmooot2 said:
Looks like a very straight and tidy example...

Yep - looking forward to making this one shine again! Might have to have an indulgent Sunday afternoon on it......weather looks good for the weekend so out in the garden with it. :)
 
Spent a few hours on the Corsair today......completely stripped it down to its component parts and gave the headset a re-grease and the frame & forks a cut back, polish and a coat of Collonite wax. Need to find a new chrome cable hanger as the rust has gone too far on this one.....

Chrome on the ends of the fork are gradually coming round with a bit of Autosol (after looking like matt grey Pewter)......









 
Cheers all, quite pleased with how this has cleaned up so far.

Bought a couple of little bits for this.....some white Christophe straps to replace the knackered straps on the original pedals



...and a Dia-Compe cable hanger to replace the grotty original. Needed a little tickle with a file to remove the location tab.

 
Turned my attention to the bottom bracket and cranks this evening. Cleaned all the old grease out of the bearings and off the bearing faces and repacked with fresh grease.....



Bearing surfaces in good order.....



Fresh grease.....



Reassembly with a touch of copper slip on the threads....





Chainrings & crankarms cleaned and reassembled.....

 
I hate cleaning wheels......a couple of hours and countless soap-filled wire wool pads and the rear wheel is starting to look a little more respectable. The thought of attacking the front doesn't fill me with joy.

Rear rim needs a little bit more polishing but the chromed steel spokes and hub is looking better.

Rear (polished) and front (untouched) for comparison....




Normandy hi-flange rear hub looking cleaner....


Starting to shine...
 
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