Pre 1950s rides of LFGSS: old bikes, vintage rats, classic lightweights

Orange/gold flamboyant sounds fantastic. You do have to be so gentle with the paint, when your budfing and polishing. Just the lightest touch is all it needs. Did you get the cotters out @anidel?

Paint renovation... this guy is a wiz at getting old SBDU frames to look like new again. His technique, products and video are here:
https://raleigh-sb4059.com/2020/07/26/sbdu-paint-preservation-sb9-1974-cleaning-the-original-paint/

that's pretty much what I did on the above, although I finished with a very light application of t-cut, which I think was a mistake (although I got away with it luckily.) That paint renovator stuff used on the SBDU looks much better/gentler. I'd go with that Anidel

Possibly. I've just received all the materials for a gentle cleaning. Let's see in the next couple of days.

Not yet. Soaked them in a penetrating thingy. We'll see soon enough

Ah will check it out. Cheers.

See photo for my cotter removal process. It's a solid speaker stand with a socket large enough for the cotter to fall through. Same process on both sides.
Basically this way the stand and socket take the strain not the axle.
There is probably an official tool and technique for cotter removal but I found this to be pretty reliable.

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Yeah, I don't have anything similar, so I'll have to come up with something.

Hope the lubricant is doing its job and it'll slip away easily.

I use a G clamp. The cotter pin nut is loosened to use as a surface to clamp against and a larger nut is placed over the pin on other side. The spanner handle was used to create extra leverage.
They sometimes take a while to pop loose. I've often given up and walked away leaving the G clamp applying pressure and then heard a crack a few minutes later.

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And easier to apply. I'll try that. Cheers!

+1 for this method. Much safer than reaching for a big hammer. If you can't find a big enough nut a socket from a socket set works well.

Good method, thanks for the tip, never tried / thought of it!

@anidel (and others) for your old paint I'd recommend using a modern car polish over T-Cut or rubbing compound like Farecla. T-Cut has the advantage of having a lot of ammonia in it, so as well as cutting, it also chemically cleans the brown greasy oxide layer off the top of older types of paint like enamel and cellulose. It's great on old cars, but might be a bit too harsh for very old paint on bikes because it's likely to damage waterslide decals and rub off any remaining painted details like box lining if you're not careful. Polish has far less cutting action.

Probably the lightest polish I know of is Autoglym Super Resin. It is nice and liquid so it does clean a fair bit as well as polish and protect: https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-cleaning/car-polish/autoglym-super-resin-polish-1-litre-300241.html

Then there's Demon Shine which is pretty much just the wax base in a spray with no cutting action at all. This stuff is awesome for nourishing old porous paint as it really soaks in: https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-cleaning/car-shampoo/demon-shine-spray-on-shine-1-litre-120421.html

Probably get both of those cheaper if you shop around, but you can walk in and buy it in Halfords.

https://raleigh-sb4059.com/2020/07/26/sb­du-paint-preservation-sb9-1974-cleaning-­the-original-paint/

Should have read that link before replying. I'm going to check out a bottle of that paint renovator for my old car next time I'm in Halfords. Not spotted it before but it does look a bit like T-Cut / Farecla from some YouTube videos.

I'd not recommend acetone on old paint. If you want to use a solvent base to clean off dirt then use brake cleaner (isopropanol) or WD40. I've also seen a lot of old chrome with scratchy swirly marks in the surface from using wire wool. I'd use scrunched up aluminium foil and WD40 over wire wool as it's softer but just as effective.

I've got some Crankalicious products. Possibly a bit on the more expensive side, but they do look less aggressive.

Will check the ingredients against this new found info in older paint tho

Cotter pins... anyone tried one of these ?
Tie rod puller £7.50 on eBay.
May need slight mods, or socket to work perfectly.

Looks like it would work fine.
In fact aside from the removable plate it looks just like this.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164827561895
Except 1/4 the price.

I've got one for doing ball joints etc on my car. I was going to mention it, but it's quite chunky and I can't remember if it's too big for the crank. It takes a 19mm socket, for reference.

I can’t really see how this is different /better than the £7 tool above.

https://www.bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/

Falconvitesse's cotter pin method looks fine and has the benefit that no money needs to be spent. However there is one thing missing in the photo: the retaining nut should be left on the thread, unscrewed to the top of the thread so that it is just flush with the end of the pin. This goes a long way towards protecting the thread - we don't want the expense of having to buy new cotter pins!

In Other News

That Sturmey sprocket (my post 3951)

This pic refers to Absurd Bird's post 3706 inwhich he refers to the decline in quality of European parts. That sprocket is modern and made in the far east, but it is for a British brand.

As you can see it's noticeably worn but I doubt if it's done as much as 2,000 miles, which I think is pathetic. What's more I'm not putting much pressure on (aged and weak) and I rarely go out in the rain. In addition, this is the second sprocket of this type I've worn out rapidly. These sprockets seem to be made on the assumption (often correct) that the bike will never be ridden more than a couple of times: they're like the famous cans of sardines that weren't for eating, just for buying and selling!

So it was for much of the British bike trade from the sixties onward. I'm not talking about the artisan frame builders and quality components, but the mass market stuff as in the TI companies. I think they could see the writing on the wall and were demoralised - the future looked bleak so why buy any new plant - if the TDC fixed sprockets came out oval because the machine they were made on was clapped out, it was just tough and no one would do anything before the inevitable bankruptcy.

Just the same arrangement as British Leyland.

A light clean and bit of polish and we're getting somewhere.

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So nice :)

You are doing a great job !

I'd thought about buying it for myself, but it would have joined a long list of unfinished projects. And it's so much easier just checking in here each day to see how it's progressing ;-)

You're making an old man very happy !

Thanks.

I'm not sure how much I can take off, some is rust and I don't know if that'll come off and with what without damaging the paint. Some seems dirt but it's hard to say, could be paint that changed color?

I'll snap some close ups for feedback.

that's cleaning up nicely already. I'd err on the side of caution if I were you rather than damage the paint.