1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

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Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Hi there, new member here (BF defector to be precise, not a trouble maker though... :wink: )

I'm making this thread to document my proceedings in a restoration project I've undertaken. End of November last year I found this gem on ebay listed at £150 for pickup in my local area. As you might tell from the photos, this thing is not worth 150 quid at all. It's rusty and covered in ancient grime, the wheels are punctured, the gears/lights don't work, it had (no longer there) bird crap on the saddle, bearings are dry, etc.... Frankly, it's a mess and I made this case to the seller in a private message not thinking it would work at all... To my surprise, he messaged me the next day to let me know I can have it for the £40 I suggested... he he.

Now that the spring is here I'm rolling it out of the shed for a makeover. The plan is to perform a thorough service with a new paintjob. I won't be making it OEM or anything like that. I just want to preserve the bike's character while bringing it back to an operational state. The colour will be red.
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jimlews
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Joined: 11 Jun 2015, 8:36pm
Location: Not the end of the world.

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by jimlews »

I rode one of those from St. Davids in Pembrokeshire to Titchwell in North Norfolk and back following old tracks; Ridgeway & Pedders way principally. They are a really comfy ride. I fitted a (much) smaller chainwheel in anticipation of the hills, but still only the FG four speed hub. They are somewhat over geared for Welsh hills. I see that yours has the "dry accumulator" lighting backup. By the way, don't ever take the iron 'keeper' of the dynamo magnet. That is a sure way to wreck them.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the restoration. It's a worthwhile project.
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kylecycler
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Location: Kyle, Ayrshire

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by kylecycler »

Good luck, I'd like to do something similar myself some day. Or, well, maybe not similar but related - to use a new 4 speed Sturmey Archer hub to build a rear wheel and use it in rebuilding an old Falcon Black Diamond frameset into a 'path racer'. Also to take something like you have and build it back up 'as was', more or less, like you're doing. Will be watching with interest.
iandusud
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Joined: 26 Mar 2018, 1:35pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by iandusud »

If you look at the Sturmey Archer rear hub (either a 3 speed AG or, less likely, an FG four speed) you will find the year of manufacture and assuming the hub is original, which it probably is, you can therefore date the bike. The year is just the last to digits, i.e. 54 is 1954.

I know you're not looking for an original restoration but I would humbly suggest that you paint it either black or green as this is only right and fitting for this lovely piece of British cycling history. :)
Last edited by iandusud on 5 Apr 2021, 7:24am, edited 2 times in total.
iandusud
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Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by iandusud »

jimlews wrote: 4 Apr 2021, 10:37pm By the way, don't ever take the iron 'keeper' of the dynamo magnet. That is a sure way to wreck them.
Good advice but it should read don't disassemble the dynamo without fitting a keeper over the magnet. :)
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Thanks for the advice with regards to the magnet, I have read about this on sheldon brown's website before but I'll do more research when the time comes for me to take it apart. As for the colour I've decided to go with red (RAL3000). I thought about keeping it in the original colours but I want the difference to be more pronounced after its done and I find the dark green to be terribly depressing personally. I want the bike to have a new life in a new style :)
foxychick
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Joined: 5 Jul 2012, 12:05am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by foxychick »

Just remember it is mandatory on here to post lots of photos when the project is finished :D
jb
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Joined: 6 Jan 2007, 12:17pm
Location: Clitheroe

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by jb »

Don't forget to restore the pulley wheels for the gear changer, no sleeved cables allowed :D.
Cheers
J Bro
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

So before yesterday I had a perfect day (weather wise) to test out some of the paint products I've been wanting to try out.

For the primers I had bought Acid #8 etch primer by U-Pol and Zinc 182 by Isopon (also U-Pol). My original plan was to first lay the etch on the bare metal, then zinc 182 on top followed by the topcoat (Rustoleum Combicolor RAL3000). Some other products that piqued my interest were Zinga Cold Galvanising Coating and Alu/Zinc spray by Parkside from Lidl.

Zinga is a cold-galva coating with a very high zinc content, think it's about 96% zinc. Common sense tells me it doesn't have enough resin binder to keep all that zinc together and as a result won't bond well to the metal but it's marketed very aggressively by the brand and I managed to find some convincing testimonials a couple users in the thread below. I also liked the technology behind how it prevents rust by being a sacrificial coating so I decided to give it a go. This was by far the most expensive paint product out of all of these, cost something like £28 for a 1kg (0.368L) tin.

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/thr ... alv.80097/

The Parkside I picked up from Lidl for £2.50 a can 400ml, my experience with Lidl's Parkside/Powerfix aerosols has been good so far, good value for the price. Says it contains zinc and alu so it should work in similar ways to the Zinga to prevent rust. Says it's suitable for ferrous metals...

For the colour I chose Rustoleum Combicolor (£10 for 750ml) simply because of the good money/value, I hear blokes use this paint to roller their vans, says it's got good antisag properties so should cover well. On their website it says that it's a Urethane modified Alkyd paint. According to this thread below this should be a step up from the bog standard Alkyd oil paint that tends to chip rather easily.

https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi- ... k&th=24932

Zinc 182 and Acid #8 simply because they are from the same brand and are compatible (says they can be used together in datasheet for zinc 182). Acid #8 is an etch primer used in the automotive industry, as the name suggests, it contains acid and thus attaches itself well to metals like steel and aluminium. My plan was to use them together but zinc 182 can also be used on its own... £14 for the etch 500ml, £16 for 2 cans of zinc 182, 500ml x 2.

TL;DR Summary of my paint research and purchase decisions, might be useful for future readers.
Krashper
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Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Prep and Paint Process:

I stripped the paint from some steel scooter bars I had lying about. I used PowerStrip for this (very good stripper but more on that later...). I proceeded to roughen the surface with P120 grit. The data sheet for Zinc 182 and Acid #8 says to use P180 but I only had P120, this should give a better mechanical key. I degreased with a cotton cloth and Isopropanol alcohol, this is better than white spirit as it doesn't leave any oily residue. I masked off 5 areas for application of the different products. From here on I only handled the exposed surfaces in nitrile gloves.

To further apply the best of all known practices, I warmed up some water and dipped the aerosols in the water. Temp was just under 40C, I left them in the water for about 15min. Some of the cans required being weighed down as they turned on their side in the water. 2 main reasons for doing this. One is that as the paint decompresses upon release it cools. Increasing the temp of the contents of the aerosol should (in theory) increase the temp of the decompressed paint in turn resulting in quicker drying. The second is that it raises the pressure inside the can ensuring uniform spray.

I applied a thin dusty coat of the Acid #8, Zinc 182 and the Parkside. Zinga and CombiColor were applied with a brush as thinly as possible with a dabbing motion. I cleared the nozzles of all the aerosols. I left the bars outside on the wind for the day and took them inside for the night. After 48h I proceeded to do my durability tests, here are my results:

Acid #8: Resistant to nail scratches down the tube but I was able to leave scratches in the surface with my nail going around the tube. Penny coin scraped the primer with ease but easier going around the tube. Dings with a wrench hand no effect.

Zinc 182: Resistant to nail scratches in both directions. No matter how hard I tried I was not able to leave a scratch in the surface with my nail. Similarly to Acid8, this primer seemed more fragile to scratches around the tube than down the tube (probably down to how I sanded the metal). This primer was also more resistant to the penny test than Acid8, I had to input more force to leave a scratch in this surface. Dings with a wrench hand no effect.

Parkside: This paint left a glossier and smoother finish than the above, the high content of shiny zinc particles also makes this spray less appropriate as a primer (I have a different plan for it...). This paint is an approximate equal to Acid8 when it comes to the scratch test, somewhat weaker on the penny test. Dings with a wrench hand no effect.

Zinga: This coating turned out to be the weakest of the lot as expected. The finish was very botchy as expected from brush application. Easily scratched with a nail in both directions, flaked off when attacked with a penny, flaked when dinged with a wrench, overall a huge disappointment. Good for bridges and pylons, no good for bikes.

Combicolor: I applied this just to find out how long it dries and just out of curiosity how it performs on bare metal. As said by the manufacturer, this paint has good self-evening properties, despite being applied with a brush, left a much smoother coat than the Zinga. After 48h this paint is still a bit gummy here and there as expected from an oil paint. In some places I can scratch it with a nail and it chips off. Seems pretty resistant to the penny when low force is applied. Resistant to wrench dings.


The obvious winner to this round is the Zinc182, it produced by far the hardest, thickest, ding and scratch resistant coat of them all. I was going to use it on top of the Acid#8 but it would be a weak link in the chain so I'll leave it for another project, it will be of more use working with aluminium. The added advantage to this is that the zinc content will be in direct contact with the steel which maximises it's anti-corrosive properties.
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Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Picture of the Zinga surface as it failed to load in the last post.
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Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Yesterday I took the bike apart to pieces. I had some trouble with seized cotter pins, hitting them on both sides with a hammer helped loosen them out of their place. WD-40 and a punch were also helpful.

I got started on stripping the frame. I'm using Power Strip by Maxolen and I'm in love with this product. This stuff is very strong, it's a rare example of a product that says heavy duty on the label and actually is heavy duty. I used Nitromors before on another Raleigh three-speed but it only stripped the brushed on layers but was only able to soften the underlying original OEM paint. Not very good, left me doing a lot of scraping. This stuff just works before your eyes. All the layers bubble up almost instantly upon application. Excellent, £10 for 1L.

Also unlike Nitromors this stuff doesn't dry up in the wind. I had a messy nightmare with putting green goop covered bike parts into black bin bags last summer, this stuff is just great, I can leave it, go for dinner, come back and its still wet and all the paint is flaked. Only thing to watch for is this stuff is equally strong on skin. It's the only product so far that left me feeling skin burns within a minute of contact, probably best to use gloves...
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Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Today I finished up yesterdays work on the frame, there's not a spec of paint left on it now. Next I'll roughen it with P120 grit, treat the pitting and rust scars with Kurust from Hammerite and lay the primer.

Also I had a look at sheldon brown's dating guide for raleigh cycles, can be found here:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/dating.html

And it ssems my frame matches the date on the hub. The hub is dated to 1957 and the frame serial number, that's 69670AB ends with 'AB' which is the correct suffix for bikes made in 1957 which leads me to believe this is an original piece! :mrgreen:
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Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Here's some more:
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iandusud
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Joined: 26 Mar 2018, 1:35pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by iandusud »

Coming along very nicely and that paint stripper is impressive. Have you checked the condition of the bearing surface of the r/h bottom bracket cup? If not I suggest you do so before painting. A visual inspection followed by running the tip of a ball point pen around the bearing track will reveal any pitting. But if it does need to be replaced I'd advise doing it before repainting with a top coat at least. Do not attempt to remove it unless you have the appropriate tool. Any good bike shop will have the tool and it's five minute job. It is known as a fixed cup and with reason! If you do need a replacement it is threaded 26tpi which was unique to Raleigh made bikes of this era, others being 24tpi. Of course you should check the other cup and the spindle at the same time but these can easily be replaced at any time.
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