1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

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ClappedOut
Posts: 585
Joined: 30 May 2020, 12:43am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

warey4life wrote: 24 Apr 2021, 7:55am I have restored a few bikes and recovering the cost on sale is never in the forefront of my mind. I just like sitting in the shed working on bikes and enjoying the process of seeing an old wreck transformed into something that I can ride and that is pleasing to the eye 😁
Exactly and while there is a strong point that a refurb can just eat money aka classic cars etc, an entertainment and then fitness of fixing a clunker-depends how your pricing the value.

Mine stopped me getting depressed, gave me some entertaining times choosing and ordering parts and finally fitness riding it and not putting fuel in the car for local errands.

My latest purchase I could rush and do all the jobs ASAP, but there is no hurry and the feeling it's the best it can be is priceless.

Looking forward to end results.
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by cycle tramp »

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Following the news about Brucey, I thought I best clear out my sheds while I could (after all there but for the grace of God go i). Anyway I found this old headlamp. If you want it for your restoration then drop me a PM and I'll post it out to you free of charge. There's no rust but there are some minor dents and the chrome is a bit scratched in places and I've lost the little screw thing. But its free and quite frankly i need the space to start 'regularisating' those spare bike parts I am keeping
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Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

^ I'll take you up on that! I've sent you a PM :D

Removed the majority of the rust with P120. I've still got the underside to do and then I'll blast it. Grinded the 'bird dung weld' flat, once it's blasted clean I'll fill the blown out areas with lead-free plumbing solder. It's what I can get cheaply and locally and since this isn't structurally critical, silver braze would be over kill at this point although I do regret not going the brazing route in the first place, would have been much tidier.
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ClappedOut
Posts: 585
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Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

If you don’t want to braise it have you thought about thin brass sheet and silver solder, that’s how model free flight fuel tanks were made and silver solder stronger than regular solder?
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

I have and I'm still open to it but I think plumbers stuff should suffice. I'll try some on a loose piece of steel and if the adhesion is no good I'll go for the silver solder.
ClappedOut
Posts: 585
Joined: 30 May 2020, 12:43am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

When I was a teen they would still occasionally lead in panel dents instead of filler.
If you were crafty you could sheet it and build the shape, then linish disc with a mask and a scrape of body filler.

Spray putty it and dust Specs of black paint your see high and low spots as you sand it with wet and dry.

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

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

The project has been somewhat halted due to whims of our local weather... Yesterday I acquired some scrap steel sheet from my local garage. I made the missing silders for the chaincase out of it today. I'm pretty happy with the results. The steel was a bit thick for the application, feels like a millimetre so I bevelled the edges to make it work. They sit very well.

I also removed the remaining paint and rust from the underside of the rear fender. I plan to sand blast it on Tuesday so we should see some movement there. I ordered some silver solder for the repairs, I'm still waiting for the blow torch, that should arrive next week.

I had an unsuccessful attempt at soldering lead-free to steel. This was probably down to the flux or my technique or both. Anyway I don't want to run into any more trouble with this fender so silver solder is the way I've decided to go. I've ordered Silver-flo 38 simply because it is a good compromise between flow and build. 55 seemed too flowy and 30 too blobby so 38 should be perfect.
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ClappedOut
Posts: 585
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Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

Smart,do new parts aid centering alignment as couldn't see how it works?
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

From what I remember from my last 3-speed, the rear sliders had the semi-circles cut in the centre. I tried imitate that as best as possible with a ruler and a hand sketch. I made the holes bigger than the end of the hub they will shield to give them some tolerance. Of course everything was cut by hand. As for the alignment, I believe you just slide them up and down the rails depending on where in the dropouts your wheel is fitted...
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Over the last few days I've blasted some small bits like the frame clips, the cable pulley, some fasteners and the new sliders. I also cleaned up the headlamp. The lamp was very pitted and had chrome flaking everywhere which made rooting out all the rust kind of tricky. Just when I'd think I was finished, some chrome would chip off somewhere revealing more rust to deal with. I ended up attacking it with P120 grit and then finishing up with the blaster until nothing more showed up.

This stuff is ready for priming. Thanks for the poster who offered their head lamp but I won't need it anymore. I've decided to keep the original one. I've taken tomorrow off as it's supposed to be the only sunny day in a long while so I hope to prime all this stull tomorrow as well as the front fender.

Yesterday I messed around with the silver solder and rear fender. I tried to cheapskate it with a butane household torch and it backfired. Butane doesn't have the appropriate heat output to maintain a consistently hot enough temp. The solder melts but then blobs up and the butane doesn't have enough power to melt the thick blob. Additionally, this steel is so thin it doesn't hold much heat. It gets red hot but as soon as you touch it with the solder it cools ever so slightly which prevents the solder from becoming fluid.

It's become a bit of a nightmare really. In the mean time I have acquired some flux for regular solder and practiced my technique so I will attempt it again this time with regular tin-lead solder as it's easier to melt with my torch, hopefully, I'll have something tomorrow...
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cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by cycle tramp »

Krashper wrote: 6 May 2021, 8:52pm Thanks for the poster who offered their head lamp but I won't need it anymore. I've decided to keep the original one. I've taken tomorrow off as it's supposed to be the only sunny day in a long while so I hope to prime all this stull tomorrow as well as the front fender.
Ah, sorry for the delay, but it's on it's way to you. Sorry, i should have said. On the plus side, if you don't need it, feel free to sell it on or keep it for your next project. Sorry.
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
ClappedOut
Posts: 585
Joined: 30 May 2020, 12:43am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

Impressive progress, keep up the good work.
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Hey, no need to apologize, I just thought maybe you forgot and I didn't want you to send it for nothing... The lamp arrived today, it's in much better shape than mine, the switch works much smoother but that might be down to all that sand from the blaster stuck in my contacts... :lol:

Anyway, mine doesn't work at the present moment, I suspect it's because I haven't earthed it during my tests but if it's buggered I have something to fall back on. PM me your paypal, I'll tip you something for the lamp. :D
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

So here's today's work:

I primed the lamp, the front fender and the loose bits as I said. Everything came out nice. The front fender is the one that I repaired with resin and powdered steel. Before I thought of soldering, my first idea for strengthening the bracket area was with resin. It wasn't a bad idea but it became a messy nightmare very quickly.

Epoxy resin is very temperamental, my first try was to mix it 50/50 with the steel powder mixed in. That had good adhesion but it was too thick and I couldn't get it in there well. It was also too brittle and cracked when the rods were flexed. Mixing in some alcohol had the effect of improving viscosity but it made the resin cure gummy and stay gummy permanently, it also negatively affected adhesion.

Through trial and error I eventually worked out a golden ratio and method. For a chickpea size of both resin and hardener, I added 3 drops of isopropanol alcohol. This cured to a gummy resin. Next step is to warm the cured resin over a kitchen stove holding it at a height of about a foot for about 5 min. The heat worked as a catalyst for the hardener. I then left the resin to fully harden for about an hour. This produced a resin that was flexible enough to not crack under moderate flex, adhesive enough not to peel and hard enough to sand. The resulting resin is semi-hard.

I also messed around with soldering the rear fender but I'll upload the photos of that tomorrow...
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ClappedOut
Posts: 585
Joined: 30 May 2020, 12:43am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

Absolutely loving this thread, through the kindness of a forum member I have two.
1) 50’s and an oily rag restoration as it has a patina and charm
2) a long term project with pre war frame.

Now I don’t want to hijack your thread but cone adjustment on front goes on left otherwise it can damage hub and 26 1 3/8 tyres are not 26 inch modern tyres.

I wondered what tyres your planning on using?

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/english-3.html
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