1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

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ClappedOut
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Joined: 30 May 2020, 12:43am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

Cellulose at a guess
jb
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Joined: 6 Jan 2007, 12:17pm
Location: Clitheroe

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by jb »

A quick Google showed them to be very much alive and kicking. They seem only to supply products for industry though.

https://www.trimite.com/products/pretreatments/
Cheers
J Bro
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Yeah... I don't think they will get back to me with regards to my 'mysterious' tin from the abyss... Celly is probably a good guess, I don't know if this means it would be compatible with alkyd based paint. I know some types of paints will react very badly with one another. I'll try applying it on top of my paint on a scrap piece as a test later.

For now, I've got a photo of the fork with one coat of Combicolor on it. I painted this yesterday. Apologies to anyone following for the thread for the slow progress, I don't mean to spam the message board. The summer is very late this year in my area which has gotten in the way of the project somewhat. I don't really have a garage for this type of work either which has contributed to the chaos...

This was sanded down prior with P400 according to the data sheet for Zinc182, applied it with brushes of various sizes depending on the area. I used a roller to make the hammered effect more pronounced on the straights. I consider this a success. This paint is very thick so no drips. It's almost too thick, like a concentrate. I will thin it down with white spirit before the second coat as it becomes tacky very quickly otherwise and doesn't allow for corrections.
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ClappedOut
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Joined: 30 May 2020, 12:43am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

Interesting colour, looking forward to completion :D
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warey4life
Posts: 85
Joined: 5 Apr 2021, 8:08am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by warey4life »

I love the finish on your forks. I'm never been confident enough to paint frames myself, but now I've seen your result I might be tempted next time.
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

I hope this work can be of help to others. I've attached some more photos to give a better idea of what the texture is like. From my limited experience doing frames, spray can paint doesn't do a good job. In order for it to be sprayable, the paint is thinned down heavily which means thin coats. Trying to get build often results in runs. To top it off the cured result isn't very durable and chips easily. Alkyd based aerosols are an especial pain as they take forever to cure, and I mean forever. I had a frame hanging in the attic sprayed with alkyd in the heat of summer and it still felt gummy in places after a month. When it finally cured fully, it was brittle...

From what I can tell so far is that the added faff of doing this with a brush and roller has been absolutely worth it. But of course only time will tell how the whole job will turn out and weather this paint will be any good, it's all theory at the moment.

The weather is expected to improve this coming week in my area so I'm hoping for some more action, hopefully the frame and front fender will get some attention...
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Krashper
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Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

I tried my hand at restoring the brooks saddle today. I've attached before and after photos. First I sanded down the leather with P120 and then P320 to even out the areas that started splitting. The saddle was very very dry, sanding it made a massive dusty mess, it was like MDF. It also made the surface like nubuck. I used some Dubbin to rejuvenate it. Says not to use it on nubuck but I did it anyway. It brought back the colour to the saddle and just soaked in before my eyes. I applied it 3 times and it just disappeared into the leather, it was that dry.

I decided to put some linseed oil on it. I won't say I recommend doing this. I'm using pure, unboiled linseed oil, originally intended for horse consumption so no additives in it. I've read it might go rancid, I don't care. As far as I'm concerned this saddle would die an inevitable death if ridden in it's present state. As predicted, the linseed oil just soaked in like into a sponge. I'm gonna leave it in the conservatory for a couple days (gets very warm in there) and that should polymerize it.

I also replaced one of the rivets that was loose. I didn't have a matching brass one so I used an aluminium pop-rivet. As for the underside I disassembled what I could, wire wheeled it to get the dry rust off and treated it with Hammerite Kurust converter. Reassembled and dabbed with a paint bush and used gear oil. Dabbed it everywhere I could and then wiped off the excess, did this for additional water repellence.

Here are the results from that.
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Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

I also did some painting throughout the week, frame and forks are done but they're at work and I couldn't get any good photos indoors. I'll post those sometime next week, all I'm gonna say is they came out splendidly... :D
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

Okay so here are the photos of the painted bits. I did these over the course of last week. Apologies if the photos aren't the best. The camera is having great trouble focusing on smooth surfaces. I did some closeups to show the texture better. These were all sanded down with P320, this time around I thinned the paint down with white spirit. The manufacturer says -10% but I'm dipping my roller right in the can and thus have no idea how much paint I'm using by volume so I just added the thinner by eye/feel and worked it into the paint with the roller in a tray. Doing this also improved the self-evening properties of the paint. I only rollered the straights, all the other lugs, joints, bb shell, etc... were done with a no.8 size brush and yet there is no difference between the surfaces.

These were given 2 coats. The second coat really brings out the hammertone effect imo. It also improves the coverage. After doing the frame with the thinned down paint and seeing the difference in the finish compared to the fork I decided to sand it down lightly and give it the second coat with the new technique. Though it looked fine in the photos, it felt a little thick and blobby in places, sanding and repeating the coat fixed this problem. The frame was stood on the chainstays during this process, similarly with the front fender so I still have to finish up the undersides.

Earlier this week things started really going wrong with the frame. I made a series of mistakes that took me down a rage spiral which really reached its peak yesterday. Included are a number of accidental knock-overs that resulted in dings that had to be touched up several times before they disappeared completely. Another one was when I decided to put the frame out in the sun to take advantage of the heat and bake it, only to find that the heat softened the paint which then pealed away in the areas where it was in contact with the cardboard on which it lay. That also had to be fixed. But the worst one yet was when I installed the headbadge perfectly to find that the rivets are too long and the fork won't go in. Ok, not the end of the world I thought, using a chisel and hammer I bent the rivet ends downward from the inside of the tube which resulted in the heads coming loose and sticking up. Removing the rivets damaged the paint on the headtube and the clear coat on the headbadge. I was fuming... All of this compounded on me and for a brief moment I was ready to get the grinder and cut the frame up into little bits. Glad I walked away from it then as I see it's not so bad now... :lol: :lol:
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ClappedOut
Posts: 585
Joined: 30 May 2020, 12:43am

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by ClappedOut »

8) that's not a colour I would immediately think of, but it's looking Superbe.
The colour I quite like.

Broke my cheap BB cup spanner so ordered another.

Are you cottered or cotterless conversion planned?
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

The colour wasn't my first choice either, it's not an obvious colour. It really was a matter of narrowing down my options. First I decided on using Combicolor because of its properties which narrowed me down to their chart selection. Then I further narrowed my choices down to the hammertones which only really left me with 12 options. I took the light blue because it seemed different enough from the original colour but still very industrial and reminiscent of 1950's industrial machine colours. Originally though I wanted 7332 light green but it was sold out everywhere I looked.

I'm planning on using all the original parts including the cottered cranks so yes, cottered :)
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jb
Posts: 1782
Joined: 6 Jan 2007, 12:17pm
Location: Clitheroe

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by jb »

Nice Job, will you be lining any parts or leaving them plain?
Cheers
J Bro
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

No, I won't be lining the frame. I thought about some stripes, like thin red ones but I've decided against it because it seems more fitting for vintage touring or racing bikes. These bikes weren't state of the art machines so I want to keep it looking humble.
Govnor
Posts: 82
Joined: 6 Jun 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Govnor »

Is that like the paint that is on a pillar drill or our work lathe seems a similar colour.

Just asked the forum about a UK seller 1000w ebike conversion as we are rather large.
Saw your old bike paint and that's dandy like, can of paint and get the repair shop guy to paint them when quiet like.
Krashper
Posts: 84
Joined: 4 Apr 2021, 8:33pm

Re: 1957 Raleigh Superbe Restoration Thread

Post by Krashper »

So my priority now is to get the wheels done as fast as possible. If I get the wheels done then I can put the frame together and the front fender on there as well and keep the whole thing in the shed. I want it all out of my room cause there's gonna be more stuff coming in soon, the rear fender is next after that and then the chaincase.

This weekend I rejuvenated a pair of crusty looking rims. As you can see from the photo attached, the rims that came with the bike are completely toast. They are totally worn and rusted through so they are gonna get binned.

The other rims shown came from a 1958 Raleigh Superbe that I had last summer so they're only 1 year younger than the current bike. That bike had side rim brakes so any wear to the rim is only on the sides and even that can't be much as part of the chrome is still there. They look pretty crusty but that's just neglect on my part. I got them back to looking pretty decent with the following technique. First, I scrubbed down the rust inside and out with a stainless kitchen scrub and vinegar. Then I buffed up the chrome with alu foil and some elbow grease. Next I picked out bits of dead rubber from the clincher walls and any crusty rust with a stanley knife (this was a faff). Lastly I sanded back the rust on the inside of the rim with P120 and P400 and treated it with tannic acid based rust converter. Wiped down with an oily rag.

I've attached a before and after. I've also built up the front wheel but I'll share that tomorrow.
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