Anyone ever do this before?

"Mattbob" (mattbob) 10/27/2013 at 01:14 • Filed to: Bikelopnik

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I'm working on restoring this old bike, and this is how far I have made it. I have cleaned up most of the chrome, and am cleaning out the bearings and am currently sanding off some surface rust from the frame. Anyone have any tips and tricks for restoring a bike? It is a fun project so far, and way cheaper than working on a car. Thoughts?

Turner950s > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 01:16

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I've never done it, but a buddy of mine bought a lot of 50 busted bikes in an auction and spent a few weeks restoring all of them. IIRC he made around $8k in profit.

POD > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 01:17

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No, but I've done this before.

Mattbob > POD 10/27/2013 at 01:22

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looks like a kit to build an amp. I don't see perf board though, ugh.... Screw point to point wiring. Also no ground on that plug... Tsk tsk!

Mattbob > Turner950s 10/27/2013 at 01:25

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my goodness! He must know his shit to fix up that many in a few weeks! I would imagine getting parts alone would be a pain for that many.

Turner950s > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 01:27

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I'm probably misquoting a few details, and he may have exaggerated himself to begin with, but it was enough money for him to fly to Korea for a week, so definitely in the thousands.

ddavidn > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 01:27

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I want to do this! I just need a bike first.

POD > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 01:28

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Tube Pre-amp. No ground needed.

Who needs sway bars anyway > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 01:36

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I used to do bike restorations while I was in college and it looks like you have laid a good foundation for the bike. Where you take it from here is up to you and your budget. Frame wise you said you sanded some rust off of the frame, and where you deal with that depends on a lot. You are probably going to want to restore the finish of the bike. I have done some with custom paint work and some with original, you can also completely strip the bike and get it powder coated which is a bit more expensive, but it can come out great! Once you have the finish of the bike where you want it, depending on how far you went, you can either seal and polish or if you redid the whole paint replacement decals for most bikes are available. I know there is a guy on eBay that specializes in Old Fujis. Once you have the frame sorted, you can focus on the parts. Old bike components are great to restore and come out beautiful. I liked to take each component apart, clean and polish each part and the reassemble and re grease. Once the components are set and the frame is where you want it. Take your time and reassemble taking consideration with the adjustments on the derailleurs, brakes and being sure that the crank bolts are very tight. Once it is assembled Ride that mofo. I love riding old steel bikes, they have a great feel and are very smooth.

POD > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 01:38

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And yes I'm jealous. I'd love to build my own bike.

Mattbob > POD 10/27/2013 at 01:58

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yes, a ground is needed. The chassis needs to be grounded, or you have a potential safety hazard if anything comes loose and touches the chassis. A chassis at 120 V is not a fun time. Trust me, I know a thing or two about this stuff.

Mattbob > ddavidn 10/27/2013 at 02:00

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it took me forever to find a good quality old bike for cheap. You really need to research so you know what you are looking at. Gotta look at the frame material and the components etc....

Mattbob > Who needs sway bars anyway 10/27/2013 at 02:05

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the way you did it, sounds like how I am doing this. I am really taking my time, just doing a bit each day. I checked out velocals.com, and they don't have this year of gran tourer. I really want to get new decals, because these ones are messed up. If I can manage to get a powder coat done for under $100 I would probably do that. Thanks for the info!

Mattbob > POD 10/27/2013 at 02:06

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do ittttttt

ddavidn > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 02:07

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I've been looking for a couple months. No hurry. Waiting for the right one to come along.

Frank Grimes > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 02:37

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If you want to polish aluminum and it's really bad wet sand with progressivley finer sand papers and then/or if you are lucky find some tool box polish at lowes hardware store and polish out the metal and it will look dope.

Who needs sway bars anyway > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 02:44

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Check out the vintage forum on Bikeforums.net, there is a ton of info and a good f/s section with a ton of parts. I had put together an almost full Campagnolo Super record group for half what it would normally cost by buying junk and refurbishing back to original condition before my finances went belly up. Ill get back into it at some point.

Ad Astra > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 11:01

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A few years ago, I restored a 1988 Trek 330 to look like a 1983 Trek 170. I have several pictures of the process in this Flickr set . My only big mistake was printing the "TREK" lettering myself. They haven't held up well.

POD > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 11:02

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I think I might, just for fun.

I purchased this bike early in the spring. Work gives me a health spending account so it was mostly covered.

http://www.mec.ca/product/5020-4…

Mattbob > POD 10/27/2013 at 17:33

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That bike looks awesome!!

POD > Mattbob 10/27/2013 at 19:07

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Thanks! It's my first bike with an internal gear hub. It's rather neat.