Right, photos so far and a rough time line:
Before:
My father gave me this bike he's had for over 10 years so I could use it for a triathlon I'm intending to do. It must have been at least 20 years old when he got it, and on the day he gave it me I rode it to the pub with him and realised on a steep down hill it's brakes don't work which got me thinking about what other little jobs I could do. The list grew in my head. So my idea was to take off each part, clean them, the frame and put it all back together again. I figured I would sand and paint the wheels since the rust had deformed the metals surface, and I would use that was a test to see if I would want to pain the frame.
I took photos of the intricate parts so I knew what order to put them back together:
My first major issue was the stem and front fork fused together. When I tried to twist the handle bars to seperate them I broke where the stem and the handle bard connected. So i sawed the top off in an attempt to get inside, but this didn't help and they're still stuck today:
While I was trying that I spent my time cleaning up the other parts, the pedals, brake fittings, crank etc. I also took the tape off the handle bars and cleaned them up and put them on a new stem I bought. A little bit of rust returned, but I wasn't too bothered. I taped them up and put the cleaned up levers on.
I ended up buying a new front fork. I was original not going to paint the frame since I felt it would be a big job after the wheels, but I was unhappy with the amount of new parts there were now so said I'd force myself to do so, so to keep with my original vision a bit closer. I also painted the pedals black because they seemed to rust up over time after their cleaning.
I started on the frame like the did the wheels, sand down. I also peeled off the stickers. I then painted with an anti rust primer, then racing green metal paint in layers and hour apart until my spray can was empty. I then left it over night and repeated the process with a clear protective coat.
Then comes to today, putting it back together.
I got new inner tubes for the wheels today, and put the tyres on. I connected everything up except the 4 cables, 2 for brakes and 2 for gears. I first attached the rear then the front brake. I took a few tries to get the sweet spot so they didn't rub the wheels, but the cable was tight enough for the hand lever.
Then came the gears which I had issues with. First, it was very difficult to put the chain back together, I had to punch out a link to take it off and it was very tricky putting it back together even with the right tool. Then there's the springy mechanism by the rear wheel which doesn't rest in the position you want it to be in.
But the main issue is with the rear wheel. When I painted the rear wheel I also painted the cassette, the bit that looks like loads of cogs for the chain to go on. I was never able to take it off the wheel and thought it would look nicer painted. Turns out this made the teeth too large, so I have to file and sand it back down to the metal. But it also feels like it's full of sand now, and will barely freewheel and wants to take the wheel with it when it goes backwards.
So I have two issues, I've strawberry floated my cassette, and I'm not sure if I know how to sort out the cable for the gears. I'm hoping to go to a bike shop tomorrow to sort this out once and for all because I've had enough. I'll then get some close ups to compare against the 'before' photos.
And then burn the damn thing.