1964 Raleigh Sports / Fork, Mud Guards & Chain Guard Paint Removal. And Wheel Set Clean up

Hello and Welcome, The weather here has finally cooled off again and the humidity has been lower as well. I have been working on the Raleigh Sports trying to get everything ready for paint. When we left off I was taping off the fork for primer using 3M Scotch Blue painters tape.

Above: Here the fork has been sprayed with Rust-Oleum enamel primer and is ready for paint. Just like on the Sprite I am using black primer as I intend to paint this Raleigh black as well. I have the thimble like detail (top of fork blades) and the crown race taped off with 3M Blue Painters Tape. I will leave the tape on for spraying the enamel paint too. Now that the frame and fork are ready for paint It is time to get to work on the tins.(mud guards or fenders and chain guard)

Above: The mud guards are in rough shape, particularly the rear. After sanding it will need some metal work done (dents) before painting. But first I will need to remove all the paint and rust.

Above: Here I have wet sanded the rear mud guard using automotive grade 220 grit wet sanding paper. It has lots of seams and creases for which I used a fine brass wheel-brush mounted on the High Speed Drill. For the wet sanding I used surgical gloves to protect my hands as I knew they would be in and out of the water for a couple hours. For the high speed "wheel brushing" using the DeWalt key less chuck drill I wore my safety glasses. There are a lot of little dents that will need to be tended-to before primer can be sprayed. I recommend you also wear a respirator like the 3M 8511 when ever you are using a the power wheel brush. Or any power grinding or sanding tool to remove rust or paint.

Above: The front mud guard or fender looks a little better than the rear but will still need to be wet sanded and brushed. Also the right side fender strut is slightly bent. Being these old struts are solid and not stamped it should be a fairly easy fix. I basically straightened out the bend using my bench vise (Wilton 11104) . This worked much better than I expected it would. I have no pics of me straightening the strut at this time. Basically I placed the strut in the vice horizontally centering the bent area in the jaws and tightly closed the vise. Then loosened the vise and rotated the strut to straighten the strut the other way and tightened the vise again. The bend is virtually invisible now. (see below)

Above: The front fender is now ready for the metal work or dent repair. I will not start the metal work until all the tins are ready. This way if I have to use auto body filler to smooth out the pieces I can do them all at once. If I use very little hardener (in the filler) It should stay usable long enough to finish the three pieces.

Above: This chain guard concerns me, it is pretty banged up in the area you see above. But before I can even think about trying to hammer it back in to shape, I will need to remove all the paint and rust.

Above: Here I have removed all the paint and rust from the chain guard. Again using the 220 grit automotive grade wet sanding paper and the fine brass wheel brush . To straighten the lip on the lower edge below the damaged area. First I placed the lip carefully on the edge of the outer jaw on the vise and lightly tapped out the high and low spots using the smooth head of my ball pein hammer . *wikipedia* (ball-peen also spelled pein) For the flat area that needed to be smoothed out I used an old bump shop hammer used for hammering out small dents and high spots. To do this I used a scrap piece of 1 x 6 rough sawed cedar about 12 inches long and slid it behind the face of the guard.(with the smooth side facing up) Although overall it is pretty straight now, there are a few creases and small dents that will need to be filled. This will come latter.

Above: On the left is my Ball Peen Hammer. On the right, the auto body hammer (dent repair) I found at a Thrift Shop. At the time I was not 100% sure what it was for. But for $2.00 I knew it would come in handy someday.

Above: A wheel brush on a high speed drill can remove skin faster than you can blink. This just barely grazed my wrist. This is the sort of thing that happens when I work too late. So when you are tired Please stay away from the power tools!

Above: When it was too damp to paint, I decided to clean up and true the wheel set, using the wheel-truing stand for both. The wheels were very near true, so that part was easy. The inner surface under and around the rim strip was a mess on the rear wheel. The fine brass wheel brush on the low speed18 Volt B & D rechargeable drill made quick work of that. A modern and better version of my drill would be the Black & Decker BDC120VA100. Since the tires will be low pressure I will just use rubber bulk rim strips. Which I suspect were o.e. stock in 1964. The rear hub is working perfectly (Thank God) since I have no plans of taking it apart. I will call Joe at American Cycle & Fitness Center in Pontiac and ask him if he would rinse it out and put in some fresh lubricant for me. I should say this. Despite the cosmetic condition of this bike, someone took pretty good care of the mechanical s. I have found everything greased and all the bearings all look really good and were undoubtedly replaced at some point.

Above: The Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub looks great! Below the engraved logo on the left is engraved the number 64 and to the right of that the number 12. I was told it was a 1964 model when I bought it. So I guess this is the original or correct hub for this bike. I used Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish on the rim. And I used White Lightning Clean Streak on the sprocket and outer flanges and stuff. And Turtle Wax Chrome Polish & Rust Remover on the Hub. And a Q Tip to clean and polish around the oil port cap.

Above: The front wheel "which I am sure is a replacement" cleaned up nicely. I used a brass detail brush and the low speed fine brass wheel brush to clean up the rim. Afterwards I polished the rim with Turtle Wax Chrome Polish and Rust Remover . I also used the detail brush and Turtle Wax C.P. & R.R. to clean up the hub.

Above: I cleaned up the outer flanges using a detail brush and used the low speed wheel brush on the axle nuts. I greased the bearings one side at a time without completely removing the axle. The front wheel bearings had plenty of fresh looking grease. I just added a little more for good measure.

Above: The front wheel has some pitting but not too awful bad. I can live with it until I can locate a correct replacement. There might even be one floating around in the shop / garage. I will search around the shop when I get a chance.

Above: I have ordered a new Brooks flyer saddle like the one shown above. I have also ordered a pair of Kenda 26 x 1-3/8 Gum Walls 590 iso. (and new tubes) And a new shift cable and Sturmey Archer 3 speed shifter . And a new pulley wheel shift cable guide as well as a set of grips and some other small bits. I will be working on the fender dents and filler next. Or possibly painting the frame and fork "if the weather is right". At any rate, Now that all the wet-sanding is done and the parts have been ordered, I should have an update in a week to 10 days. Until Next Time...PLEASE Ride Safe and Remember to Always....RESCUE, RESTORE & RECYCLE!!! Cheers, Hugh

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