Hercules and Raleigh Bicycle Projects- Mixed Day

Hercules Model G Roadster

Here are a couple of better shots of the fenders. I previously wrote about patching up the paint. I was particularly concerned about the rear lower fender tip, which was basically without much paint below the

brace mount holes. I was pleased to see that in the light of day, the touch up patches matched nicely and blended well.

The front portion of the fender came out fine as well. It may surprise you to learn that the paint I'm using is just Testor's gloss black oil-based enamel with paint thinner added. For particular pits, I use a very fine brush. For overall scratches and larger areas, I impregnate a rag with the thinned paint and rub on the mixture using the rag. It's not exactly revolutionary, but it is a simple and effects method of cleaning up spots of lost paint.

Tonight, I worked into the evening. At right is a night shot of the shed. I have three moderate wattage light bulbs in the ceiling and a halogen spot lamp for working. In this shot, I'm polishing up the Hercules frame.

The black paint on the frame is polishing up reasonably well. I have started the back triangle. I will be working my way forward. I'm using Scratch Doctor polish on the paint, which I find reasonably cheap and effective. Many of the good automotive polishes will do a fine job on such tasks.

You take the good with the bad in vintage bicycles. The bad in this case is an area of corrosion and a puncture in the top surface of the rear rim. The picture at right tells the story- lots of brake pad rim wear coupled with some rust and something banging into the rim. I did not cause the damage, but it is there just the same. The options for this are (1) weld it and grind the surface smooth or (2) replace the rims. I'm pondering this some. This isn't the only rim imperfection, but it is the worst. At least I have options. It's a setback but the project will continue.

Raleigh Dawn Chain Case

The weather this weekend and early next week is supposed to be warm and dry. That means painting weather is back at last. I like hanging painting rigs because you can go all the way around in one shot. Painting half and half on a table tends to give thick spots on the edges. In this set up, I simply have a couple wire coat hangers and some nails in the rafters of the shed. The nails were already there when I moved in; I just added the coat hangers. The hooks go through the screw holes for mounting the rear corner of the chain case to the main body. My primer is Rustoleum premium grey (not bad, a little thick) and the paint is the Duron matched green thinned (4 parts paint to 1 part thinner) and put through a Preval sprayer. It's messy work, but coming along alright. Hopefully it will match the Dawn well.