Classic & Vintage - Repairing Rust on a Vintage Steel Frame

Just purchased an 80's SLX Eddy Merckx road bike that happened to have a few spots with some rusting and wanted to know if anyone could offer any suggestions as to the best way to remove/contain it so it doesn't get worse. The worst is on the underside of the toptube, likely from a frame pump, as well as a few spots on the underside of the BB. I know there's some rust removal products out there, but don't want to do any damage to the frame, so any suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks.

Try to locate Exrust. Powerful stuff, effective, then neutralize with baking sode clean and prime right away as rst never sleeps. The rust you describe sounds like indoor trainer trouble. Was too much trouble to wipe off after a workout. Should have put the ti frame on the trainer and ridden the steel bike.

Many of my twenty year old steel bikes have had spots of surface rust here and there. I found that trying elaborate methods of treated the rust often resulted in removing paint or damaging paint. So, I've gone to a fast, easy method. I just scrub the surface rust off with a rough rag. Then I clean the area with a cotton hankie, soaked in rubbing alcohol. After the area has dried, I cover the surface rust with clear nail polish.

This method does not remove any paint. The polish protects the tube from moisture and contact with air. None of the areas I've treated have ever shown any further development of rust.

This method assumes that you are dealing with only some light corrosion on the outer surface of the tube. If the rust has progressed below the outer surface of the steel, into the tube itself, with roughness or pitting, then you should consider a more aggressive treatment to neutralize the rust.

i wish i had seen this modest post before i attacked my raleigh super course frame with a glass fiber pen. i had a bunch of rust spots that i wanted to clean up. the pen removed the rust and all the paint around it, leaving the frame looking worse than with the rust. but i'm not so sure rust should be taken lightly. at least in some cases. after removing more paint i noticed some spider web like rust patterns under the paint. these had already begun pitting the steel from under the paint and there were no visible signs of rust from above!

today i decided to just strip the frame, and even though it is more work and will never be "original" again, i wanna ride this in the winter and rain, so rust really can't be a problem.

The instructions that come with touch-up paint kits from Waterford Precision Cycles have some good tips.

"Surface Preparation: Make sure the area to be touched up is free of dirt and oils. If the chip goes down to bare metal, use a clean ink eraser to remove light surface rust. Then use a light solvent like Windex to remove any other dirt. Make sure the surface is dry before applying touchup. Do not sand the area if you plan on brushing on the touch-up paint.

Application of touch up: Use a brush to apply the base coat of the paint. If filling a chip, try to keep the paint inside the chip borders and off of the surrounding paint. If your bike's paint requires a base and a topcoat, apply the candy coat over the base after it has dried. Apply thin layers until you get a reasonable match..

Drying: Air dry overnight. After 6 hours, you can accelerate the curing process by gently blow-drying the area touched up. Do not apply too much heat or else the surface will cure but the underlying paint will not. We bake at between 160 and 180 degrees so don't get it any hotter. Final cure will take about thirty days. After thirty days, you may wax over the area, or sand/polish the touch up to 'level' your work before applying wax. Use 600 grit sandpaper to level the brush marks."

Do a search of the forum, search for rust or oxalic acid. See what others have done with some pretty good bikes, what works and what doesn't.

Lots of threads out there. I just finished another bike with this method. I have done about 20 bikes with oxalic so far. I have a couple more to do.

I found this project bike in the weeds in somebody's yard at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago: "Say, how much for that frame in the weeds?" I bet it had been sitting there for five years or more. While this is not going to be a big money maker, sometimes I just "rescue"" a bike that I think someone will enjoy.

The beauty of oxalic is that it does not affect paint or decals, and removes all the rust, including the rust inside the frame that you can't see.

I subdivide the kiddie pool to save on oxalic.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3750435148_6e3461a9a1_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3514/3749645799_8f12d80aca_o.jpg

I then keep the pool covered (keep the animals out of it).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/3750435500_48c116763c.jpg

i think my daughter would be pretty upset if i used her kiddie pool for derusting my bike :) but seriously, i have space limitations and even though i read about this option, i just could manage. i'm still on the fence about if i made the right decision. painting a frame is lot of work and i want to build up now, but i am sure when it is done, i will be happy.

i think my daughter would be pretty upset if i used her kiddie pool for derusting my bike :) but seriously, i have space limitations and even though i read about this option, i just could manage. i'm still on the fence about if i made the right decision. painting a frame is lot of work and i want to build up now, but i am sure when it is done, i will be happy.

I've taken my old Trek out and paid $35 to have it professionally stripped and derusted. You're right, it's a lot of work to repaint a frame, but it is really satisfying when you're done. Having it done professionally is well worth it.

i am working on the frame of the Worksman and i still haven't been able to disassemble it properly but for spots on the frame with rust and paint, I tried just wrapping a rag dampened with the oxalic acid solution. a few hours later i remove the rag and much of the rust is gone and i can wash the solution off. If i were working on a good looking bike, i would then use the clean nail polish method to seal the bared steel patches.

As a matter of fact I am going to use this method on my Armstrong. i don't want to hurt her finish, but since i have been using her more, there are some light and tiny patches of rust showing on her patina. i'd like to stop the rust but not change the paint job.

well, i guess it is a basic question of how bad is the rust or how comfortable are you with it? i bought my frame used, so who kows where it was sitting for X years. by the looks of the chrome on the fork, i'd say it spent a good part of its life outside in the rain.

i took off the original paint because i didn't want the frame to get damaged. i am no expert, so i cannot say how much of a threat rust under paint (veins) can be. i guess on a 30 year old frame, if only a few spots are showing, then it can certainly survive another 30. :D

This is the bike finished that was in the bath. It needs a good waxing and a set of grips, otherwise, it is ready to go.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2506/3755486259_aa0b8e7487_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2667/3756284852_84edc1da47_o.jpg

wow. that looks good! i am just wondering how well oxacylic acid works to neutralize the rust veins beneath the paint. i can imagine it works great on open "sores", but hidden rust would still be an issue.

wow. that looks good! i am just wondering how well oxacylic acid works to neutralize the rust veins beneath the paint. i can imagine it works great on open "sores", but hidden rust would still be an issue.

Unless the paint is porous, I can't imagine it would do much for rust completely under the paint. It does work on internal frame rust.