Classic & Vintage - Question about rust on a lugged steel frame...

In my resto of my 70's Richard Sachs, I had some paint bubbling where the seat stays meat the seat tube, though the bubbling was confined to the seat stays themselves. I chipped away the bubbled paint since it was starting to flake a little anyhow, to find the expected rust underneeth the bubbled paint. Upon looking at the seat satys in a little closer detail, they appear solid, even though they are semi pitted from the rust.

I tried scraping some of the rust away to determine how much there actually was. It appears to primarily be on the surface, as I hit some bare metal after removing a bit of the rust... This leads me to my question, is there any way for someone like myself to remove the rust in the designated area without damaging the structural integrity of the frame at all (assuming it is all surface rust), and after that is done, how might I go about painting it. Or should I contact someone a real bike painter to perhaps redo the whole paintjob for the entire frame (ie: Joe Bell, who I believe paint's the current Sachs frames). This is all assuming I find the seatstays sturdy enough after removing rust. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

I'd let Joe Bell do the entire job, including paint removal and appraisal of
the frames roadworthiness.
You can also write to Erichie (he was hanging out a at ss/fixie forum.

you need to post picts of your bikes.


Marty

If you're going to restore a Sachs, get it done right. Contact Bell and let him do the job. My .02, but then again, it's also not my $$ that's going into it. Good luck!

I'd let Joe Bell do the entire job, including paint removal and appraisal of
the frames roadworthiness.

you need to post picts of your bikes.

Any idea what a new paintjob might run? I'll probably email him and ask, but just was wondering if anyone had a guess on that. Also, should he be the one appraising the roadworthiness, or should I find a actual builder to take a gander at it, and I know a couple, but they just build for the fun of it, not for sales.

I'll post pics of the frame, now that I stripped most of the components off of it, in the next week or so. I'm gone this weekend, and its tough to post the pictures from here at work, but I'll do what I can. The only things left on the bike right now are the front and rear derailluers, the stem and dropbar, crank, and seatpost. I've had to use some liquid wrench to try to loosen up the stem, since the nut holding it is corroded, and locked up. I'll try to wash it up a bit before I post pics as well. Thanks again for both your bits of advice.

Joe Bell price list: http://www.campyonly.com/joebell/price_list.html

Don't know how recent that is, but I doubt prices have changed much.

Being the proud owner of a bike painted by Joe, I highly recommend sending your frame to him. You've got a very nice, collectable frame. Might as well do it right.

From the looks of it, Joe Bell is the only one to send the frame to (well, the most sensible at least). It could use the blasting to get the rust off, and then hopefully pending his inspection would still be ride worthy. If I do this, it will most likely be end of this summer or next summer, cause I am a student on a budget right now. Some things have to come before the bikes, no matter how much I may not want them to. But pending the approval of its ridability by Joe, I'll get the bike in the exact same color scheme as it is now hopefully, well, pre-fading. Now if I just had a steady income for more than the summer to pay for all of this now...

Lotek might not have made himself perfectly clear. Erichie is Richard Sachs. You can send him a PM and see if there is anyone else he might recommend, if you don't want to use Joe Bell.

This may not be the proper vintage approach but to tide you over at least till you get it painted you can wire brush and steel wool the rust off, since it sounds like it's minimal anyway and then try to match the color with some nail polish. It's worked for me on my rusting 83 Nashbar.

Lotek might not have made himself perfectly clear. Erichie is Richard Sachs. You can send him a PM and see if there is anyone else he might recommend, if you don't want to use Joe Bell.

I know, thanks, I actually talked to Richard on the phone after contacting him through this forum last summer, when the bike ended up at my house. He recommended an era-correct rebuild, and so forth, but its no problem going with Joe Bell, I just am going to take my time and get around to it eventually. figure if I'm going to do it, I'll do it correctly...

I don't know,, if your really attached to the bike, then send it to Joe Bell, but your looking into about $500 at least including shipping? is it worth it to you? For me, I rather sell it and just buy a nice old Columbus SLX Rossin. he. he.

Yeah, I would definitely consider it worth it to me. It kind of is being passed down and I would like to get it in working order, as that was the idea behind it being passed down originally. And its not like I am stuck without a bike while this is being renovated, so I am in no rush to do this. I'd much rather do it correctly and take my time, than rush something and screw it up, or worse, sell it... Plus this is my first in a line of bikes that I hopefully will be renovating, with Teledyne Titan (already ready to bail out when that frame decides to give way) and 70's Bob Jackson to follow, though not immediately. All these are coming from my uncle who I'm sure would love to see them up and running again.

However, I wouldn't mind a nice Columbus SLX Rossin :rolleyes:

If you want to do it cheap, sand it and spray it. You won't be able to take off enough material with sand paper to affect structural integrity. If the rust is really out of hand, have someone else look at it once you've got it all sanded down to see if it's a concern.

Sachs Bike Pictures (http://community.webshots.com/album/551628683ZFhZLK)

I finally took a few pictures of the Sachs. Its semi-stripped down, with just the Ideale saddle, Cinelli stem and bar, Dura-Ace 6spd RD, Suntour Superbe FD, and crankset still on it. All the other Suntour Superb parts were stripped off, as was the chain. The images were too large to post on the forum, so the above link is to the pictures where they can be viewed. Someone asked for them before so here they are...

Looks like your seat tube is going to be fun removing:eek:

Well, the seatpost will be... hopefully I'm not going to have to remove the seat tube. I'll probably do the same thing I am doing with the stem and using some liquid wrench to loosen it up after multiple applications of it...

Sand and prime with Rust-Mort, a sandible primer that converts rust and does a great job of stopping further decay. Auto paint shops carry it in quarts.

Hate to pull this thread out of the mothballs for something so minor, but can anyone confirm whether the pedals on his bike are the Phil Wood Police approved pedals I think they are? Have always wanted a set. http://inlinethumb60.webshots.com/41275/2382868780068248249S425x425Q85.jpg

Hard to tell from the photo but I'd say yes.
The Phil Wood pedal looks like this:
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/images/USA/components/phil_wood/pedal_Vince-Connelly1.jpg
photo courtesy Classic Rendezvous.

Marty

I don't understand the rust on the brake bridge on that frame. Did the rider have a bladder control problem?