Classic & Vintage - Frame care, on the outside!

I raced my trek 760 in the rain (I love it!!!) and I noticed some surface rust developing in certain areas on the frame where the paint had chipped or I'd messed something up (chain suck on rear dropout). I wanted to know what I could do to first get rid of the rust and then coat it to keep the frame safe.

Can I scratch off the rust and put nail polish over it?

Thanks!

I wouldn't scratch off the rust. Instead, I would use a chemical cleaner like Naval Jelly, to remove the rust, and then use the nail polish or touchup paint to fill in the scratches.

Are there any alternatives to naval jelly that would be easy to find and use?

While we're on the topic, what sort of wax do people use on their bikes?

While we're on the topic, what sort of wax do people use on their bikes?

Lemon Pledge:lol: - seriously

oxalic acid ( do a search here for details) works well on rust.
Naval Jelly should be available from most hardware stores.
I use car wax on my bikes, whatever I happen to have around.

marty

Oh so you guys will wax your tubes and all that so as to minimize the chances of rust happening once you've painted things over?

I'll get on that soon.

I just upgraded my components so had a rare chance to get at the frame easily with all the components off. My frame clean-up involved

1) WD40 on any rust spots where paint was chipped or scratched (leaving it to soak for a few mins) then a good hard rub with a soft cloth
2) Nail polish to cover bare metal under chips and nail polish dripped into any little dents to in-fill
3) Car wax over the whole thing to protect from water
4) Furniture polish (like pledge) to buff up all shiny.

The frame looked all new and glistening..until 3 minutes into the test ride! So disappointed how short lived the new look lasted. Luckily I took some pics before the ride so I can prove how shiny and new looking my bike was.

For internal rust prevention, I also sprayed lube into seat tube, head tube and into any draining holes and wiped grease round the inside near the top of the tubes.

I just upgraded my components so had a rare chance to get at the frame easily with all the components off. My frame clean-up involved

1) WD40 on any rust spots where paint was chipped or scratched (leaving it to soak for a few mins) then a good hard rub with a soft cloth
2) Nail polish to cover bare metal under chips and nail polish dripped into any little dents to in-fill
3) Car wax over the whole thing to protect from water
4) Furniture polish (like pledge) to buff up all shiny.

The frame looked all new and glistening..until 3 minutes into the test ride! So disappointed how short lived the new look lasted. Luckily I took some pics before the ride so I can prove how shiny and new looking my bike was.

For internal rust prevention, I also sprayed lube into seat tube, head tube and into any draining holes and wiped grease round the inside near the top of the tubes.

I just put together this bike and raced on it for the first time this weekend. Of course that meant that the bike sat in the rain for over a day straight! If the wd40 trick works as well as naval jelly then I'll give that a go. I'll get some car wax when I'm home next and give the frame a once over with that with the wheels off so I can get most of the areas.

Now the next thing to think about will be to wonder how much weight I'll drop on the bike by going to a carbon fork (threaded with same stuff, or unthreaded with new bars/stem/headset) and if it's worth the cost.

Lemon Pledge:lol: - seriously

Wait, you use lemon pledge as wax instead of car wax? Same thing?

This is how it looked

http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii55/coasting-cycling/?action=view&current=1.jpg


How do you post a picture on the thread rather than as a link?

photobucket has a url with the photo. Cut that out and paste it into your thread.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii55/coasting-cycling/1.jpg

You might want to splash out for some framesaver *JP Weigle, I think* if you are gonna race or ride in the rain. Water will get in.

Does that JP stuff work on rust already in the frame? I just got a mid 80's Schwinn, and there is some orange coming out the weep holes. What do you do to kill the rust inside the tubes?

It works like linseed oil (I suspect that it may be very similar). The linseed oil will coat the inside and dry, waterproof. If there's rust in there (and there most certainly is, unless you live in a very dry climate) the coating will stick it down, and keep water from making more.

But still, don't forget to pull the bottom bracket and drain the bike after a long wet ride (unless you have some of those racy cutout bottom bracket holes). I pulled the bottom bracket out of a friend's eisentraut once and found like a quart of water in the tubes, after an all day slogathon.

photobucket has a url with the photo. Cut that out and paste it into your thread.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii55/coasting-cycling/1.jpg

You might want to splash out for some framesaver *JP Weigle, I think* if you are gonna race or ride in the rain. Water will get in.

Thanks very much. Doesn't she look so shiny. As for racing...who me? I was passed by an elderly lady up a hill last weekend with an old fashioned bike with wicker basket

I think you should shop around for that lavendar color in a front tire. That would be so cool.

Nice bike!

I used frame saver on my trek after building it up. I was really glad I did, because the bike spent over a day in the rain over a race weekend.

Man. I need to wax the outside to prevent outside rust. Thanks for the tips. I'll look for naval jelly, get nail polish, and get car wax.