Framebuilders - rust ruined frame

Found an old bike in my grandparent's garage (trek 560 that fits me nearly perfectly) with some rust. trying to salvage it as a training bike, as opposed to dropping $350 on a new frame + a fork. i have a spare 105 group i was going to put on it, but the rust looks a bit worse than i thought. my plans were to strip the paint and get it powder coated, but if its not worth it i might just rustoleoum the bike and use it if its still rideable.

so, what do ya'll think?

(mods, title should have a question mark after it if you could)

get it sandblasted

I lack access to a media blaster within 450 miles of where i live, otherwise it would have been the first choice.

at this point, i am leaning towards just getting it as clean as i can, then painting it with rustoleoum, and using it through the spring and summer as a training bike, then buy a new frame when i have some spare cash, or when i have the chance to drop the frame off at my grandfather's to let him mediablast it. all i can really tell is that the rust has pitted the bottom bracket moderatley, the cable guides on the top of the frame need to be removed, and the rest looks to be ok. im actually not too worried about riding the frame, as the rust is worst where the butting is the thickest, but i don't want to spend the money to powdercoat it in this shape.

450 miles away from media blast? Where do you live, the south pole?

grandfather will do it for free, don't know anyone closer that can do it for free. although, the school does have a sandblaster that i might be able to use in the sculpture studio.

is there any difference between sandblasting and media blasting on a steel frame?

it is basically the same, just different media. Sometimes it is glass blasting or plastic pellets. Any vocational school with an auto body class can blast it for a reasonable price.

Most shops that powdercoat include blasting in the price.

Pull the BB and peer around inside. Look for major pitting in the various tubes using a Maglite or some such. If it is the normal surface rust without large pits and slagging, blast as they say. Some 560's were made with Reynolds 501 which had thicker walls — a tad more robust than 531. You can go to the Vintage trek site to find out what all you got. With 501, you may be able to accept a bit more rust damage. It looks like you may be able to be optimistic — as butt ugly as it is.

Found an old bike in my grandparent's garage (trek 560 that fits me nearly perfectly) with some rust. trying to salvage it as a training bike, as opposed to dropping $350 on a new frame + a fork. i have a spare 105 group i was going to put on it, but the rust looks a bit worse than i thought. my plans were to strip the paint and get it powder coated, but if its not worth it i might just rustoleoum the bike and use it if its still rideable.

so, what do ya'll think?

(mods, title should have a question mark after it if you could)

This doesn't look too bad. I'd be looking inside the tubing where it is thinner then I'd use a wire brush on a drill if that is all you can get a hold of and maybe some sandpaper. After this, get some rust converter spray and spray it inside and out according to the directions let it dry and paint it with a good primer sealer from a spray can, then top coat it with plain gloss white paint so you can check for rust through easily.
This is the cheap guy way to do it if you don't want to spend $75 to $100 for a powder coat. Sometimes a powdercoater will do it cheaper if you get whatever color they are already doing for someone else. This is usually gloss black. I had a friend do this with our local powdercoater and he was charged less than $25.00 basically the cost to blast it.:50:

This is the cheap guy way to do it if you don't want to spend $75 to $100 for a powder coatLove the prices. AFAIK, bikes here in Northern Japan (Tohoku area) get sent to Osaka, and a very recent price for power coat runs a bit under the equivalent of US $200.

What does the surface look like after using a rust converter? I have trouble shopping for stuff like this in Japanese.

I doubt it's dead yet. Where there's a Will there's a William, Bill and Billy.

Love the prices. AFAIK, bikes here in Northern Japan (Tohoku area) get sent to Osaka, and a very recent price for power coat runs a bit under the equivalent of US $200.

What does the surface look like after using a rust converter? I have trouble shopping for stuff like this in Japanese.

I purchased mine locally from NAPA auto parts and you may need to look on a web site and print out the product number,description and a photo of the can for someone over there to see what it is. Many Japanese speak at least basic English and quite a few are very fluent.
The surface changes from orange rust to dark grey or black. Basically the converter chemical changes the rust to a different type of iron oxide probably similar to gun bluing. I think the price for powdercoating over there is probably similar to some large cities in the U.S. I paid $75 for mine in rural Washington State but I have seen prices ranging up to $200.

used a wire brush, it cleaned up quite well. the only places where it was worse than surface rust was at the bottom bracket (very thick) and on the rear stays, but with this frame being 501, it was quite thick there. will be riding until epic failure. need to take pics, but will post final state.

You can get that conversion coating material at regular hardware stores, less than $10 as I recall. Lays on white and turns the rust black. Pretty good stuff for getting down into rust pits in the metal. Much better repair than just a wire brush alone which won't get down into the low spots.

hey i thought it was a no-no to blast 531? either way i'd shy from blasting anything with rust damage. cosign on the 3M rust reformer. that stuff is pretty cool.

hey i thought it was a no-no to blast 531Really? Why the hell not? I CAN see a problem if in fact you are actually removing metal on the butts. But assuming the blast is graduated to remove oxide scale, and the applicator is not being gonzo silly about it, I just cannot foresee a problem. For your claim to make any sense, you would have to conclude that the outer surface of the extrusion is case-hardened. And AFAIK this is not the case. There is nothing mystical about 531. It was, for a considerable time, one of several supreme solutions for a steel that was optimally suited for bicycle tubing. By some estimate, it has been superseded. And as far as I can vouch, it is a homogenous material — an alloy approximately formulated thus: 1.5% Mn (Manganese), 0.25% Mo (Molybdenum), 0.35% C, (Carbon). I do not understand how judicious blasting could be destructive to such a pipe extrusion and it's associated lugs and brazing. I could be wrong — so teach me!

According to some experience I had decades ago watching race-car preparation, there is a 'stress relief' factor involved in bead blasting of some casted materials — and perhaps in extrusions as well. But I think that this is crossing over into some other territory. Bead blasting is cool, but I've seen it leave a distinct patina on the surface of the metal. It's expensive to boot.