Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Safely Clean a Vintage Bike???

Can you all give me some advice on how to safely clean my Raleigh Sports? The paint has little specks of rust....and the chrome is definitely pitted with rust.

I don't want to "lose" the original aspects of the paint. But how can I safely remove some of the rust...and of course the grime.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

I recently reworked a Raleigh, too. Many people will have different suggestions , but here is what I do. Spray " Simple Green, " available at a Dollar Store on chain, chainring, & cassette. Let it sit a minute & hose down. Wipe bike dry. Then clean the bike with Windex & a soft cloth. Use auto polish to get a shine. May take several applications. For rust spots on chrome, I use [ some will disagree ] very fine steel wool & rub, rub, rub. When the chrome looks good enough, Windex, wipe down, & then use polish on it, too. Use chain oil [ or power steering fluid ] to lightly wet the entire chain. Pick up rear of bike & slowly rotate the pedals to distribute the oil. If it has a " Brooks " leather saddle, don't do anything to it right yet. Stand back & admire !

Oxalic acid, there is no substitute. Steel wool removes part of the chrome along with the rust, and does not remove all of the rust either.

Do a search of this forum, the rust topic has been covered many times, with lots of opinions out there (including mine).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3414/3315034254_fc7c6f2101_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3462/3315034056_79afc95497_o.jpg

I do use acid , at times, but only in the most severe cases. The super fine wool I use has not hurt an old Raleigh, which has good chrome plating.

Cheers to you for caring, and doing your homework first!

The acid can be amazing on chromed parts. But, don't use it on painted parts, as the acid will cause it to discolor. I dipped the rear triangle of a bike to remove rust from the chromed area, and it lightened about an inch of paint that was in the solution.

Best of luck!

I have a question on this as well....
How does "ZUD" compare to "Barkeeper's Friend", both of which have oxalic acid in it?(I think...) Or do you use something else? Also, can this be applied to the bike as is and be rubbed off? Or does it need to soak? I ask because I do not want to remove the tires from the wheel frames (i'll prob destroy it in some way...)

I use the concentrated form of oxalic acid, you can find it at Sherwin Williams and other paint stores for around $7.00:

http://www.dap.com/images/products/65072_2001.jpg

You can also use plain old vinegar to remove rust, it takes longer but I have had just as much success with it.

with the vinegar, do you just take a cloth and rub it on? or do you use steel wool? I just bought a pack of the finest stool wool they had and am pondering whether to use water or vinegar with it to remove the rust...

No, with the vinegar you just fill a bucket and immerse the part then just let it sit for a day or longer. Just the same procedure as the oxalic acid.

It will take awhile, but just rub,, rub,, rub,, that fine steel wool & you will start to see progress.

For anyone else who is completely clueless(such as myself) about cleaning insanely thickset rust off of a bike, maybe this can help....
It took five hours to get forty years of rust of my 1972 Schwinn Breeze.
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs029.snc1/3173_10100128124634021_2033805_56310447_115821_n.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3383/3490025168_ec31afea59_m.jpg

I spent a good amount of time attempting to get the rust off. First with steel wool (#0000), this was taking too long for my patience. I then tried it with soap and water with the wool, which made it even more difficult. I went to Lowe’s and bought Bartender Keeper’s Friend, which has oxalic acid, and it didn’t break off the hard rust, just the light ones, which had a better result with the wool. I then used the wool wrapped around a stick(a toothbrush end), which allowed for more pressure and leverage and I was able to clean everything to my best ability. I bought chrome polish and spiffed up all the shiny parts and cleaned the frame and had leather wipes for the seat.
My end product:
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs029.snc1/3173_10100128124644001_2033805_56310448_7981958_n.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3490026662_6116c665d5_m.jpg