Classic & Vintage - Raleigh Sports '66 Conversion

Let me start off by saying I am sorry to convert this bike, but it was very badly spray painted by a friend and then abandoned on my front lawn for the whole summer. Instead of letting the bike rust away and gather more bird poop, I will be converting it into a single speed with a flip flop hub.

My question is, is it possible to get 700c tires on there? I did some rough measuring and I want to say yes. Do I have to worry about chain alignment more with this bike, especially because I want to keep the beautiful bottom crank? Also, can anyone recommend a good rust protector, spray paint and clear coat brand?

The worst part of this conversion is over that is, removing both cotter pins. One was ruined but I will be replacing both of them and installing them with a vice. Can anyone point me to the seller (I think they are 9.5 mm)?

read you, must think about it , marked the post anyway, don't feel sorry, at least she has a chance

700c rims and tires will likely fit, but if you are looking for built-up wheels, it is the hubs spacings that you aren't going to find. You'll have to either have them custom built, or build them yourself, using the original stock hubs.

www.unicycle.com (http://www.unicycle.com) has those pins. The TIRES, I suppose you meen WHEELS & tires.. YES but the brake might not reach. You maybe only using one brake being half the work. A small tab, bracket out of plain thin metal like in junk box filled with parts that.. OOPS, where did I forget to install that on ? Need to drop the caliper 1/8 or so. Slot it for adjusabilty. Screw it to the frame and the cal. to IT. Brake calipers of longer reach can be had. Perhaps experimenting with spares will be cheaper. Long reach ones for 700c wheeled bikes, not new, new but older types fron the mid-'80s. Generally though, caliper length differences pertain to fenders more than...
47-57 may do but getting even longer might be better. I'd just think older. A man told me once but I don't recall and his bike was different so... The wheels need to be narrow 126 spacing, again, older '85 'till very early '90s; 5,6, & early freewheel 7s.

Rustoleum is the major paint Co. as they've bought-out others. Krylon or Plasticoat too. Plasticoat's gone or has been aquired by Rustoleum. Primer in gray or flatblack depends on choice, both work fine, gray's more popular an may cover easier, I liked black. Red (brownsh) is associated with rust coverage and is an obvious choice for red, brown, orange etc. It's all suitable actually.
Be consistant with primer/paint. Enamel on enamel, Laquer etc. To make things more complicated , Acrylics, both in En. AND LaQ. are available. Rust converter's good too. It stops rust, some hate it, I don't, anythings better than rust so... ALSO rust inhibiter can be found in the bike realm (google it) It's bombed down into the tubes.
Threads here arrise all the time; by using loose, creative search perameters lots can be found. Click-on "search forums" and be patient, it requires a few attempts.
www.jensonusa.com (http://www.jensonusa.com) read it for fun. CONGRADULATIONS, you've just been schooled by the least knowledgeable member, better than nothing... maybe.

Steel frames can rust from the inside too. Treat the inside with Weigle's Framesaver after the paint job cures, but before you build it back up.

People find Framesaver a pain because you have to spray it into the tubes of an unbuilt frame. But it sounds like you will be taking your bike apart for painting anyway.

700s will fit but you need to get small ones, like 28s if you want to use fenders. It's been done a few times and there are several threads on it.
Sports make great fixies. Here's the ones that I've done. Save the 3 speed stuff and you can convert it back later (in the interest of haning on to your nice custom wheelset when you upgrade frames).
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/IMG_1492.jpg
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll299/sailorbenjamin/IMG_3142.jpg

700c are out of the picture for me now, I am looking for a lighter set of 26" now. I am not worried about fenders, as I live in desert and receive about 10" or less of rainfall a year.

Sailorben where you able to use a built back wheel or built it yourself?

I beleive the old Raleigh's hub bolt (not sure of the oficial name for that part) is smaller than the current sizes used. You may have to file the drop outs to provide more room - I just kept the original hubs and wheels.

http://velospace.org/files/LTDsc2.jpg

I rebuilt a Sturmey hub for a friend. His bike uses 700c Weinmann concave rims with 700x38 tires. I fit it to my Phillips to test out and the tire had maybe 1mm of clearance on both sides of the chainstay. The brakes adjusted ok to the new size.

Sailorben where you able to use a built back wheel or built it yourself?
That wheel was prebuilt. It's off and old 26x1 1/4" racing bike.
ECSJR is right about the axle being small on a Raleigh. If your bike is really ugly, you can file away a little of the dropout. If your bike is pretty, you might try to figure out how to use the origional axle. Check hub width, too. you can respread the raleigh frame or dig around and find a narrow hub.
Harris Cyclery has a nice selection of 26" rubber but the prices aren't always competitive. You can look at their website for a nice description of the products and then see if Niagara has what you want.

Yes you can convert to 700C. You'll have install drum brakes to get around the issue of brake reach. The largest tires you can mount under the stock fenders are 32c.

The stock brakes worked fine with my 700c setup. The pads were jammed all the way to the top, with room to file if need be.

I can just buy one of these and file it down?

http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=3068

That's nice that it comes set up for fixed on both sides.
Too bad it doesn't come set up for 40 hole.
Does it need to be filed down?
You might try Ebay UK for some nice british track hubs. $75 is a little stiff.

I don't think that could be self-built cheaper, unless you found the parts used in your own stash.