Sharpy96

Hey everyone, thought I would create a thread on my hopeful conversion of a 1991 Kona Hahanna mountain bike - bought for £45. So enjoy the ride and as always, help along the way would be much appreciated for a novice like me .

First off, heres the original frame and forks that I have bought, in reasonable condition - some rust and corrosion but overall, not bad for 24 years of age.

Sharpy96

Okay, so after removing all of the little parts that were still attached and stripping it back to the bare bone, I decided to use some paint stripper to try and remove the paint as I was wanting to re-spray it regardless. See attached photo for the mess that was to come:



To remove paint I used a mixture of Nitromors and a gel based solution which was terrible and did nothing. Nitromors was more effective of the two, but still did not perform very well.

LuckySailor

I had my frame sandblasted for $50 CDN. Use a small piece of tape to cover drain holes. I also used some foam stuffed snuggly into the BB to keep as much sand out of the frame as possible. Way more effective then trying to strip a frame with chemical.

Sharpy96

Yea I was thinking that, and so I thought i would fork out the £50 to get it professionally sand blasted, absolutely love the result and it looks so sharp. See images below for the finish, went with the forks to be black with a 'pringle' texture and the frame to be a blue... Whats everyone's thoughts on it?

Sharpy96

Headset came through the mail today, can anyone recommend me some grease for it? Can I use automotive grease? Thanks

nfmisso

Boat trailer wheel bearing grease. Water resistant, stays put, intended for much higher loads and speeds than ever encountered on a bicycle.

LuckySailor

so far so good. So what components you going with? And remember, you can't use too much grease!

Sharpy96

Local shop diddnt have any of that where I live unfortunately, so instead i went with Lithium Grease - supposedly good temperature resistance and usability + it was cheap

Sharpy96

I have only bought the headset so far and I went with a Modus 1 1/8 threaded headset, partly because im on a limited budget but also because it had good reviews, as for the grease, ive installed the headset and yep, I lathered it in grease to ensure all was good! I'll post some pictures of the bike with the headset installed in a minute

Sharpy96

Here are a few pics of the headset installed and the forks inserted:





What does everyone think?, also in regards to the headset lock nut, how tight should it be? Thanks!