Originally Posted by
Senior Ryder 00
Great job! Many of us greatly appreciate you taking the time to document and share your progress. Looks much better than my 1964 Holdsworth Typhoon. What's your secret to getting the paint that shiny? I've used rubbing compound and good quality wax, but the original midnight blue on mine doesn't polish up as well. By-the-way, I've got mine setup as a retro path racer single speed. It's a fun alternative for buzzing around.
Cheers,
Van
Thanks for the compliments on the bike. I take the paint finishing in steps. First a good wash with Dawn dish soap, then degreasing with GooGone or WD40 where required. After that I use ScratchX 2.0 or Maquiars Ultimate Compound by hand in small areas with terry cloth or microfiber, often " flossing" around lugs and joints. The conditioner in these products works much better than old fashioned rubbing compound. Then a wipe down with a wax remover/degreaser and start the touch up process with a close matching paint or mix of paints. It is easier to get the right colour if you compound before the touch-up. After I'm happy with the paint then I re-compound the painted areas to blend the sheens a bit. After that a bit of pure carnauba liquid wax to seal it all up. It is time consuming, but rewarding. This winter I used this process on this old Raleigh DL1 with good results.
