I’m slowly gathering the parts for my 1st C&V project (the ‘84 Cannondale in my signature) and saving my pennies for the ultimate “part” — the paint job. In the meantime, I’ve decided to, or rather finances have dictated that I forego building a new wheel set using the original Suntour hubs and instead salvage the anodized Wolber Super Champion Modele 58 rims that are currently laced to the hubs. Sort of C&V on the cheap.

Anyway, the rims are straight and the hubs are in excellent condition. The braking surface of the rims are (were) another story—full of scrapes and gouges from whatever crap was stuck in the brake pads over the past 24 years of the bike’s life. (It was a Craig's List refugee.)

After scouring with steel wool and sanding with 800 WetOrDry sandpaper I still wasn’t satisfied with the look and feel of the braking surface. I wanted it to be as smooth and uniform as possible since I had purchased a NOS Superbe Pro brakeset as part of the planned SunTour build up.

After reading numerous threads in C&V I decide to strip the anodizing from the braking surface while preserving it on the top surface of the rim. So I masked off the rims and gave them the Easy-Off and steel wool treatment, and have to say I am mostly pleased with the results. No, they are not like new, but they look and feel a lot better and I still need to polish them. Below are some pictures, with more pictures here.


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