Hi all,
I found a Holdsworth and wanted to know the following, it looked like its been left outside for a while. When I pulled out the seat post, there was rust on it, is there a chance its rusted through inside? Is there a way to clean this off?
Thanks, Herbster

A bit of rusty dust on the seatpost isn't necessarily the end of the world; check that water hasn't been collecting in the bottom of the seat tube.

Pour some in, and see if it comes out a drain hole or something. If it stays inside, the frame may well be cactus... but only if it's actually been filling with water in the first place.

Not sure how you'd check for internal rust... maybe wrap a magnet in tape until it barely sticks to good tubing, and see if it falls off anywhere?

As for cleaning the rust, maybe water down some rust converter and slosh it around inside. Let it dry and apply some sort of oil... someone just mentioned linseed oil is meant to harden into a varnish-type substance after a couple of days.

Remember before pouring anything down there that bb should be taken out.

in all my time working on bikes, I've only ever seen one frame that rusted through to the point of being unsafe.

Thanks everyone for your great help. I simply shone a torch down it, doesnt look too bad to be honest. I suppose I ought to have done that sooner.
I noticed today that the bb hub/axle is a bit wobbly, so thought to my amature self, 'that looks like it needs some work'. So I reached for the crank extractor and took it apart. lol
Well the result has raised some questions. Upon the dismantling of the BB, I reached inside to pull out the bearing cartridge on the nd/leftside (this is beginning to sound like an adult novel) and noticed something a bit slimy, (ooer!) not the grease no, this was a rolled up piece of card. 'What is that about?' I asked myself. I am really not impressed because it appears to be jammed into the threading of the adjustable cup. I am scared to remove the adjustable cup for the following reason. If I move it the darned thing might be too loose in the threading and then I'm more screwed than now.
To the mechanics out there my question is,
Is this normal practice?
Or is this because some dunce kid in a chain store cross threaded the original thread and they have tried to make it tighter this way?
There is a significant amount of rust in there because the card has been clogging it all up.
So do I gamble and try to tighten it? Or leave it and let it rattle?
ANY idease would be great.
Herbster

sounds like someone put the card in there as a ghetto sleeve to keep gunk out you should replace it but not with card, buy a plastic one or make one from an alu can