bigmallard

Older Panasonic 10 speed - All original except seat, which is a Velo. 27 x 1 1/4 tires. Steel Araya rims. Dia-Comp center pull brakes. Shimano Rear and Sprocket. 3 piece crank. KKT Pedals. Hi-Ten steel tubing. 23" Lugged frame (58 or 59 cm) App. 34" Standover.

That is the description of the bike that I am picking up tommorow. I've done a little bit of reading, but do not know too much about them. There is a little bit of rust and I will be repainting, but replacing the decals. Is there anyone that can help me with advice on refurbishing of this bike?

LittleGinseng 

First thing I'd do is replace the steel-rimmed wheels with a set of alloy rims. You can reuse the original hubs if they're in good shape. Stopping power will be much improved.

When I bought my '81 Panasonic Sport, I replaced the original Shimano RS 5-speed drivetrain with Suntour Cyclone, built a set of Miche Competition hubs onto some Specialized Saturne 27" rims(originals were steel Araya), and swapped out the Dia Compe centerpulls with some New Gran Compe sidepulls. The stem was too short, so I replaced with a longer Nitto stem. The bars were randonneur style, so those had to go too, replaced with Nitto 115's from my old Fuji. So basically, everything went except for the Tange steel headset, post and saddle, and kickstand.

You asked

edit: BTW...welcome to Bike Forums, bigmallard. I think you'll find us a friendly bunch.

bigmallard

Well I picked up the bike today and for as old as I believe it to be it is in great shape. There is a little bit of superficial rust, but nothing a little bit of quad-aught steel wool and a little WD40 won't fix.

It is the Villager III model with a Shimano "Positron"? shift system, and even still has the original tires. The frame is lugged and in excellent shape. The tires will be replaced soon, but what should I make my first replacement, and please be kind I'm a college student on a budget

Tom Stormcrowe

Good buy! Glad to see you got a bike!

lessee, I run Continental Ultrasport. They are around $20.00 a tire

IRC makes some gumwalls for about $8.00 a tire though and are old school looking. They also last fairly well. Likely you can get these at your local bike shop. In a pinch, you can also get 27" tires at Walmart as well as tubes. Welcome to vintage bikes!

LittleGinseng 

Absolutely replace the brake pads if you're going to be using those steel rims. Kool Stop makes excellent replacement pads and are available in different compositions. Keep in mind if you get those steel rims wet, braking performance will be next to nil.

JunkYardBike

Are you sure they are steel rims? Take a magnet to them...

bigmallard

oh yeah, wheels are definitely steel. what little rust that was on the bike is coming off with wd40, 0000 steel wool and a fine files.

Here is the breakdown of the components since I've gotten a good look at the bike
Dia-Comp brakes
Shimano Positron II shifters
steel lugged frame
araya steel 27 1/4 wheels

I've got the bike broken down right now for degreasing and rust removal, but it should look pretty good once it gets a nice coat of paint and new decals

endless

hey i just picked up a panasonic sport sp-500 recently. never heard too much about them til i found this one. great bike, it's in excellent condition, no rust at all, all original components. rides real nice and smooth. the guy whol sold it to me said panasonic was suppose to be built by schwinn or something. can anyone back this up or give me a little more info on the panasonic line?

btw, not trying to steal your thread bigmallard

mastershake916

My local bike kicthen has one very similar to it, is yours a sport 1000?

bigmallard

Don't worry about stealing the thread, I'm trying to find out as much as I can about these bikes too.

No, Mine is the Villager III model

mastershake916

Does it have stamped dropouts?

bigmallard

I am not too familiar with bike terminology yet, so what are dropouts?

USAZorro

Dropouts are the part of the frame where the wheel axles fit in. If they're stamped, they look like they were made out of heavy sheet metal, or you can see a seam in them. If they don't look like that, it means they are either forged or cast - which is better than stamped.

mastershake916

I myself did not know the difference between stamped and other dropouts, someone else said that it had them.

bigmallard

they are stamped, but no seam.