What are some of your tips and tricks for removing rust/polishing older chrome components, blending blemishes, etc? I've got a slew of classic/vintage components and a few frames that really deserve to shine, but I'm not quite sure where to start! Any information is welcome as long as it has to do with restoring classic and vintage components and frames! GO!

For parts from the size of fasteners up through stems and even chainrings, I've been putting them in the brass tumbler I use when I reload ammunition. Works great. I just make sure I remove oil and grease in the parts washer and blow them off with the compressor before I toss them in.

I use professional polishing wheels and compounds on my bench wheels for the shinny things. All the cranks, brakes, necks, seat posts, handle bars, derailleurs and shifters look brand new or very close to it on my bikes. On the chrome wheels I use ooo fine steel wool to remove rust and corrosion then I put a polishing wheel on my drill to fine polish the rims. If the spokes are to stained I use 400 grit sandpaper.

there are lots of good threads on polishing aluminum. i use a metal file, 3m auto sandpaper and liquid polish. i usually start overhauling a derailleur (for example) by bathing it in mineral spirits. i then disassemble it and bathe all the rusty bits in naval jelly.

After a clean and polish I'll give everything a coat of Wolfgangs deep gloss paint sealer. It gives paint and aluminum an incredible gloss and helps protect raw aluminum from oxidating.

Pretty much what Steve Whitlatch said. For wheel rims and hubs, I start with Turtle Wax chrome and metal polish and a good stiff toothbrush to remove most of the rust. It's an excellent polisher for any aluminum and doesn't scratch chrome. Also, using a plastic toothbrush doesn't allow for any scratching, and you can bear down as hard as you want. If there's any rust left, I use a very fine steel wool 0000-grade wet with wd-40. The wd-40 helps loosen the remaining rust. Once I'm done, I use an Eagle One wadding polish to take the aluminum stuff to a brilliant shine.

I've been having good luck using tent floor seam sealer on the skinwall portion of older tires that would otherwise be too brittle to ride. You do have to know the difference between tires just needing an appearance boost and those that are too old/damaged to try this on, though.

Makes the sidewalls supple again and prevents fraying. Again, I'm not sure I'd depend on it for long rides in terms of restoring durability of the sidewalls. However, doing this on a set of marginal tires before they get "spiderwebbing" seems to keep them looking fresh and rideable.

Khatfull's aluminum polishing thread is possibly the best treatise dealing with the topic on the web.

Insofar as the paint on the frame is concerned, there are three things that I would recommend:

• CLEAN the frame. (WD40, then citrus cleaner (not on the decals!) then Windex).
• Meguiar's Scratch-X polishing compound.
• Meguiar's Tech Wax

The link to Khatfull's polishing thread is much appreciated. Pretty much aht I do already, but taken to a higher level. i need to step up my game.

Back almost 40 years ago in my college days - before PCs or cheap televisions - I'd grab one of my wheels, an old rag and my tub of Simichrome polish down to the dorm common room and polish away whilst watching MASH or Charlie's Angels... I had the original Ukai alloy rims of my S-10S so shiny that some people mistook them for chrome steel wheels. Same for the spokes. Great stuff.

I'm way too lazy to polish components, but I think Khatfull's work is amazing.

The first thing I do is get all the parts off the frame.
Then I get any non-OEM stickers off, but if the LBS decal is in good shape, I leave it.
Then I wash the frame with hot water and liquid dish soap, really sudsy, and then I rinse with cold water, blow out the frame and let it dry two days.
Then I get clean beige shop rags (the red bleed color) and literally rub the frame down with WD40.
It's amazing how many "defects" come off/out with WD40.
Then I wash it again with hot water and much less dish soap, basically to remove WD40 excess. Again, blow out the frame and let it dry two days.
Then I soak a clean cloth in Windex and wipe it down.
I rarely wax a frame, but I do use rubbing compound if I think it will bring oxidized paint or clear coat back to luster.
I then set it aside, because during this, I'm busy thinking about parts, build, changes, trying to find the package I want.

Components, I degrease if needed, using whatever bulk degreaser I find on sale. I don't allow it to sit.
Then, I do the liquid dish soap wash and cold water rinse, then blow water out of the nooks and crannies. 1 day to dry.
Then, I assess any repairs needed, or disassembly for further cleaning or repair. I do that if needed.
Then, I get the toothbrush out and go at it with WD40, 0000 steel wool if there's something that I think needs it.
(If I take any component apart, each piece that comes off gets cleaned before it goes back onto a clean assembly, or is assembled with other parts.)
Once I have each assembly back together, clean and dry, I use Slick 50 1-lube on every pivot point, moving part, etc.
Then I wipe the excess off and put them in ziploc bags until re-assembly.

Wheels generally get the tires/tubes removed. Tubular cement is cleaned off those types. I pull the rims strips as well.
Then, the hot water/dish soap, cold rinse, wipe dry, blow dry, and set aside.
If there is rust on the spoke nipples, I treat each one with Rustoleum Rust Remover, then re-wash and dry.
Then, I clean the entire wheel the best I can, spoke by spoke. I use 0000 steel wool and WD40, or shop rags and WD40.
It's surprising how far back you can bring 80's wheels, with stainless spokes and anodized rims, polished hubs, just by thorough cleaning.

Now, with all the parts clean; calipers, derailleurs, etc lubed, I pull out the grease.
Headset, hubs, bottom bracket, all get repacked and assembled. Headset and BB go back on the frame.
Next, for me, is the seatpost and stem/bar combo, because I have the grease out.
Then I add new rim strips and whatever tire/tube combo I've decided on, and install the cassette/freewheel and wheels.
I don't have a bike stand, so I bungee the front-rear wheel and it'll stand up and hold still for me.
I then install crankset, RD, FD. With the chain off, I eyeball the FD and RD and adjust in/out by sight.
(If using STI shifters, I allow for the "relaxing" of the cable after a shift; DT shifters and Ergos, this is generally not a factor)
Then, I generally add the calipers, run the brake cables through the levers or the STI's, mount 'em, and run the brake cables and housing.
(If using the newest STI's, it's a good idea to insert the shifter cables as well before mounting).
Then, I run the shifter cables. This is a snap with DT shifters, but can get tricky depending on the frame.
Once the shifter cables (and housing if needed) is run, I eyeball the shifting up/down the cogs and in/out on the front.
I adjust the best I can at that point, then add the chain and fine-tune everything. I ride the bike to get the fit dialed in.
Once the fit is right, I wrap the bars.

Again, I'm not a big polisher or even frame waxer. I get it as good as I can and I expect some wear and tear.
If it's in such good condition that I don't want to ride it, I move it on.
(I once sold a Pinarello because it was mint and I didn't want to see the decals start coming off).

If it's a really nice older bike, worthy of the bike shows I've been to, I may only ride it rarely.
However, if it's a really nice older bike that I intend to ride a lot, I stop worrying about wear and tear and ride the thing.
All of them will outlast me, as they've outlasted someone else already; all of them are used.

It's pretty clear from all we've seen from him the Robbie has it down. I finally got my old sew-up wheels back from the east coast last summer, so I'll put that wheel system to the test. What do you use to remove the old glue?

^ A lot of people here seem to like a brass brush in a drill for removing sew-up glue. Never tried it myself, but now that I again have a set of tubulars, probably will in the future. Back in the '70s it was whatever solvent you had and LOTS of rubbing and scrubbing

I like a mounted Scotchbrite wheel for that task. After scraping off the majority with a dull carving chisel of the same profile as the rim.

Robbie's lengthy epistle is worth printing out and saving.

Thanks, mechanical removal will be required, mustn't forget the safety glasses.

+1 on Robbies epistle, I particularly second the liberal use of WD-40 for basic cleaning and a true rider's sensibility on the cosmetics, though I like to wax new and old paint for a little shine and protection.

hand/drill wire brushes polished some rims with them and wd40 wouldnt hurt to use on them with the brush to

Thanks for the kind words. I scrape as much as I can with an old flat-bladed screwdriver, when it's dry and brittle. The more you can get off by hand when it's dry and brittle, the less work you'll have later. Then, I try to soften the residue. I've tried mineral spirits, acetone, Goo Gone Xtreme, and Oops. None work all that well. I use a normal cheap drill with a brass stripping brush. The heat of the brush melts the residue, and it gums up the brush, so I clean it regularly and just keep at it. I can generally get each wheel clean in an hour.

Then I use Tufo Tape when I re-mount. It costs a bit per tire, but cheaper than the pants I seem to ruin each time I use glue.

What if the bearings are silky smooth? Service anyway or leave as is? I'm working on an early 70s Gitane, the wheels and headset needed service but the BB is so smooth and nicely adjusted I held off.

Service it anyway. Until you crack it open, you will not know if someone greased it, or if your ball-bearings are just running-dry on the smooth varnished surface of the heretofore un-pitted cups.

All this polishing! But I do it too. Mothers brand aluminum polish. Also use the Turtle Wax chrome polish on chrome bits. And my ace in the hole for cleaning and degreasing, "Challenger" cleaner. Cuts thru crud faster than anything else including solvent based products.

One of the ways to identify a good bike back in the day, was if the components didnt shine. You knew a bike was of decent quality because it didn't have chromed steel parts. And Campy had the satin anodized finish. Shiny parts meant cheap bike!

+1
I use soap and water, Scratch-X, treat rust with Ospho, do minor paint touch up, then a good Carnuba wax. Bike paint is just like car paint. Would anyone of us just compound a car's finish and the leave it alone? Not a chance, bikes need TLC also.

Oh....and I never use WD40.

Me neither. Except on my lawn mower now and again.

My favorite product for bike paint is Meguiars #6 cleaner wax.

If it isn't broke, I don't fix it if getting into it won't improve or correct an error. I don't get too many in that have healthy BB's.

In rebuilding a Klein Quantum, the old press-in BB was square taper, putting a hurdle in front of the upgrade to 10-sp Ultegra...there is no replacement in that size that I could find, and I didn't want to take a chance on messing up the removal, so I left it alone. Though the bike had been sitting, the crankset turns as smooth as anything I've ever repacked.

By the way, JP, have you ever seen that Feather that's for sale in Cary?