Bubbly Rust on Trek 520
 

I was going to post this on Bicycle Mechanics, but I thought it was something that the C&V'ers might be more familiar with..

I'm overhauling my girlfriend's new (to her) Trek 520. It's a neat little bike - V brakes, braze-ons for a rack. But it's got this bubbly rust, particularly around the lugs and along the cable guides on the top tube. I kinda brushed it off when we bought it because we were excited at the find, but now that I'm looking at it, I fear it may be a bigger problem/PITA than I had thought it would be.

What should I do with it? If it's bubbling but hasn't broken through the paint, should we still gently sand it off and treat? I figured that I would do nail polish or car touch-up paint.

Thanks in advance!

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If you are planning on keeping the bike for the long term, go ahead and scrape the paint off the rusted areas and dip the entire frame in oxalic or phosphoric acid to kill the rust inside and out. Then do your paint touch-ups. There are endless threads on OA treatment here in this forum, do a quick search.
If riding is going to be a flash in the pan, just scrape the rusty spots and touch-up.

Hmm OA treatment it is, I think. Then some primer and automotive paint. I'll do some more research. Thank you!

Can you possibly match Imron paint with something else? Another option would be to strip the componants and take the frame to a powdercoat shop.

Why do you say Imron paint, in particular?

That is the paint that Trek used. BTW, I have treated a rusty frame with oxalic acid with good results. I then had the whole frame repainted since I wasn't confident that I could match the color.

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Ah awesome! That's a great lead. I'll look and see if anyone has some info on matching Imron.

That Miyata looks fantastic. I think we're leaning towards OA bath. setting up the bath seems like less of a pain in the ass than manually removing all of the rust and then touching it up.

Thanks