Hello,

A colleague of mine gave me a frame he told me has been sitting in his home for years. As you can see in the pictures, it is completely covered in rust. Also, he said it wasn't completed so it might be missing some details. From looking at it, it seems like the dropouts still need to be brazed and maybe the seatstays, although I am not sure about the latter.

I am guessing that the rust could be taken care of when the frame gets sandblasted before powder coating, does that sound appropriate? How about the inside of the tubes, how do I remove that rust? I am also guessing that the parts that need to be brazed would need to be cleaned before doing so, does any of you have any recommendations on how to go about it? Thanks for the help, look forward to your replies.

This was probably a nice frame. Based on some of the details, I suspect it's likely built of Reynolds or Columbus tubing.

So there's a catch-22 here.

OTOneH - it would be a nice save
OTOtherH - the thinner the tube wall, the greater percentage of structural loss to the same amount of rust.

Looking at the apparent extent of the rust,m I'd call it scrap metal. But you have it in your hands and might do some spot sanding in various areas to get an idea of that actual rust damage before chucking it.

Did your friend do the building, then set it aside before finishing? If so can he confirm the state of completion? Does he know the tubing spec? An experienced guy (or gal) can tell a lot about the tubing wall thickness when actually handling the frame, how it warms to the touch, how it sounds when it's tapped. This person should also be able to tell if the brazing is complete, or not.


If it were mine I would spring for the $50 (or so) and get it cleaned off. Then i'd do a reassessment WRT the brazing, the wall thickness and if possible the insides too. There are compounds that you can soak the frame in that will pretty much halt and prevent any significant future rust. But these are only done if the other aspects are in order first. I would also do an alignment check. Only after these steps all pointed in the same and positive direction would I spring for the $100+ to powder coat it.


While the photos are pretty fuzzy and really don't show much detail what I d see is a lot of brass filler, no silver by my eyes. This suggests a production bike, not a hand made/one off bike. But some builders do use brass as much as possible, it's just not the American way and not what I've experienced in the few classes and building shops I've been in.


If you're going to toss it out I'll take it and do what I mentioned. Andy.

Do a search for Oxalic Acid. The folks over a C&V seem to get great results with it. They will put some in a plastic baby pool and soak until the rust is gone. Cost for the baby pool plus OA, about $10-15.

He didn't build the frame. The story is that he got it from someone else as payment for some money owed. My friend intended to finish it but never actually got to it (he can machine, weld, etc., but not a frame builder) and you know how those things go. He does not know the tubing spec unfortunately. It is supposed to be a custom, not production, frame but can't tell for sure obviously.

I am thinking it might be a good idea to take it to one of the local framebuilders for assessment. I guess they can tell me whether the frame is salvageable or not and what would it take to get it in good shape for completion. Also, I have access to lots of equipment, including sandblasting and powder coating equipment. Would sandblasting be better to clean it off or is it better to go the chemical way?

Sorry about the poor images, taken with a cheap phone. Might try to borrow a camera and get some better ones.

Btw, it seems to have 126mm rear spacing and 1in headtube, so I am guessing it is pretty old.

taking it to a framebuilder is a good idea. "Not finished" spans from just not painted to totally dangerous. I would also want to know something about who built it. It looks competently made, but who knows? Most people with any experience don't stop building until a frame is finished.

Took it to the framebuilder yesterday. He said it is definitely salvageable. Needs the dropouts and seatstay bridge brazed, and he mentioned something about the bottom bracket which I can't recall. He said it would be something like $200 to get it ready to go so
i just left it with him. Thanks all for the replies.

Looking a bit better now:

Looks nice!

Wow, that was fast turnaround. While he was working on it, did you have him spread the rear triangle to 130, or are you going to run with it at 126?

He spread it to 130. Really looking forward to riding it this weekend.

Columbus tubing, double-butted, apparently.

Done.

Nice. What saddle is that?

Thanks. It is a Selle Italia SLR. They call the particular model Nubuk I believe.

I'm assuming you've had a chance to ride it now. Do you like it?