I got a BSA road bike for £30 about a month ago and haven't done anything with it yet but last night decided to start, (at 1am). Stripped it down and found a few dilemma's.

1. The bottom bracket is an old thing and doesn't come off with any tools I have. I have no idea where to go from here so any advice would be good, (maybe diagrams??)

2. I want the components to all be silver like bars, stem, cranks, seatpost etc. and all the above on the bike are silver inc. wheels but there have spots of rust all over them. How do I go about getting rust off them and restoring them to their former glory?

3. The headset is one of those old screw ones and in case I need to get a new one, can I still get hold of them?

Any additional advice would be greatly needed

Cheers

I can get some pics for later today

1. pics needed?

2. IIRC wire wool & chrome polish shuld help with the rust.

3. May be tough, it may be an old standard.

Up to you but I wouldn't be spending much on it, and you easily could.

You could try Solvol Autosol on the (should be) shiny bits. BB is likely to be needing a C-spanner and maybe get away with a big adjustable, but there are lots of types so a pic would confirm, might need pin spanner or other weirdness. Headsets plentiful and good quality available.

Screw in head set- shouldn't be a problem.

Best place to go to is the old style bike shops in high streets of small towns that sell shopper bikes and ATBs they usualy have lots of bits for bikes of this age.

Getting rust off silver of chromed componenets- try a good scrub with some fine wire wool and some rust stripper- B&Q is a good place to look or if you have a local antiques shop ask if they know a restorer who could give you some tips. On the ones I've done its usaully been polished metal so the rust does shift after a while. Juts make sure it is fine wire wool unless the rsut is really heavy in which case try some good wquality wet/dry abbrasive paper at first to get it down a bit.

Is the bottom Bracket one of the old cup and cone jobs that need peg spanners?

I don't have a big budget, i.e. none but would really like to have a really nice looking road bike. BTW its singlespeed so that'll save some cash.

Getting a nice British Racing Green Powdercoat from my brother for last Christmas with white stripe on top and down tube and 1 inch stripe on left fork and on seat tube. I think it will look quite nice when, if I get it done

The easiest way to get rust off stuff is to use WD40 / GT85 / TF2 / Any other spray with letters and numbers, and a green pan scourer or wire wool. Usually that will clean chrome up fine.

The BB will be a proper cup and cone job, I can't remember what tool I used to undo the one on a 1950s bike I picked up, think there was a lockring and a pin wrench involved.

You will also probably have cottered cranks – Sheldon Brown has an article on these.

You can still get quill type headsets, but you may be able to clean up the chrome, put some new grease and balls in and be on your way.

I spent many hours making an old Ellis Briggs racer beautifull again but with modern wheels and tyres. It looked stunning.

Rode it to work and hated it! Just got my money back off Ebay and it now doing commuting duty in the big smoke.

I used Autosol on the chrome and good old car polish on the paint with a wooden BBQ skewer to clean out all the lugwork.

It will be a labour of love if your up for it…

docrobster, I think so but by 3 o clock I should have some pictures, I just left the camera at my dads house and he's at a solicitors dealing with my recently deceased uncle so he should be back by one.

Keep looking out for this post as I have a feeling it'll be back quite frequently.

good wquality wet/dry abbrasive paper at first to get it down a bit.

make sure it is WET to prevent scratching, I would use oil(3in1)

Old style shop in town but you would have to travel to Dumfries.
Shop is currently for sale.

http://www.cyclesofyesteryear.com/
http://www.theoldbicycleshowroom.co.uk/
http://oldbiketrader.co.uk/

For the bottom bracket you are likely going to need 2 spanners. 1 flat and 1 " C ". The flat to hold the inner cup and the C to slacken/tighten the outer which is how you adjust the loose bearing bb.

Be carefull when chapping out the cotter pins holding the pedals on, they are pretty soft metal. loosen and leave the nuts on to prevent thread damage. spray all nuts and bolts with a release agent 1/2hr before dissassembly

it's the grade of wet 'n' dry that determines whether it scratches or not Shirley, not whether it's oiled or not.

I'd stick to wire wool / brush.

Try the Park tools website for repair diagrams too.

Not sure if it will go back to old classib cotterless crankset etc

http://www.parktool.com/repair/

Also look for old bike manuals to download via Google like Barnetts repair guide etc.

I really wouldn't bother with wet and dry. Chrome is tough but you can eventually wear it down. The vast majority of what you see as rust spots is actually staining – the rust seems to come from tiny pinholes in the chroming.

I've actually used a pan scourer and WD on 1950s chromed bike parts and it works perfectly, and costs nowt.

The headset is one of those old screw ones

Oh my lord, I feel old!

I have a screw headset lying around, not sure the size but it's STX RC circa 1995 vintage, might not be old enough for you.

Not sure if it will go back to old classib cotterless crankset etc

Modern cranks are cotterless (square taper or splined). The old style are cottered – ie, they have cotter pins.

I did what your doing, its quite rewarding after a while.

Bin the wheels though, steel rims weigh an 'effin ton and brakes can't grip the chrome. If they are 700c it'll be an easy swap for some new wheels, if they are anything less usual (28", 27" etc) you might get away with 700c wheels and playing arround with the brakes (longer/shorter drop versions).

If you buy the correct tools off ebay most of the old stuff can be re-used, the bearings will be a common size, so even if they are completely destroyed a bit of grease or a trip to a small LBS or halfords should bring it to life.

Mines cost me about £150 all including new carbon forks, new'er wheels, new brakes, bar tape, tyres, and weighs a gnats chuff under 'eff all, cant wait to get out on it but for the moment its sat in the garrage looking beuitfull.

get some white / cream tyres and some curvy bars for a proper old school effect

The headset is one of those old screw ones
Oh my lord, I feel old!

I have a screw headset lying around, not sure the size but it's STX RC circa 1995 vintage, might not be old enough for you.
I still have a bike with one on- STX RC from 94. converted to threadless with an adapter thingy…thingy
You can still buy dura ace 1 inch threaded headsets, can you not?
I've got a set of peg spanners at home I'm willing to post if they'll be any use- I last used them 20 yrs ago and I can't see me needing them again!

Cottered cranks- now that brings back memories- knocking the cotterpins back in with a rock mid ride after the crank arm had fallen off again- not a wasted childhood after all!

after noticing that my brother had left himself logged in I decided to log myself in 🙄

Here are the pics

Dont know what the Tour de France means but the rust isn't that bad and the wheels roll perfectly and are remarkably true

Those handlebars and stem look like alloy to me, so they will never be very shiney. Square taper crank, so you'll be able to get a modern, cartrige BB for it. Wheels are chromed steel, with all the chrome worn off the braking surface it seems. They'll never look great, worth getting some new ones if you are going to the effort of having it sprayed.

Tour de France is proably a reference to an obscure dark side event run somwhere in Europe, (I think). It's not really a popular thing if I remember correctly, shouldn't worry about that too much. 🙂

All the above IMHO of course!

I could start with the frame and forks and then just get hold of some other shiny bits from various sources. Maybe rebuild wheels because as I have said hubs are immaculate