More big progress tonight.

• Stripped. The paint is all the way stripped. The frame is ready.
• It took a little longer than I thought to strip the paint and sand it to the steel. It was a total pain in the ass to remove the last bits of paint in the hard-to-reach corners.
• I used a spray can of paint remover for a few tough spots. A couple of the photos show where the remover bubbled the paint off. It didn’t remove everything and there was plenty of hand sanding left to do.
• I removed the chrome fork crown, and sanded the rust that had built up on the fork below it. At first the fork crown was stuck, but I used a flathead screwdriver to pry it off. The fork crown is in great shape and is polishing up fairly well.
• Next, I’ll use Bondo to fill in holes in the frame. These holes were left behind after I removed the shifter bosses.
• Also this week, using liquid rust remover over the frame to kill any rust.
• Primer immediately after that.
• Paint will follow. Again, going with the Wimbledon white. Already have the paint.
• I’ll start tearing down the old 3-speed Triumph when I’m waiting for the paint to dry on the Vista.

• 1st photo: Stem expander wedge. WTF is that? I didn’t know until this metal thing dropped out of my frame and rolled across the garage floor. Oh crap. I thought I screwed up the fork, but Sheldon Brown’s site clued me in. My wedge is cracked and needs to be replaced. It’s about 20mm diameter. The opening on the frame is about 22mm or so. Standard size is 21.1mm for a new part. I need one but don’t know the right size. Does anyone know how to fit these parts?


• 2nd photo: Killing the rust. These are the cups from the head tube, and they were both terribly rusty. They looked like garbage — like the one on the left in the picture. I wasn’t sure if I could keep them until I pulled them out. The wire wheel eliminated all the rust on both pieces. They’re fine now and should polish up nicely.

Great progress today on the Vista.

• I sanded most of the fork and used a wire wheel to start polishing the chrome on the fork and handlebars.  The fork is mostly sanded tonight. Still needs some polish on the chrome. Half the handlebars are de-rusted.
• Most of the frame should be sanded and de-rusted tomorrow and ready for primer. 
• I won’t be using the wire wheel to remove paint. Yes, it removes paint, but I fear that it removes too much metal. Staying with sanding for paint removal.
• The wire wheel removes rust extremely well from chrome. I’ll use polishes to get the metal parts chromed.
• It looks like primer/paint start this week. Super stoked — need a color.
• I definitely needed this work today to clear my head. It was a rough end of the week — my grandmother was hospitalized with serious heart problems. Still waiting to find out what went wrong.
• Feeling nostalgic lately for my old records. I’m always exploring new music, but the older stuff is working right now.
• Album of the moment: Keep it Like a Secret by Built to Spill.

I just brought home this old Triumph three-speed after buying it from a friendly guy in Smyrna, Tenn. named Gui. A bike rider, Gui and his son, 14, planned to work on it together, but other things got in the way and they decided to let it go.

I still don’t know how old it is, but bike guru Sheldon Brown says you can look on the Sturmey-Archer rear hub to find out. It is gunked up with dirt and stuff right now and I haven’t had a chance to look. But I wanted to go ahead and put up some pictures, and then I’ll tinker around with it a bit tonight to see if I can find the year.

On first glance, it looks sort of rough in parts, and pretty solid in other parts. It has a lot of original parts. One sore spot is the shifter cable is broken. For now, there is no way to know if that rear hub works. These bikes were pretty much bomb-proof, so my bet is on it working. If not, I’ll be searching for a hub or working to convert with a new hub. I really, really, really want the original to work though. Crossing my fingers.

Elsewhere, it is just removing the bad rattlecan paint, sanding, banging out a few dents and getting the frame ready for paint.

So ready to dive in to this extra bike fix! If nothing else, it will give me something to do on the long, hot summer days when I am waiting for the paint to dry on my Vista.

c