[pinguwin]

I saw a Tange Switchblade in a shop yesterday. It has plenty of surface rust spots on it. They are all small and don't seem to have affected the basic solidity of the blades. Light surface rust on steerer. The brake posts again have some surface rust and the shop said that they could chase the threads of the posts if they are rusty inside. The fork is the black finish.

I'm not quite sure what is required to restore this. Would one chemically remove the rust or sand it away? Would I have to just make it look like the rust spots are removed or does one have to go go a little deeper? Is the finish anodized? I might like to remove the black finish (as it's certainly going to be degraded removing the rust spots) and have a bare steel finish (with clear coating of course).

I've not done this before and am trying to figure out if this is a silly idea or not. I can't get a picture for you all and they are asking $40, but I would certainly offer less.

Penguin

 

[richieb]

The Switchblades I had access to when I was a pup were black chrome...so, as with everything else chrome, I would suggest maybe some VERY fine steel wool and some chrome polish...I bet that would get rid of the rust and not marr the finish too badly...

How does the crown itself look?

rb

 

[YETIFIED]

Navel Jelly or Permetex NJ-1A Rust Dissolver Gel

Hey Penguin,

These two products work wonders on rust and are easily found at automotive stores. The application is very easy using a paint brush. They won't damage a chromed surface however, it may attack a painted surface by discoloring it. I've also used oxcyllic (spell check) acid in the past on old beer cans, because it didn't effect the paint on the can. I hope this helps.

 

[pinguwin]

Ah yes, you're dating yourself. It's oxalic and acid and I used it for...beer cans. Didn't think of that and have to say I can't remember the last time I thought of oxalic acid. Came in crystal in lb. blue cans locally. I know I can get the rust off, just how much damage to the finish, maybe I'll have to repaint it, who knows.

The crown itself is in pretty good shape and that's really what I'm interested in. I have a silver chromed Switchblade in 1 1/8th and really want to put the chrome legs in a 1" threaded setup, which the fork in the shop is.

One other thing, the plugs for the bolts are pretty intractable. I know I can get them out but short of destroying them, they don't seem to budge. Like to keep the plugs intact on both forks as they are the original ones. Any hints how to do that? Only thing I can think of is putting some oil around the edges.

'Guin

 

[kb11]

You shoulda bought these

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110000873197&sspagename=ADME:L:RTQ:US:1&rd=1

 

[YETIFIED]

Ah yes, you're dating yourself. It's oxalic and acid and I used it for...beer cans. Didn't think of that and have to say I can't remember the last time I thought of oxalic acid. Came in crystal in lb. blue cans locally. I know I can get the rust off, just how much damage to the finish, maybe I'll have to repaint it, who knows.

The crown itself is in pretty good shape and that's really what I'm interested in. I have a silver chromed Switchblade in 1 1/8th and really want to put the chrome legs in a 1" threaded setup, which the fork in the shop is.

One other thing, the plugs for the bolts are pretty intractable. I know I can get them out but short of destroying them, they don't seem to budge. Like to keep the plugs intact on both forks as they are the original ones. Any hints how to do that? Only thing I can think of is putting some oil around the edges.

'Guin[/QUOTE

Oh ya I'm dating myself, LOL! As far as the plugs go, would compressed air properly pointed work? What about using epoxy to glue small dowls to to plugs and then pull them straight out. Once out, the epoxy should be easy to remove. Just trying to think outside the box.

 

[pinguwin]

You shoulda bought these

Oh that hurts to see that I missed that one. Of course it was only up for 75 minutes so it's pretty unlikely many people saw it. I've seen a few things that have been buy-it-now that were so far below what they would have sold for on regular auction but usually they are snapped up before many people have a chance to see them.

$16.50 is an odd figure I suspect that the person probably meant $165, it's so ridiculously low that it's the only plausible reason or perhaps it's a cheating spouse getting back at the other one.

I'll try the idea with the plugs or think harder.

'Guin

 

[DeeEight]

It was actually listed for several days...I saw it middle of last week and debating whether I should get it or not.

 

[pinguwin]

It was actually listed for several days

I was basing 75 minutes on:

Starting time: Jun-22-06 18:17:25 PDT
Ended: Jun-22-06 19:31:57 PDT

If it was listed for several days, I don't know how I missed it as I've got a search saved for "tange fork". Hmmm....me thinks me mind is going.

'Guin

 

[idiot]

I just finished a three year project to modify a Switchblade fork for my commuter.

I found it with a 1" steerer, bur because the intended bike's got a 1-1/8" headset (that I didn't want to replace with a shimmed down 1"), it sat on the bench for a few years. I (finally) got a new 1-1/8" steerer, had a 1" sleeve bonded and pinned inside it and smacked that bad boy in to the crown. With brake posts cannibalised from an old set of WB forks - cut down to fit - it's bolted up, looking tough and ready to go!

When I get fifteen seconds, I'm going to pop it on my ~1991 Marin frame with an old skool (& rather long) Answer Atac quill stem complete with built in cable stop - to stop cable for the Avid tri-align brakes that have been on the bike since about '94.

So it's gonna be all retro all the way back to the 1-speed Rennen chain tensioner!