The next phase

So there I was, and there was the beast. It was crouched in the driveway as I circled it with care. We eyed each other, I tried to hide the spanners, the rag and the bottle of sugar soap. The beast effected not to care.

This went on for some time, then I made my move.

First step, let's get rid of the bits that don't work or won't be staying.

Off came the Sanyo Dynamo Lamp and its wires and stuff. At some point in its career the lens housing had disappeared, so as exciting as riding along to the high pitched whirr might have been, it had to go.

Then the mysterious zippy tie hanging from the top tube brake cable.

The bits of old garden house that substituted for bar grips put up more of a fight, but they went next.

Then came the greatest challenge. The beast has lovely old drilled DiaCompe levers, but I now know what happens if you don't change your hood rubbers from time to time.

A 20 minute wrestling match between the beast, and me armed with a razor blade and industrial quantities of acetone, I was victorious.

Then it was time for the sugar soap. I was somewhat worried that the project might be over, more or less before it began due to steel cancer - rust. Ten minutes with the sugar soap went some way to dispel this, it shifted a power of dirt, revealing that, hopefully, the corrosion present was surface only.

I switched to a bottle of CLR that we had kicking about, CLR, rag and sand paper and the beast was already looking better. Chrome was starting to reawaken, corrosion was starting to retreat.

Time for a closer inspection, hmmm, lots of WD40 is indicated, the bolts look like they are pretty gummed up, the wheels, yeah, pretty knackered. The beast has what looks like the original quick release Normandy wheels, with crazy steel rims. The rims have had had it, rusty and buckled. A quick count revealed three or four broken spokes.