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Technical & Reference Section => Tech and Restoration => Topic started by: dinglem on July 08, 2016, 11:19 PM
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Well this could be interesting.....
I saw this listed on eBay recently and watched it go up and up, before eventually being relisted a few weeks later due to the original winner not contacting the seller after the end of the auction.
As you can see it appears to have been stored at the bottom of a lake for the past 25years, but having been steadily looking for this particular model for a while now, i thought i'd watch it for a second time and see how high it went. With limited bidding i thought i'd take a punt, especially as it came with the uber-rare original Rickman forks. I was hoping it might be saveable, but it was hard to tell from the listing pics.
As advertised.
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So yeah.... pretty ropey. Anyway, i won it for a steal and asked the seller to hold on to it for me until i got back from France, and I collected it yesterday. I was hoping that i wouldn't be able to crush the tubes with my bare hands and i am really chuffed to discover that the tubes are much more solid than they initially appear.
The stem is a Piranha - again something i'm happy to have, so along with the rear brake all would not be lost if the the frame turned out to be a duffer.
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I finally got a bit of time to look a little closer at the Rickman this evening. It really is very solid and with a little elbow grease i have started checking each of the tube sections over and removing a little rust where possible. All i have used so far is Mothers Polish and a lot of elbow grease, but i have been very surprised to discover that there is a little chrome still remaining under all of that rust.
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I've had plenty of fun and games today trying to break it down as pretty much everything is rusted in and fused together.... still got to get the BB apart but the headset is now turning and i've got the wheels and chain off also. Polishing results have been really surprising.
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Overall i'm pretty pleased so far. I'll continue checking the tubes over as i strip it down, and with a only a handful of Rickman Pro's known it could work out as a total bargain if i can save it. :-\
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Looking forward to seeing this develop. Looks like it's crying out for a citric acid bath :daumenhoch:
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That really does look horrific. Well done for having a gamble on it though. Bet it's been in a damp cellar for a while.
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the original photos look like you could have poked your finger through the rust, i see you have all the tools for stripping it down. hacksaw and a hammer. ;D
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Yeah, I've never had to hacksaw a chain off before! The seller told me he had received plenty of abuse for listing it - basically people telling him it was a scrapper - but he knew the tubes were completely solid so stuck with it. It was discovered under some pine trees with the rear end totally sunk into the ground. Why somebody would leave such a high-end bike like that is beyond me.
Still fighting to get the bb apart currently.
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Gunna need some elbow grease on that.....looks great mind
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Knowing what you're like Mart, this will be an amazing transformation. :daumenhoch:
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Get it in a citric bath dude.
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I saw that being listed and thought it looked unsalvageable.
Good to see you are persevering with it...
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Yeah, had to be worth a punt....
Progress today - managed to get the bb out after a fairly tedious struggle, and whilst the bearings were pretty much mush the bb frame tubing itself is pretty much unmarked.
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The dreaded top tube (which looked the worst in the eBay pics) also shows signs of life, and the chain stays and rear drop outs are also totally solid.
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Now that's what I call a project! Looking forward to seeing this come together :daumenhoch:
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Looking good.
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Coming along nicely, the rear drops look very good. Nice one!
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Good luck with it.
I bought a knackered shed fire one years ago. It was proper smoke chrome lol. Best £54 I ever spent. Don't think I have any photos of it on photo bucket any more.
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Now this is what we call a proper resto thread .. Good luck Marty explosion
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First pics looked rather disconcerting tbh :-\ - You prove us there is still humanity under that decomposing skin ! :daumenhoch:
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Bit more progress today, the stem is now apart and out (and saved), headset is out, so all that remains is the seatpost tube which is well and truly jammed in. I've been on it for over an hour so far today and it's still not budging. Getting there though...
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Pm'd you buddy :daumenhoch:
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Great thread. Looking forward to seeing how this comes together. :daumenhoch:
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Finally back to basics...
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Wow you've got your work cut out with this one, looking forward to seeing how it progresses :daumenhoch:
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I love survivor builds and this could be the best ever!!! Subscribed for further progress and pics!! :daumenhoch:
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:daumenhoch: looks like the Ugly ducking might just turn into a Swan after all, Great Work :4_17_5:
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Come on martin get it in the citric
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Bath is on the way.... Currently en route to work though so there will be a bit of a progress delay for the time being. I was in a rush to break it down to F&F state as I have dropped it off with the guys who helped restore our early Mini. They are very sympathetic and have agreed to dip the frame for me so hopefully I'll have some results piccies soon :coolsmiley: I didn't trust myself doing my first citric bath on this particular example!
I should just also add how much of a blind pig the seatpost removal was... ended up cutting it off an inch above the frame, filing down the back of the inner seatpost to create a groove and then carefully sawing in said groove with a hacksaw blade right to the bottom of the seatpost, crushing it inwards once cut and then pulling it out. We put a solid bar in the top inch and closed a vice hard onto it, then hammered the frame off it using a block of wood (and lots of WD40).
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Looking forward to seeing this one come back to life!
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Just a quick observation as I have seen several posts elsewhere saying there is no date code for Rickman Racing frames.
Mine starts with 25 001 on the first line, which signifies a race frame. 25 002, or 003, or 004 signifies the various levels of freestyle frames.
I am there told the lower line of the serial number is the frame number itself.
In my case I have 065 08 on the second line.
Now to me that signifies a June '85 frame based on the first 3 digits, as per the Ammaco date stamping pattern. Having looked at all of the other Rickman frame serial numbers I can find online they exhibit the same pattern, with the first 3 digits showing would could represent a month and year pattern corresponding to an '84 or '85 timing. The space and subsequent number means mine is the 8th frame made that month.
My question is to all of the other Rickman owners... could you please post up whether you have a stamping that doesn't fit in with this pattern? I guess we're looking at numbers higher than 12 for the first two digits and not a 4 or a 5 (or a 6?) for the year??? I could have course be wrong but I haven't seen an example that doesn't fit this pattern yet....
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Looks like I might have been proven wrong already as a few owners have already messaged me with numbers that don't appear to match the pattern. Arseflakes. Oh well....
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What a story, thread and build. This is going to turn out lovely. Absolutely top class work so far. Can't wait to see it all done :daumenhoch:
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Wow... that's in need of some serious tlc. Looking good so far though. :daumenhoch:
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Well the super-rare Rickman forks can certainly be saved!
Amazing bath results.
Frame going in next - hopefully it turns out just as well!!! :daumenhoch:
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Top work.
Are you thinking a rechrome, or fresh white powder?
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Here's the frame, literally just out of the bath.
Totally solid! :laugh: There is a bit of light surface pitting on the looptails, but that's about it. An amazing transformation really. I think I could probably very fine sand the surface on the loops and it would then stand a rechrome, but failing that it'll be white as per other Rickman race bikes I have seen. I'd prefer chrome if possible though.
I'm over-the-moon with the result.
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Now that looks like a real project ...
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Gotta love citric acid, came out great :daumenhoch:
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Superb
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You definitely need a pat on the back for this
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Unbelievable result Mart, what do they use in the tank bud ???
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Excellent work. I can't believe it's the same bike!
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I have no idea what they used... I did ask today but they wouldn't tell me!! It obviously works though, and my fears of lots of holes in the tubing (and me leaving it in too long if I had done it myself) were unfounded.
I'm just excited to start working out how I'm going to build it now. I might tot up the build total cost for this one as I reckon it'll be a bargain basement job seeing as I got the frame and forks for so little. I've been after one for ages so i'm getting a real buzz out of this.
I had considered the white finish, but prefer chrome. I just found this too, which seems to confirm they did come in both chrome or white finishes from the factory.
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Whatever it was I want some 😀
Deffo not citric, wouldn't of taken the finish off like it has
Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk
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Blimey, what a result :4_17_5:
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Great thread. :daumenhoch:
What a great find and great results too. :coolsmiley:
Looking forward to seeing built up. :daumenhoch:
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Looking good Mart....... MY O.P. Racing was similar..... not quite as bad bud the citric bath worked a treat.
I'm no expert on the serial no's but have 2 sets of forks, both stamped 25 021. :daumenhoch:
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Thanks for all of the comments guys - it certainly has been a bit of a revelation so far.
I didn't even know the forks were stamped Andy (where?) I'll have to have another look over mine, or are yours the freestyle versions?
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Well that didn't take too long to research.
Not sure what number mine has but here's a few examples found online.
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Whats freestyle???? :LolLolLolLol:
Inside of left dropout Mart :daumenhoch:
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Ooooops! :D
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Well i'm absolutely amazed I didn't spot that stamping when I was stripping mine down, but then again it was 'a bit rusty'. I'll have to check them out when I get home. I have been told the Rickman race forks are super-rare so i'm impressed you have two sets Andy!
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A Rickman owner over on Fb has sent me this scan earlier on, so I thought i'd post it up in case people are interested. Some cool stamping info and weights etc... Also confirms that they were available in white and chrome from the factory, although I have also been told that the 'W' was never actually stamped on the frames and was just used for ordering purposes.
The same guy has also positively ID'd my forks as genuine Rickman items and told me that there were cases of some forks leaving the factory with 2 unstamped dropouts... so i'm not too stressed about not seeing any numbers on mine now.
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Well as you can see no real updates on this for a while, as I haven't really had any time in the UK over the past few months.
I have decided to try to re-use as many of the parts as I can that came with the bike as found, so that would be namely the F&F obviously, the CW bars, the slightly unusual Piranha stem, the Strong CX-15 seat post clamp, Tech-3 lever and the DC rear brake.
The seat post, seat, crank and pedals and the remains of the front and rear wheels all came off and went straight into the bin, so they are out of the picture.
I'm not a massive fan of the look of these CW bars but keeping them on it seems like the correct thing to do, plus they feel nice and wide so they'll be off for a rechrome along with (hopefully) the F&F. The stem is going off for a polish and tidy, as it only has monster surface tarnishing and no real dinks or marks.
I have some nice cranks, BB, chain, headset and wheels already put aside from my stash for this, as well as a Shimano DX seatpost all ready to go. Pedals are undecided at this stage but I have a few options available.
All I really need for it are a seat, grips, brake cable and plate (all in yellow perhaps?), and some suitable tyres of course. This is going to be one I ride regularly so I am building it as such.
Decals and pads will come from the usual sources and so if i'm not a naughty boy I might try to blag those as a Chrimblage pressie off Rach 8)
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great thread Martin
so glad it went in the bath! came out lovely
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Still a long way to go yet.... but it is certainly looking a lot better than it did! I just like gathering all of the parts together for a build before I start, and picturing it in my head to see how it will all work out.
Does anybody know whether there is a 'correct' decal layout on these? Or are they like my WHEELS frames which were seemingly a little random? If you look on the pre-dip pictures there are two PRO FRAME decals - one on the seatpost tube (which most I have seen tend to have) and one on the downtube towards the very front. I haven't seen another with the one on the downtube before. I was just wondering.... I think the Rickman decals are some of the best out there.
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Never seen another Rickman with a Pro frame sticker on the down tube. It looks the real deal though. Not saying the rest should have it, maybe more an after thought ?
What yellow grips you after ? I have some yellow sharp grips spare, British too.
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Yeah, they do certainly look original! They have also saved another square inch of the frame from rust so I am thankful of that at least! HA! They are situated where the :Great_Britain: decal sits on most of the other examples I have seen, and that decal is absent here. I will try to replicate what was on it I think.
Can you post up a picture of the Sharp grips please? :Great_Britain: Very interested (I love this forum!) :daumenhoch:
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Don't know how I missed this. :-[
Great thread . :4_17_5:
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Can't believe it came out of the dip as good as it did, think you're going the right way by keeping close to the way it was, bars'n'all :daumenhoch:
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Massive credit to you.
that's an awesome transformation.
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Thanks chaps. I've got to get it to stand a rechrome yet.... that is the main test I reckon. The rear loops do have a bit of pitting which I need to somehow address but that is the aim. Get it back to spangle-spangle original and then build it back up using as many of the original parts as found as I can.
Saved anyway, and for a major low-budget as well.
Should make for an amazing before and after comparison!
Is a stem pad going to fit over that monster Piranha hammer stem I wonder??? ???
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Well thanks to Andy that's the yellow grips sorted... I just need some Sharp end caps for them now (see my wanted ad).
I never thought I would find myself looking for yellow bike parts for a build ::)
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Rickmans rock. fistblump
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Well thanks to Andy that's the yellow grips sorted... I just need some Sharp end caps for them now (see my wanted ad).
I never thought I would find myself looking for yellow bike parts for a build ::)
Sharp grips RULE! :daumenhoch: :Great_Britain:
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Yellow Sharp grips are here, and i eventually found somebody with a heap of griplocks (though not in the colours i was initially after.....) I settled for the black pair out of his stash in the end as i thought they would match the Rickman padset pretty well in that colour combo.
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As far as the frame goes, well i have started doing a little light sanding of the pitted areas and it seems to work well. LOTS of time required to get the finish i want before finding somewhere to send it off for a rechrome. Time is something i don't have much of at the minute unfortunately.
Can anybody on here suggest a good quality chrome shop who will do bike frames????
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www.collonademetals.co.uk :daumenhoch:
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www.collonademetals.co.uk :daumenhoch:
http://www.colonnademetal.com/ :daumenhoch:
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Great - just had a look over their website and it looks good! Dropped them an email with some pics so see what they come back with :daumenhoch:
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My survivor has a Pro decal on the seat tube .
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Stick a photo up please buddy. I'll be adding another in the same place as i found mine when this is finished.
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Loving this epic save Mart. Are the bars brazed Reynolds?
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Yeah, I am quite enjoying the challenge to be honest, and having a Ricky Pro at the end of it will make it very worthwhile.
The bars are CW - you can just about make out the original decal in the first pictures if you look closely. Not my fave bars by a long way, but as they are presumed 'original' to the first build they will be rechromed and retained. I am trying to keep as much as I can really. That stem will be a big feature also(!)