Rebuild and Repaint an Old Bicycle

After the rim on the real wheel on my commuter bike cracked, I decided to upgrade it to a more modern wheels. I put the 700C wheels from my Fuji road bike on just to make sure the brakes would reach, and noticed some popping coming from the bottom bracket, so I thought it should be overhauled. I had previously noticed a small amount of rust occurring around the braze ons on the top tube that the rear brake cable runs though, so while I was going to be "almost" down to the frame anyway, I decided to take it on down to just the frame and fork and repaint!

This is what the bike looked like when I started. It is a 1983 Trek 510 that I have had for about 3 years and have really enjoyed. I rode it on the first Hotter 'N Hell 100 at Wichita Falls, and now I use it as my main commuter bike.


Mrs. Bicycle Bill came out and took this photo. Perhaps you can tell...I REALLY enjoy doing this!

I painted the frame with black semi-gloss automotive paint.

In case you've never seen one, this is what the parts inside an old bottom bracket look like. There is more to the disassembly than meets the eye, but it is really not too difficult with the proper tools.

Here is is, all greased and back together in the frame.

With everything off the bike, it was a good time to clean all the parts that are hard to clean. This is the dirty chainrings. I cleaned them both, but only put the smaller ring back on, because I seldom use the large ring for riding around town, and also decided to remove the front derailleur.

Dirty rear derailleur.

Rear derailleur all cleaned up and back on the frame!

Here it is, all back together! I had enough shifter cable to replace it. When I get the new wheels, I will also get new brake cables and housing, and probably some new fenders. This will be just like a having a new bike...I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'm really looking forward to riding this one again!