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‘61 Radiant Green Corvette 5 speed Rehab

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schwinnlax

Finally riding a big boys bike
Starting to rehab the ‘61 Corvette 5 I recently purchased. Bike appears to be complete and original, but has lots of rust. The chain guard was my test case. Here is the original condition:

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Here is after 48 hours in the oxalic acid bath.

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Then, did some cleaning with 0000 steel wool.

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Not as good as I wanted it to be. I need to take a close look at this to see if the chrome is gone on the remaining spots. There is definitely pitting in the chrome, so those spots are not going to come back. It will look good from a distance.
 
It's not minty, but it sure looks 100% better.
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I did a Fair Lady guard years ago as a OA test on these chrome and paint guards to see what would happen. The rust was about as bad and it cleaned up better than I thought it would. Soaked it for 8 hours and I'm thinking my mix ratio was a tad bit stronger than what you used. The bigger issue with these guards is the paint falling off and fading over time. Your paint looks way nicer than most. A good chrome polish and then some wax will help too.
 
Thanks GT. Took the forks in to the LBS today and had those straightened. Stem is in the soup along with the seat crash rail. Seat springs and hardware are very corroded, but I used a wire brush on one part, and there is chrome underneath, so now it’s a matter of getting the pan separated from the bracket that holds the springs and post mounting clamp. Got one nut off the bolt that holds the beehive spring on, but other one is being very stubborn.

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Wow! Maybe shoot @bricycle a PM and see if you could borrow his Mapp torch for that nut. lol

Did Bob give you any history on the bike? Years ago ole Bob beat me to the punch on a Black one owner Corvette 5 that was hanging up in a garage for 40+ plus years. I believe it was the Grandson selling it during the Grandfather's estate liquidation. Possibly the Son was selling, I have all that info posted on a nuther forum.
 
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Wow! Maybe shoot @bricycle a PM and see if you could borrow his Mapp torch for that nut. lol

Did Bob give you any history on the bike? Years ago ole Bob beat me to the punch on a Black one owner Corvette 5 that was hanging up in a garage for 40+ plus years. I believe it was the Grandson selling it during the Grandfather's estate liquidation. Possibly the Son was selling, I have all that info posted on a nuther forum.
Bob said he picked it up at the estate sale of the original owner in Winstson-Salem, NC. That's all he knew.

I've used some liquid wrench on the nut, letting it soak. If that doesn't work after a few days, it will be the torch!
 
After several days in a weak acid solution, stem came out pretty decent, seat crash rail, not so much. I will need to look for a donor if I want to save the aesthetics of the original seat.

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What OA mix ratio are you using? You might get better results with a stronger mix and way less time. After doing my first couple bikes I found the OA loses it's potency over time. Depending on what I'm soaking and how bad it is, I'll go with one heaping tablespoon or two per gallon of hot tap water and soak for about 8 hours. I doubt the crash rail would look much better though, the chrome unfortunately is pretty much gone.
 
It's pretty weak (probably less than a tablespoon of OA/gallon). It's the same solution I used when doing the chain guard. I didn't want it to be too strong for fear of affecting the paint or decals on the chain guard. I'm not in a rush, so the longer times are ok. The OA is consumed in the de-rusting process since it is reacting with the iron oxides (rust) and converting them to iron oxalate, which is a yellow color. So after a number of parts have passed through the bath you have to either add more OA or make a new solution.

I'll be working on the seat springs next, then crank and sprocket for the de-rusting bath. Not too many chrome parts to do, really. As a part of the deal with Bob I got a nice seat post tube, seat post clamp, and two rims. The rims will need a bit of de-rusting, but that can probably be done with steel wool. The original rims are shot. The rear one has rusted through the chrome on the sides, and the front one has a lot of dents. So, once I get the better rims cleaned up, I will transfer the wheels over. Pretty simple process as I've done it before. The handle bars are shot - chrome flaking off in large areas, so I'll be getting a replacement.

I've got a very nice spare Troxel seat I might use on the Corvette, so not sure how much effort I'm going to put in to the original. Here's a picture of the seat on my '63 Tiger. MUCH more comfortable than the original seat!
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Nice job! OA baths are excellent chemical rust removers.

I also use citric acid and brass hand brushes on chrome plating to good effect. The brass is softer than steel wool or steel wire brushes and I dip the brass brush in the CA solution when I am scrubbing of the rust. Steel wool of any grade will dull chrome plating. I still use it, but try to limit it on surfaces surfaces that will not improve or appearances don't matter (rim beds, etc.).

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