Raleigh Chopper resto, '76 mk2

[splodge s4]

After restoring the Kuwahara ET last year I really wanted to get going with another project. It had to be either a Chopper or a Grifter. Any bloke in their late 30's and 40's will always remember these bikes & you never had one yourself then your mate would have. The Chopper is an icon of the 70's. Because of this though prices are still pretty high, for a rusty pile of bits your often looking at least £100 on eBay, complete bikes never seem to sell for less. The mk1 & mk2s are much more sought after than the recent mk3, Choppers just have to have the gears on the frame & the mk3 had a twist grip (apparently for health & safety reasons).

So after a few months looking I found a bike in bits & because it looked bad & wasn't built up I managed to get it for a bargain £51. It was basically a frame & forks with seat & cissy bar & crank & then a box of bits, a complete bike except for headset bearings, the original advert pic on ebay:



Then having a closer look back home



And the bits


It was in a sorry state but perfect for a resto, everything had a light covering of rust, the front wheel was pretty bad, I didn’t want to buy new bits for it though, clean it up & keep it original, the tyres needed replacing though but everything else was just going to get a good scrub & the frame & forks a respray, more pics:





So after stripping it down the only problem was removing the cissy bar. It was rusted in & although I wacked it with a hammer for 2 days, heated it up so it expanded it still wouldn’t come out. I managed it though by turning the frame upside down, placing a trolley jack in the cissy bar hoop then a bit of wood from the jack to the frame. Raise the jack & out it popped.

The small chrome bits went straight into the ovenpride bag & left to soak over night whilst the wheels & handlebars had a good scrub with alloy wheel cleaner, they came up pretty good after the first clean



And the small chrome bits after 24 hours soak in oven pride & a good scrub and the rear mud guard came up really well considering how bad it was. It’s still badly pitted but its original & still looks chrome.



Now the frame, it had been sprayed before so no probs stripping the old paint & getting it down to bare metal.



I wish I took the crank out completely but never mind, first undercoat then sand down again



Another couple of undercoats then ready for the Fizzy lemon yellow. I didn’t really know what colour to do it, a mate had a purple one when we were kids, everyone remembers red ones but yellow seems to suit the 70’s look so I went with that. According to a Chopper website Ford Signal yellow is a 98% colour match so I went with that.



A few days watching paint dry meant I could crack on with the other bits, the seat came up lovely with just a good scrub with leather cleaner, there was only one small split & didn’t really need repairing, and also the pedals, before & after shots





The Heron Raleigh badge was pretty bad but I really didn’t want to replace it. They are made of brass & riveted to the frame, that’s what I love about these bikes, how much did that cost back then, modern bikes now just have a sticker. I gave it a good clean & was amazed how good it came up...& to think I nearly replaced it with a modern painted one



So back to the frame, the stickers arrived so I sanded the frame so it was a nice matt yellow & got sticking, once they were on I gave the frame & forks a good couple of coats of lacquer, it was starting to come together





The gear selector cover was buggered. Again I thought about buying new but thought let’s try & repair it & if that fails then fork out for a new one. Not only was it broke in two but chunks were missing from each side at the front. Using a bit of card from a Wiskas cat food box (perfect width!) I glued the bits together then gave it a thick undercoat.



Then spray matt black & stick on the sticker, good as new



So now the bit I love, building it. I was missing some headset bearings, unlike modern bikes where they are in a race these are all free so when you take the forks out they drop out, hence they had been lost. My local bike shop gave me a bag of about 100 for £1. When they are covered in grease they are a lot easier to fit



Then cracking on to get it together, new brake cables, new tyres, wheels cleaned again & it’s pretty much there




I’m pretty happy with how it came out, I could have bought lots of new old stock bits but kept the cost down buy repairing & cleaning. In total the bike was £51, stickers £22, tyres £20, spray & lacquer about £20 so about £110 all in. All that’s left is to get some handlebar grips & rivet the Heron badge to the headtube, the rivets should arrive today, & yes all 3 gears actually work! Job done.



& for the next project, the other icon of the 70’s....Mk1 Grifter



Hope it brought back some memories

[splodge s4]

Conian said:

I had a purple one

Good work, what will you do with it now? How much are they worth in this good a condition?

Thankyou! No intention to sell it, just going to keep it for mellow rides into town for a few beers in the summer. Cost is a funny thing, in good nick they often sell around £250-£400 on ebay. However one recently sold for just over £2,600 but it had never been used, the pedals were still taped to the seat & still in its original box straight from the factory, a complete one off.

OneDs said:

Have you ridden it yet? it must feel quite alien to ride a bike with such a position nowadays,

Yup, I've been up & down the road testing the gears. Nearly came off when pedaling hard in 2nd & it had the sturmey archer nut crunching slip! As for handling, its comfy, even for a 40 year old adult, at speed though it does wobble a bit if you stand up & swerve from side to side, its like a speed wobble but you suddenly relise the bike is wobbling & not you anymore. Its quite hard to straighten up again. Good fun though & im looking forward to covering some miles with it.

[splodge s4]

Thanks for the comments guys

I've just refixed the Raleigh Heron badge with new brass rivits, i think it looks better than a painted badge!

[splodge s4]

Coco H said:

I am really impressed how did you get the pedals clean?

All the big chrome bits (handlebars, wheels, mud guards) were covered in Simonz alloy wheel cleaner, left to soak for a few minutes then given a good scrub. A hard bristle brush is all I used, then soak again & scrub. I did the pedals the same way as I was a bit worried about ovenpride ruining the rubber blocks if I put them in the bag with the other small bits.

The alloy wheel cleaner is very acidic, get it on your fingers & you start to feel in burn, good at getting rust off though.

I've now fitted the handlebar grips so its just waiting for the summer & some long rides in to town for a few beers

aka_kerrly said:

You will need to get a Raleigh Mag Burner for your 80s resto as these are becoming very popular again.

Heres my Kuw that I restored last year, I was mucking about with a pair of Skyways! Very 80's

Edited by splodge s4 on Thursday 9th December 16:40

[splodge s4]

Bretskee said:

Can you tell me what kind of Lacquer you used and can I spray it on my bike over my new decals to make them more permanent

Lovely Bike! Looks cool with the gold decals, cracking job!

As for the lacquer, I just used a spray from Halfords. Once the frame was sprayed I left it a week then sanded it just enough to take the shine away. It doesnt seem right after getting the yellow perfect & its tempting to leave it but best results means sanding the shine off. I then applied the decals then when its a sunny warm day (if your doing it outside) spray the lacquer. Go very light over the decals, the lacquer sticks well to paint but not so good on vinyl decals so only lightly over them. I gave it 2 coats & left it about half hour between coats.

Then I left the frame for 2 weeks in a warm place to dry & the lacquer to harden. If im honest, the pics look great but just under the chopper decal the lacquer did run slightly, luckly though as its underneath the bottom tube no one sees it.

Ive nearly finished the mk1 blue Grifter & ive sprayed it the same way & its come out much better, real deep shine. Build thread will follow on that in a week or so, im just waiting for the lacquer to dry.

Thanks for all your comments guys, I took it to the pub last weekend & it caused quite a stir, 'coor I ad one a dem wen I waz a kid' & 'not seen a choppa fur ages' was the common remarks

[splodge s4]

andrewz105 said:

Hi
could you give me some tips and run me through the process of the respray?

Andrew

No probs, I'm not a professional sprayer at all, I sprayed a couple of bikes when I was a kid (BMX colours always changed) & I watched my dad spray the dents on the wings of his Cortina when I was about 10 so I had excellent training in how to do it

This is how I do it, its all about preparation. The best sprayer in the world will do a crap job if the surface isnt right. Make sure all the old paint is off, even little bits left on may still show through so all off. Lots of wet & dry sand paper & water & sand the whole from so its smooth. Primer undercoat ( I usually use white or gray) the frame all over & let that dry for an hour or so then sand it smooth with wet & dry again. I seems a waste of undercoat spray to then rub it back again but its the best way to get a smooth surface. I normally do this at least twice then give it a couple of coats of primer undercoat & let that dry.

For the colour top coat, make sure you shake the can for at least 2 mins & if your spraying out side do it on a warm dry day. If its nice & warm the paint will instantly stick to the primer & wont run. I tried it when it was overcast once & no matter how thinly you spray it still started to run as there was moisture in the air. It makes a huge difference, ill only spray on warm sunny days!

Hold the can about 10 inches away the sweep side to side & only spray when the can is moving, after each stroke stop spraying if you know what I mean. It makes sense to start one end of the frame & continue to the other end but make sure you get in all the corners & underneath, there will be bits you miss on the first coat so after the first coat has been applied leave if 15 mins then if you can turn the frame around so the next coat naturally falls on the opposite side to started, that way no matter how careful you are you should naturally cover the whole frame.

If you spot any runs then don't worry, just crack on & do the whole frame. When its dried after about half hour you can then get out the wet n dry again & rub down any patches that started to run, get then smooth again. Then crack on with at least another 2 top coats, i normally keep going until the can runs out, I managed 4 coats on the Grifter I recently sprayed.

Now leave it in a warm area to dry for at least a week. Your perfect smooth shiny frame looks lovely. You now have to ruin it by sanding it with wet n dry again To get the best finish you have to sand the shine off the paint so its dull, gently using very fine wet n dry rub down the while frame so its like a matt colour. Then swill it off with water so there's no dust & dry it. If your applying stickers then this is when to stick them on.

Finally, warm sunny day again, apply the lacquer, use the same technique as spraying & take your time, it the lacquer runs now then its hard to rectify it so thin coats & take your time. The frame is now far more shiny than when you finished the top coat. I normally do at least 2 coats of lacquer then leave it in a warm place for at least 2 weeks to harden. Dont touch it as your finger prints will show on the lacquer until its hardened.

That's it, its takes a long time but defiantly worth it. Good luck!

[splodge s4]

Edelle said:

Hello there. I hope you're still blogging about this as I am about to start to restore a Raleigh MK3 and would really appreciate help if needed. Although your step by step guide is amazing !!!

Thank you & yup, still here!