Rust Never Sleeps.

Love the Neil Young song.
Don't love rust.
The frame is a lot worse than I thought.
I had intended to leave the front forks and bottom bracket in place, but made the decision to separate the forks. They weren't turning that well so will clean and repack.
You know, it must be a long time since I used my large spanners - as I can't find them.
I improvised with a pipe wrench which I was going to use very carefully, but as it turned out they were only on hand tight.
Will need to sort spanners before reassembly.
The real dilemma is what to do about the paint.
I'm beginning to think it may be too far gone to patch. I can kill the rust and oil it, but it'll still look like a rusty bike. If I touch it up, it'll look like a touched up rusty bike. If I repaint it, I think I've lost the bike and any future owner won't have the choice.
Really big decision...

The Raleigh Sprite

My late 1970's Raleigh Sprite is still in pieces. The chrome handlebars and brake levers cleaned up fairly well with aluminium foil and Coca Cola, but I've bought some 'chrome polish' to finish them off. The seat post is having the same treatment.
Unfortunately there is some deep pocked rust, but the bike is about 40 years old, so for it's age it's doing quite well. It'll look dandy when it's finished!
There's a lot of rust on the frame, too.
I might use 'rust remover', but I'm leaning towards vinegar at the moment as the decals are in good condition and I don't want to lose them.
My question is - should I use a hard car wax or lacquer to seal the bare spots? I'm going to try wax as I want to keep it as original as possible.
We'll see.
The replacement rear derailleur came today. It looks really nasty, but it'll keep the bike going. When (if) I sell it - I'll include the original.
How much work/money do you put in until it becomes silly?

Various Models.

I've had a lot of ideas today.
They've been popping about the last while, but polishing chrome focuses the mind.
There are specific bikes for specific uses.
Mountain bike, racer, tourer, bmx, city, hybrid, etc...
OK.
How about a fixie urban trike?
No? Not ideal for on and off the pavement nor getting up the hills.
How about a cargo trike with a tent - a development of the trailer tent, but folds out from the cargo part of the trike?
That idea lasted all of 5 seconds... Just put the tent of your choice in the front. What is it with trailer tents?
The idea of a Rockhopper trike brought a smile to my face.
Maybe I should make all three...

Going, Going, Gone...

I've started to choose which components and parts I'm going to be using. I think I'll have to buy two front wheels and tyres, though. This is speculation, but I think the two fronts should be identical - I wouldn't have two odd sized wheels and tyres on the car so commonsense tells me I can't do it on a trike.
Correct me here, if you think I'm wrong.
I'll buy them as it'll be really unlikely to come across them secondhand - or at least find them within a reasonable timescale.
I'm also selling off some of the old bikes. I need the space. I will need to work from home and lets face it old bikes do take up a lot of room.
The sad thing is, what I'll get for them will probably pay for just the wheels and tyres. They weren't 'Classics' but they were kinda special - I won't get them again...
I was going to post a photo of the Rayleigh Elite I would be selling first...
But decided to dismantle, clean and service it.
It's a 1970's 5 speed derailleur - and needed cleaning!

Consolidatation

Build the first prototype with used parts.
From what I learn - build the second with new components.
Sorted.

The U Turn.

I'm off work this week - on holiday. Unfortunately it coincides with a very bad back, so I'm limited to what I can and can't do. It's probably a good thing I'm on holiday, as I wouldn't be much use if I went in.
So in between the naps (and the really disturbing dream about fleas) I've been going over the project in my head.
I think...
Even after yesterdays post...
I'm going to use secondhand components.
Well, not entirely...
My main motivations for the project are -
1- I want to build my own tricycle - the one I want, not whats available to buy, but what I think a tricycle should be.
2 - I want to produce others to sell - there is a gap in the market - after all this is the perfect trike - an upright not a recumbent.
Point 2 is a bit woolly and I think here I have my problem.
When I have perfected the prototype, do I make more myself or contract the manufacture out to others?
It comes back to the target market and how I want/need to spend my time.
Recumbent tricycles can weigh in at around £2000 +/-. That has a very specific market, and to meet that price tag it has to be built to a very high spec. I don't have a problem there - I can do high spec, but the high price that would come with it would seriously reduce the pool of possible customers.
If I were a publisher - it would be Print On Demand.
The selling price would have to be kept low, so I would need to make them myself - and that's a nice way to spend your time.
Through the building process the trike would naturally develop and I could make the changes to jigs, etc myself rather than have to explain to a third party and wait...
As I said in my last post - I like the idea that each would be different.

Subdivision.

When I made the 'Fork in the Road' post my mind was working faster than I could type so a bit of backstory here is needed.
The other decision - one that I still haven't made is whether the project should be made of brand new or second user parts.
I look at around my home and most of what's in there is second hand. When something breaks or wears out I replace it and usually it's second hand. My current bicycle I bought new, but I have 'a few others' that aren't. I ride them regularly and they're all very different. I know I couldn't have afforded that lot those new. If I use second hand parts from donor bikes each tricycle would be inherently different to the next, due to the availability of different components. That's quite exciting in itself, each one would be unique. But does a frame number make a bike unique?
Using new parts would give uniformity and increase longevity of the trike, but would you rather have a    Matisse or a print of a Matisse?
And how much would it affect the price?
I know - I haven't costed anything. Commonsense would tell you it that it would be cheaper to make a trike out of other bicycles, but would it be cheaper in terms of after sales service?
That really is the big question.
It comes down to the customer, I guess.
I probably wouldn't buy a tricycle, because I know I could make one for far less than a shop bought one.
If I knew I didn't have the skills to make one then I would buy a quality built one.
There - I think I've answered my own question.
New parts, I think!