Restoration continues

Today I finished painting the frame.  The final touches were done by brush.  I sprayed from the can into a jam jar lid and then used a small brush to paint around the chrome head-set thingies.  I had put a plastic bag over them with a rubber band.  The previous owner had painted them white.  I also had convered the cranks and chain ring with plastic bags and rubber bands, around there needed some brush work also.  I would give my paint job a good 8 out of 10 so far, not factory perfect, but reasonably good.

The carrier racks were a rusty white, so I sanded them back, then hit them with some ancient mixture of rust-eeter or something like that (15% oxalic acid) that had been in my shed a few years since it came my way from an old lady who had it in her shed from when her husband died 10 years earlier.  It seemed to do the trick, I gave it two applications (yesterday, in fact), this morning I wiped them with a damp sponge, waited for them to dry then brushed on black Kill Rust from a can (about 10 years old).  It is much thicker than the stuff in a spray can and took all day to dry, I touched up a few spots in the evening.  The racks are looking good, though it was windy today and a nearby Eucalyptus tree lost a zillion flower anthers into the air and a lot of them stuck to the paint.

I brushed the mudguards down with some steel wool.  I think they had been painted with lacquer, something too sticky for a green scourer pad.  They are stainless steel.

Today I see there is a blue NS22 on ebay, not far away, photo below.  I'm sure my restoration is a labour of love more than a profitable business exercise.  Mine is a lighter blue than the one below.  I will see how the one on ebay goes and may even put in a bid.

NS stands for nouveau style, 22 being for 22" wheels.  The rims are 490mm diameter with 37mm tyres = 564mm diameter wheel = 22.2"

The chain ring has 48 teeth.  The five sprockets have 23, 20, 18, 16 and 14 teeth.

This gives wheel inches of 46.3 up to 76.1.

On the cluster is stamped CYCLO 72  MADE IN FRANCE

The left crank has V.P   L  stamped on it.

Under the bottom bracket is riveted a small plate with the number 1842233.

****

I am not yet 42, the number that is said to be the " Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything ", according to a science fiction novel popular in my youth.  I have never read it, but did see some of the TV series, I have not seen the movie made more recently.

I liked the improbability factor emphasised in the story.

A movie I liked in my youth was Dead Poets Society, the idea that one should strive to make one's life remarkable.  I have not had much success so far.

I have been told I am bitter, jaded, etc.  Also lacking pizazz and not having an electric personality.  Fair enough.  My view of the world is that style has triumphed over substance and that there is too much emphasis on image and PR in place of the nitty gritty bones of life.

"I've already waited too long and all my hope is gone...."

"I am a man whose dreams have all deserted...."

I read a while ago about a French Canadian, Jean Béliveau , solving his mid-life crisis by embarking upon a walk around the world:

http://www.wwwalk.org

I very much doubt I will ever do any such remarkable feat.