[AgentX]

OK, so I have my 1977 military in hand, fresh off the Indian Army auction block.

Love the way the old, roughed-up paint looks right now, so would prefer not to go with my original plan of stripping, inspecting, repairing if necessary (cracks, rusted-through spots, etc) then re-paint.

Am I safe inspecting the frame thoroughly and spot-sanding/painting surface rust I find?  Or am I just daring a swingarm or shock mount to snap on me without a full strip-down?

Please help!

[barenekd]

To me, it would depend on what it would cost to have it "professionally" done. If I could find someone with a sand blaster, I would probably at least get that part done by them. Then I could see the whole thing anyway and have a good surface to do the painting ,etc myself.
I probably wouldn't strip the whole thing myself, though, as I am intrinsically lazy, so that would put me in agreement with your plan B. You should be able to find any potentially harmful flaws without any problem. And you cold use stripper locally to check the high stress points.
Bare

[AgentX]

Yeah, the problem's not the labor itself; I can have it stripped easily enough--it's whether stripping is necessary to determine if the frame has problems, or if close inspection with the paint on can tell me what I need to know.

Would looking for signs of rusting under the paint, occasional light taps with a small hammer, and checking for cracks around the welds be enough, or can there be big problems brewing under the paint that I just can't detect?

[GlennF]

If its just surface rust and not structural, you can seal it in with whatever that wax stuff is the rat-rodders use to preserve "patina". 

Alternatively just soak the thing regularly in ACF50 to neutralize the rust.

[Arizoni]

IMO, paint cannot hide a crack in a weld or a tube.
If you don't see any apparent cracks it's probably sound.

If a tube is rusted internally to the point that the wall is about ready to give way, sand blasting off the paint won't make it show up any better than it did with paint on it.

Looking at painted areas that are particularly rough indicates that some knucklehead painted over a rusty area, probably because he was too lazy to remove the rust.  If found, chip off any loose paint and use your judgment based on what you find.

[AgentX]

IMO, paint cannot hide a crack in a weld or a tube.
If you don't see any apparent cracks it's probably sound.

If a tube is rusted internally to the point that the wall is about ready to give way, sand blasting off the paint won't make it show up any better than it did with paint on it.

Looking at painted areas that are particularly rough indicates that some knucklehead painted over a rusty area, probably because he was too lazy to remove the rust.  If found, chip off any loose paint and use your judgment based on what you find.

Thanks--!  

That's exactly what I would have said about a bicycle frame in similar condition if anyone asked me.  Makes sense and I'll be doing that, maybe some spot-sanding and dry-brushing of new paint in any problem areas I find.

Waxing over surface rust is an intriguing idea, though, Glenn... before I found this military model I was thinking I'd just strip the paint off an old beater and try something like that on a completely bare tank.

[Rosetap]

Just give it a good cleaning and clear coat it.

[GlennF]

I think a lot of the rat rod boys use this stuff ...

http://www.doubledauto.com.au/ankor-wax/

[AgentX]

I found the Ankor wax through a google search but unfortunately I don't think I can get it in India, and my employer won't ship the big 5L cans in our normal mail/shipping allowance...hardly seems worth paying DHL or something to get it over here, esp given potential hassle with Indian Customs.  (which I don't have to deal with in my normal mail...employer deals with it for me...)

Gibbs Lube is another possibility, which I hear is pretty good for similar purposes, and it comes in tiny 2 oz bottles which I could ship.  Still, pretty friggin' costly stuff...


Certainly don't want to deliberately "rat" this out for its own sake or to inauthentic extremes, but it's gonna look its age for sure.

[Lwt Big Cheese]

Like mine:

[AgentX]

oooooo, very cool!

[cyrusb]

I say leave it alone, and post a picture. They are only original once