They're breeding!

So, last weekend my parents and 3 year old niece came to visit. We had a great time hanging out on the porch, and watching the firework display that DH put together. It was part birthday celebration for him, part 4th of July celebration, and part celebration of his first REALLY BIG CONTRACT. We are very excited about this, and it means a very busy 12-14 months for us. But since the parents were coming to visit, they took the opportunity to clean out from under their house and brought me my mom's old mixte!

It's a 1973 Fuji Dynamic 10. I've had it sitting in the back of the "stall" for the last week waiting for a chance to start cleaning it up. That rack on the back is the bracket for an old child seat that my mom used to ride me around in! Dad can't find the seat, and I'm not going to need it. Ever. So I took the mounting rack off. It also had this guard that covers both sides of the rear wheels. I suppose to keep kid legs/feet out of the spokes. Might make an interesting template for a skirt guard, so I'm keeping it. The seat has been chewed up by mice or something. Also, it's really grimy. So today I took it out on the porch and set to work.

I started with the rear derailleur, since it was the nastiest part. I had to chip off years of dirt and crap out of the cogs, but it cleaned up nicely!

Once I got all that off and cleaned it up with an old toothbrush and some soapy water it was much better. Everything seems to move nicely and nothing looks bent, so hopefully everything is fine there.

Then I moved on to the frame, brakes, brake and shifter cables. There was just dirt and mildew on all of that, so cleaning it was easy. Luckily there was no rust to be found. There are a few places where the paint has chipped off. I may see how close I can get with a touch up enamel.

So far so good! I'm thinking that I will be in the market for some fenders and another brooks saddle and I already have a Pletscher rack (just need to find some mounting hardware). I may just leave the drop bars on. Might as well see how I like them. They'll need re-wrapping. Probably in leather.