Hi Iain,
Welcome!
I collect 1930's, 40's and 50's English lightweights, and have several bikes in a similar condition to yours. I wouldn't dream of refinishing the m, since bikes of this age in their original paint will only get rarer, and I don't mind a bit of wear and tear to the finish - "honourable scars" , so to speak. There are plenty of shiny resprays around (I have a few m yself) but I think there's a lot to be said for an original paint job and t ransfers. Apart from anything else, you can replace worn parts with seco nd-hand, and they'll just blend in with the bike's patina - no need for e xpensive new old stock accessories or re-chroming, which is necessary so that the parts don't detract from a shiny refinish.
You can preserve the finish by giving it a gentle clean, and then wiping it over with a clean rag (I use cotton wool, which is more gentle) soaked in clean cycle oil. This used to be, and maybe still is, referred to in vintage motorcycle circles as an "oily rag restoration". This will pre serve the paint and transfers, and prevent the rust getting any worse.
If you look at http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/
Hope this helps!
Neil Foddering
Weymouth, Dorset, England
> Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:30:24 +0100
> From: oic4q2@googlemail.com
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]What to do with my 1950's Allin Stan Butler Special?
>
> Hi, I'm Iain, and I'm new here.#
>
> OK, a little history first of all. I haven't ridden a bike in earnest s
ince
> I was a child, but I recently decided that it might be a fun and health
y wa
> y
> to travel about London. I then remembered that sitting in my mother's cel
la
> r
> was my father's old bike which I had saved from being thrown away 10 year
s
> ago on the basis that I might ride it one day. I had taken it around a lo
ca
> l
> park a couple of times, fallen off and put it back in the cellar. I hav
e
> recently pulled it out again with a view to getting it ridable.
>
> The bike was, as I have said, my father's and was given to him when h
e was
> young and was "not new then" I assuming this to be early to mid 60's as m
y
> father was born in 1946 but would have had to have been at or near his fu
ll
> hight (6'2") to ride this bike as it is a little too high in the cross ba
r
> to be a comfortable ride for me (5'11").
>
> Having dug it out from my mothers cellar, I added a bit more info, i
t is a
> Stan Buttler Popular, it is a Stan Butler Special which, according to
> http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/
> top of the line, or at least the most expensive listed in the 1961 adve
rt.
> It has 5-speed Simplex dérailleur gears and despite being mucky and a b
it
> knocked about is in remarkably complete and original condition. ridable w
it
> h
> some new tyres/tubes; restorable with a coat of paint and a good wash.
As
> near as I can make out it's serial number is "1070" which, according to
the
> site linked above, would make it an early to mid 50's machine.this woud
fit
> as frankly my father's family wer not well off when he got this bike, s
o fo
> r
> it to have been 10-15 years old would fit.
>
> I have put together a very basic web page to display the pictures I took
> immediately after salvaging the bike, I apologise in advance for my poo
r we
> b
> authoring/photography skills. Nothing has changed since I took these exce
pt
> I have put back on the original toe clips and bell, which I had taken o
ff
> when I tried to ride it 10 years ago.
>
> Photos can be found here:
> http://www.mrtwig.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
>
> Any comments or information most welcome, as I am really in a quandary
as t
> o
> what to do with this bike. From what research I have done I think it is
> something special but I know that I don't have the time or the money to
> restore it properly.
>
> Logic wold dictate finding a buyer who would have the recourses to to
> restore it properly and using the money to buy a sensible commuting bike
,
> which is my current need. The problem its I've fallen in love with it,
and
> I
> really want to ride this bike. I suspect I shall clean it up, put new t
yres
> on it and ride it, but I am in a quandary as to what to do about the pa
int.
>
> If I leave it as is, the rust will get worse an may damage the structur
al
> condition of the bike. The only other alternative I can see, that I can
> afford, is to take a spray can to it myself, thus making it a better
> 'practical' bike, but loosing all the decals and period detail. Can any
one
> suggest a third alternative?
>
> Could I perhaps spay it with some kind of clear paint so it looked the sa
me
> but would not rust? I know it wouldn't be pretty, but I don't mind that
, fa
> r
> less chance of it getting stolen.
>
> Iain Grant, London, England