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Author Topic: C5 restoration - general advice and feedback wanted  (Read 3233 times)

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Offline Paul Langton-Rogers

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C5 restoration - general advice and feedback wanted
« on: 24, April, 2016 - 13:32:29 »
Hi all,

I have just recently acquired a Sinclair C5 with a view to restoring it. It's not in the best condition and has a few things missing, but I have seen worse, so I think it's possibly viable as a restoration project but wanted some opinions...

Here is the C5 itself...







Now for the bad parts!









I purchased the C5 off the original owner from new, who is now an elderly gentleman. The C5 has been in dry-storage for over a decade but as you can see, has considerable rust to the chassis which is my main concern.  I haven't taken delivery yet so cannot fully determine the extent to how deep or bad the rust is, and whether the chassis is structurally safe now. 

What do you guys think looking at the photos? How would you normally go about dealing with rust like this, assuming it is just superficial and the chassis is structurally sound? I assume a complete strip-down and sanding off the rust and re-spraying the chassis with protective metal paints?

The owner says the original battery is dead and long since gone, but assures me the electrics are fine and it ran ok before it was put into storage.

My restoration options I'm considering are:

1) Restore it as originally was, keeping the original motor and just sourcing a suitable 12V battery (or two maybe). This is not my preferred option, but if members think it's better than my other options, I may well consider doing this.

2) Do the above (retaining original motor+12V battery), but also fit a front-hub 250W motor wheel to give it more hill climbing power (to keep it road legal, the rear motor and front motors would only be engaged at same time when climbing steep hills a single motor couldn't manage).

3) Strip it down and remove the motor and all the old 1985 electrics, change or adapt the rear axle assembly to allow for 2 rear hub motors and switch to a large Lithium-Ion battery and a modern controller.  Looks looks to be a challenge, as the rear axle rotates, and it doesn't have drop-outs like a bicycle, so I'm not sure fitting rear hub motor wheels is practically possible or safe. What do you guys think?

I don't want to spend a lot of money on restoring this really if I can help it, as I'm not even sure I will keep it or use it much. I'm doing the restoration more as a hobby project and challenge!

Some general questions...

Battery: In the e-bike community lead-acid batteries are no longer used to power e-bikes (they were in the earlier days) and now Lithium-Ion and other battery technologies are preferred as they have lower-weight and longer-life profile compared to lead acid batteries. However bicycles are much lighter than C5, and for heavier electric vehicles, generally lead-acid batteries are used due to their being cheap, and able to withstand deep discharge cycles. Would you say lead acid is still better for a C5, or would Lithium-Ion (36V/38Ah) be a good alternative that might last longer and be lighter?

Gearing: I know the C5 doesn't have any proper switchable gearing but does have a gearing system for added torque on the motor. If I modernised the C5 and took the rear-drive hub motors approach, how would this affect the gearing and ability to ride the C5 unpowered? I know some people have fit hub-gears like the sturmey archer 3-speed hub-gears used on the old Raleigh Chopper bicycles. Could this be the way to go? Or would gearing not really be an issue or necessary, providing my modernised C5 has sufficient redundancy built-in (backup controller units and extra battery power onboard)? Shouldn't ever need to pedal.

Bodywork: Looking at the condition of my C5 you can see it's pretty poor and dirty. Generally speaking, how easy is the C5's bodywork to clean? I'd ideally like to spray-paint mine (metallic silver I think) as others have done. Are there any reasons why I shouldn't do this, and would it significantly lessen its value to enthusiasts if I did spray painted it?

Handlebar: I really don't like where the handlebar is positioned beneath the knees. Has anyone ever attempted to move the handlebar further forwards (or adopt a completely new method of steering that comes off the front fork directly? Is changing the steering handlebar even practically possible, given the riding position and seat location?

Photos album link:

http://imgur.com/a/d5dmL
« Last Edit: 24, April, 2016 - 13:36:53 by Paul Langton-Rogers »

Offline C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER

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Re: C5 restoration - general advice and feedback wanted
« Reply #1 on: 24, April, 2016 - 19:54:32 »
Hi check out my videos on YouTube

JORDAN8ISH

BYE Chas

Offline Paul Langton-Rogers

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Re: C5 restoration - general advice and feedback wanted
« Reply #2 on: 25, April, 2016 - 18:13:29 »
Thank you Chas for your reply. Your strip-down video is tremendously helpful and I've bookmarked it for future reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiSv35zsUtc


Offline Paul Langton-Rogers

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Re: C5 restoration - general advice and feedback wanted
« Reply #3 on: 15, May, 2016 - 14:00:43 »
Surprised I haven't had more replies or feedback/comments on this!

After giving it much thought and discussing with my e-biking community friends, I've decided not to modernize or upgrade the C5.

I want to do a simple restoration of it, keeping it as original as possible. As others have pointed out, it's a piece of British automotive and manufacturing history that needs to be restored and preserved...it would be a pity to change it or alter the appearance of this iconic vehicle.