More on pedals

So that's how they look after some refurbishing. I've painted the dust caps in black to match the pedal's body. After a through clean up and a touch of grease they spin smoooothly.

Pedals & toeclips

I'm not satisfied with the current pedals; a pair of well preserved platform Rossignol that perform finely but are a pain to catch  in the air and get the feet in while moving (that's a minor drawback, I know but...)

So, I finally made my mind to replace them by something more-of-less period correct. After some rummaging trough my secret vintage depot I found a pair of Spanish Olimpic Integral worth a make-up. Restoration process coming soon...
Oh, by the way, I also have the original toeclips (Aspa Especial Profesional it reads)

The Master's touch...

I've just finished up the bike. The transfers are gorgeous a true Master's Touch.

All in all, the whole process has taken roughly above two weeks of irregular dedication  (suffering and frustation included) but as the bard sung : "all's well that ends well"

Test ride

Went for a thirty km mostly flat test ride. Everything worked flawlessly.

No comments on the bike; nobody seemed to notice the vintage look. Oh, well...

And Guardian Angels sung this strain...

Good Lord! It looks like riding the Union Jack!  The late-sixties italian frame has ended up as a mid-fifties english bike!
I knew I should have painted it green (don't take a family ballot unless you are sure to win!)
Not yet finished, though.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll go for a test-ride.

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen....

Mind that the lacquer overcoat is still missing... and yes I considered pinstriping,  it could be period correct but this is an italian frame, a pure racer. Had it been a french or british frame...

Headstrong? Me?

Well, yes I'm a bit of a headstrong and I think that this time the results of my perseverance are worth the time spent.  I've achieved that thin-not-to-glossy look (maybe I'll even skip the final glossy overcoat)  The pitting in the seat tube is the rust-damaged surface, not been able to hide it.
Tomorrow we'll see what happens when I rip the masking tape off unveiling the contrasting parts (head tube, rear bridge and dropouts).
By the way, today I've had the privilege of admiring the "avant-première" of the transfers. Good Damn Craftmanship, boy! They even look better than the originals!

Blood, Sweat and Tears.

All right, to be sincere I was not pleased with the paint job. So I've spent my last holiday hours sanding (hand-sanding), re-priming and... well, does anyone still remember the  thin-coated finish of frames in the  fifties? (paints were thinner those days). To make it short: I'm trying to devise a method to reproduce that vintage-look. It's being quite time-consuming but here come the first results. Just look at the white parts (and take into account that the lacquer overcoat is still missing)

Got a scratch!

Got a scratch in the paint!!  Who is to blame for it? Better don't ask... but... Woe betide he/she who dares to approach my unfinished frame!
All right, I'll take this as a chance to water-sand it all over again ans spray a new layer of paint.
Still waiting for the transfers.

Frame painting

 

So here it is the paint job. The head tube still lacks the final touch up. No transfers for the moment..

Frame priming

This is the result after five layers of white primer and some water-sanding . The surface was smooth enough but I was unable to achive a fully polished look.

Frame makeover

After a couple of months of pasionate love with fixed-wheels I was not going to resign myself to something resembling an entry-level steed. So I decided to spiff it up a bit. The question was to restore or not to restore the frame but after holding a family ballot the decision was clear: the frame would be repainted in navy blue (with the front tube in white). Scraping the old paint turned out a good decision since I found unexpected rusty spots under it and, in the other hand, I could appreciate for the first time since the frame was welded the craftmanship of the welder. The lugs appeared finely thinned with no stress-risers and the welding (brass not silver) was smooth with no signs of overheating. A fine frame well deserving a new painting.

Finished up

So here it is: the finished up bike. Looks gorgeous (provided you dont take a close look at the paint). The botom bracket tended to come loose so I brought the wholw bike to a mechanic in Barcelona to have it rethreaded. In just a few hours  the odd french-thread was turned into a proper english-thread.