Lurid repaint.

bugloss

Retrobike Rider
Greetings

I'm considering buying a bike that has been resprayed but I would like to restore it to it's former glory.

Is there any way of removing the respray coat and preserving the original paint and chrome as I believe it's something special.
 
I'd say some gentle use of wet n dry paper in a very fine grade and working on small sections of the horrible paint until the good paint shows,
then stop rubbing down, then start rubbing on the old paint and so on until you get it done, mask over any good paint so not to remove anymore.

Could be very time consuming but worthwhile.
 
Kind of depends on what its been resprayed with. You might be able to rub it down with white spirit or nail varnish remover. A few experiments might help, but how do you know its any good underneath?
 
Well, thats a chance that I'll have to take. The bike is beautiful but the respray colour is awful.

The bike needs a new paint job so I might as well start with trying to restore the original paint surface and save the shot blaster till later.
I've been told that the bike was resprayed shortly after purchase to stop people nicking it as it's something special.

Nothing to loose really I suppose. I thought that someone may have done it before.
 
It's in the bag

Greetings,

Here's an update.

It seems that I have might have managed to acquire one of these. But in LURID PINK.

http://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/rossin/3.jpg
Blue one top right.

I asked the seller why her dad had it resprayed soon after purchase and she replied.

"I remember when he bought it in the early eighties. He said it was a special edition and he was afraid that it would get stolen as the front forks and the bit where the back wheel slots in were gold plated"

She also said that " the bike was originally royal blue with gold bits"

We'll see if thats the case when I get to London on Wednesday and do some selective paint removal.

All fingers crossed.
 
That is a nice find, and will be worth the work to try and get the paint off. Actually, I'd try Cellulose thinners under the bottom bracket to start with, see if it starts to remove the paint layer. You'll have to be careful though as the original top coat is probably lacquer.
Another way would be cutting or rubbing compound on a buffer. It would be worth buying a dremel, they have lots of small polishing wheels for tight areas. Good luck
 
I was considering a little Nitromors and a hosepipe under the fork crown. I would imagine that Nitromors would not affect the gold plate, if it was still there.

I've used it lots on brass and it won't affect the polished finish.

http://www.latebug.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=383

Check this out.

The guy clearly loved the bike so I would doubt that he would have had them strip the gold off before it was painted.

But you never know.
 
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