Orange P7 Refurb project

Hi,

I have an Orange P7 which has been in my possession for about 8 years but I believe it is from between 95-97. The paintwork is a bit rough and was a metallic silver colour but has been looked after with pretty much a full XTR. It has XTR rear mech, hubs, brakes and shifters. The front mech is LX.

The forks are awful RST's and it is in need of new bars and stem. I am lusting over some Pace RC35's

I have seen some beautiful chrome finished P7's on this forum and wondered whether had a painted finished and have been stripped back or whether Orange produced a chrome finished model.

Also is there anyway to identify the actual year of the bike from the serial number.

I have stripped most of the bike and will upload some images shortly

Thanks

Neil

Look forward to seeing them.Plenty of Orange lovers on here.

Hey

Post your frame number, most of the chaps and chappettes here know the formula.

If I remember correctly, I have a hangover by the way. The first four numbers after the 'A' tell the date, Eg:

A0303 - Means that the bike was built in the third month of 1993.

I think that's correct.

Ok. The serial number is A4 40012

Its an April 1994 date on the frame. The features are largely the same as my "early p7" (rear facing seat tube slot, and a canti bridge). Slightly confused though as yours seems to have an unusual finish without the lacquer. I think its still nickel plate though, as it seems to have flaked on the headtube rather than scrtached/bubbled as you might expect paint to. The stickers don't look how I remember either, as I'm pretty sure all the p7s I have ever seen had block letters. Need better pics!

Thanks. The stickers were re-applied about 10 years ago and are not the original ones. The paint finish is a light grey- not metallic. It has some minor rust spots where the paint has chipped. The lacquer seems to have slightly yellowed.

What are my choices? Should I get it resprayed or can it be stripped and laquered with a chrome effect?

I'll take some more pics when its less dark and not raining.

So it may have been repainted and be nickel finish underneath? It could be taken back to bare metal but to get the original nickel finish looking good would likely mean re-plating it. This is a very expensive option, hence why I had mine painted in silver instead. Some p7s were available painted but if you want a retro authentic look then research those colours used back in the day e.g. See catalogues in the archive. Pretty sure there was a yellow one & a dark metallic grey paint in the mid to late nineties. Maybe other colours too.

I have found a quality paint sprayers just outside of Norwich called Colourcote in Hethel. This is near to the Lotus factory and they do loads of bikes sprays and will strip for £50 inclusive.

Anyway. The bike is practically stripped and ready to go here the final decision is the colour to paint it. Options are original silver, white or black. I think the later will look cool with the Orange graphics but the former is obvious sticking closer to the original. Any thoughts?

Here is the XTR rear mech which I have stripped and cleaned.

Nice project but love the Avatar too

the_duke":35s73hvk said:

Nice project but love the Avatar too

Click to expand...

Cheers dude. Sheeeeettttt