Orange P7 Nickel Project

Hi All

I saw a couple of excellent refurb threads, so decided to register to show you all my little monster.

It has red decals, which I've not seen elsewhere, so am unsure of where these came from?

The frame number is A50602169, which would tell me it's a June 1995 bike, so probably arrived in the UK in 1996, correct?

This tallies up with when I bought it at 14 years of age for the princely sum of £650.

The rear Ritchey rim, with Hope hub gave up around 7 years ago.
The pawls wouldn't catch, so I pee'd on it, warm water and all that, but it just wouldn't budge :-(
Mercian said it would be too expensive to repair, so I binned it and put an awful BSO-type disc rim on. #SHAME.
I'm getting an XT hub, Mavic X317 rim for it, along with a proper HG50 cassette :thumbsup:

It's already got a fairly new PC-870 chain, but that's dirty as sin.
Along with the stock Shimano parts, which brings me onto the saddle.
Oh, the saddle. Well, the original is on my CX bike, as my wife uses this for the canal paths, etc.

Anyhow, I'm off to Halfords for some Nitromars, Autosol and elbow grease ( what aisle is that on, again? ;-) ) But, for now, here are some tittilating photo's of the Beast locked up at work.










Orange P7 - Detail by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr

The last image is the link to the photo set on Flickr.
Any information, help or advice is greatly appreciated.

THANKS!

Made a start on the left hand side last night.
Just the forks, chain and seat stays.
I'm really pleased with how easy it all cleans up.

Coming on well! Im not sure I've got the cred to say welcome - but welcome aboard anyway!

I've got a P7 frame with Red decals that I am trying to find some time for. I always remember them riding very well and I know the frames are amazingly light for a steely.

Look forward to seeing progress!

Here's last night's, albeit shoddy, efforts:


#project #nickel #restoration Night II: I've played around with the effect here simply to show the Tiger-style mottling the lacquer leaves. This is removed with fine gauge wire wool, then kitchen foil, then Autosol. Nitromors is reserved for post-stripping by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr


#project #nickel #restoration : Night II. The drive side stays came real shiny real fast. They'll be even better once it's stripped and I can get at everything easier. by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr

I can't wait to get the bike stripped down so I can make a real go of polishing her up next week.
I may get the Nitromors on it, to hasten the process, as time is of the essence.
A new back wheel, chainset (Deore), cassette are also on order.
The current Shimano V-Brakes are a bit poor looking, but the work perfectly.
The rear wheel is a replacement borrowed from a scrapyard bike-shaped-object, along with the cassette and the current Suntour XC chainset just doesn't catch on the middle ring at all.

What's the best way to remove stickers? Petrol, Wd-40 etc?

The stickers came off real easy with Nitromors.
That stuff is so easy to use, fast, no mess and super effective.
Great tip with that one. Kitchen foil and wire wool was beginning to get tiresome!

Anyhow, here are some pics from Night III:


#project #nickel #restoration Night III: It's moved up to the next level. by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr


#project #nickel #restoration Night III: Had to move inside. Naked! by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr


#project #nickel #restoration Night III: Quill stem and square taper BB are stuck solid. by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr

It started to get dark outside, so there is still some lacquer left on the frame. I did a quick test indoors with Nitromors on wire wool and the smell isn't overwhelming, nor is there any mess. That'll be the way to go to finish it.

Got down and dirty and I've totally removed all of the lacquer now.
I'm so pleased with just how easy it is to do, and also, just how well the shine comes up.
I received my Orange P7 block decals from gil_m the next working day, cheers
I've also got a new HG50 8sp block to put on my new rear wheel, whatever that ends up being?
The new chainset has also arrived, which is a simple square taper Deore LX.
Shimano M545 pedals and Schwalbe CityJets to top it off.

Here's the shot's from last night:


#project #nickel #restoration Night IV: The tubes are perfect, too. Really pleased with how the frame has turned out. by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr


#project #nickel #restoration Night IV: Forked. De-rusted, but, I'm not happy with the finish. Looking for some T7 Series 8 forks... by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr


#project #nickel #restoration Night IV: Cleaned to the core. Rear stays are perfect and the brake bosses came out a treat. by ApostlesPoem, on Flickr

Getting on with this now.

Got all the bits and cabling on there, but having real trouble with lining the front mech up to chainrings? The crank bolt is secured to the square taper at 32nM, so I don't want to press any more, should I still be able to see the taper, or not?

If I can get that resolved, it should be finished at some point this evening

Looking at it now, I reckon the black block decals would've been a better option, ho hum :facepalm:

With apologies for the Planet X carbon bottle cage, 2007 Crud Catcher, Bontrager 4130 Stem, carbon (!) bars and the horrible Halfords ladies saddle and wretched seat post I'm about to put on her :cry:
The bottle cage may look better if I sand off the logo's?