A bit of an update after a wet easter!
I bought a pair of used 36-hole M231CD/M737 wheels a while back with the intention of punting the hubs on and rebuilding the rims onto my original XTR hubs. The cones in my hubs aren't great, so I've paused for a while while I decide whether to buy some NOS 32-hole M900 hubs I know of and look for some NOS 32-hole M231CDs or just crack on. I've rebuilt the hubs anyway in case I carry on with Plan A.
A mate of mine is a tech for Shimano, as well as being an all round GC. He donated some genuine Dura-Ace freehub grease, which I got through the freehub by warming the freehub up gently on a camping stove. Gentle tapping on the bench and spinning, then repacking from the inboard end saw the mucky old grease running out between the body and bearing surface. Freehub is as good as new. Waiting on new bearings for the front before I rebuild that one.







I also took the road frame round a couple of local automotive paint suppliers. Safe to say that it's 100% NOT any RAL colour, so now I'm really nervous about getting a good match on the colours. Can't use a spectrophotometer on it thanks to the skinny tubes, so it's going to have to be done by eye. Fat Creations have a fearsome waiting list that might mean it wouldn't be done till the winter, but maybe that's the best chance of getting it right? I'm going to send the fork to Argos and let them try to match it, fingers crossed.
I'd love to know who painted them originally for Arthur, maybe I'll have to get over my shyness and just ask him who did them...
Thanks for looking, feels like I'm making a bit of progress at the minute, but I'm really windy about this paint!