Concorde Gavina SL - restoration finished!

[Robster914]

Re:

just so you can see the start point, please find some pictures of the frame & fork before I waded in.....



it lost it's front mech braze on, but looking at some old photos of Delgado's Concorde from 1987, he had a bolt on front mech, so if it was good enough for him....



Excuse the knees, it was the only way I could prop the bike up and take photo at the same time..

 

[gavr]

Re:

Hi Gavr,

that would be a beauty. Call me sad but I am rather looking forward to building it up using Croce D'Aune, it's an excuse to use the bonker's derailleur design! A classic case of over engineering if there was one - lets hope it actually changes gears ok!

CdA is great as long as you use friction shifters, don't even think about trying to index

 

[Robster914]

Re:

Hi Gavr, I totally agree, friction levers are the way to go. looking at the compatibility nightmare many have had, this is the route I have gone.

so there was nothing for it, but dive in with the '80'grit sandpaper. there is nothing like that feeling that you are beyond the point of no return! I decided that I would hand- sand the frame. I thought that using nitromors is no problem, but to get the residue of the paint stripper off would be more hassle than going for the former.

Anyway one weekend (and sore fingers) later....













After these photos I sanded the lugs and the awkward bits and then it was ready for painting.

 

[gavr]

Re:

nice work indeed!

 

[Robster914]

Re:

Hi Gavr, thanks for the kind words. So with the sanding out of the way, time to get spraying! I kept the paint edges from the original paint job so that I could them to mask up the frame. Then off to the spray booth (well the garage actually...).

For masking used thin masking tape specially designed for intricate curves so I could follow the lines and (hopefully) have a nice crisp paint edges where it met the chrome on the stays, normal masking tape to cover the rest of the stays.

I used standard primer (not etch primer as it didn't seem necessary for a steel frame). Built up 4 good coats so that I had plenty of paint for sanding back before applying any colour..

 

[Robster914]

Re:

After many hours of sanding/masking more sanding finally I got to a point where it was as good as it was going to get. For a 'rattle can paint job' I am rather pleased with the result. I managed to not take as many photos of the interim results. I sprayed the whole frame white and then masked off and sprayed the black as a coat over the top. Considering how man hours went into it plus materials, it does actually show how a £200 paint job is actually quite good value when getting a professional to do it....

Of course what you don't get is the satisfaction of doing it yourself of course!













So this was the frame before final wet sanding. Then I left a week for the paint to harden and apply the transfers..

 

[Robster914]

Re:

I had a hunt around for the best transfers to match the original frame. In the end I got these from Greg at Cyclomondo. Great service, and great quality. It was rather exciting when they dropped through the post from Australia!





Now for the most nerve racking bit - sticking them on!

 

[Robster914]

Re:

So...

2 x cans of primer
3 x cans of Mercedes Arctic White
2 x cans of BMW Black
1 x can of lacquer
lots of sanding (80grit to 2500grit)
some transfers

2 months later.......























now to get building her up....

 

[gavr]

Re:

That's come up great - hope the paint's robust enough after all that...

 

[oonaff]

Re: Concorde Gavina SL - restoration

mighty fine job !