Proflex 856 Restoration

[garyoneill]

Hi All

I have just joined the forum so hopefully have posted this in the right area! I have restored quite a few bikes in the past (to various degrees of success) but have finally started work on the list of Mountain Bikes from the 90s that I could not afford at the time. First stop is a Proflex 856; I plan to do this to a high standard and would welcome some advice on a few things.

A bit of background…

I bought a frame off eBay a couple of months ago which the seller claimed had been powder coated and was therefore ready for completion. In fact, on inspection, the front triangle had been sprayed black but had an orange peel effect and the swing arm was coated in something industrial that coated the threads and canti bosses. After a bit of negotiation it came home with me for £40 along with the ODI shock and knackered elastomers.
I have spent a number of evenings flatting the front triangle with 1500 – 2500 wet and dry and have improved the finish. The new paintwork was black which was good, as I wanted to build a black and silver themed Proflex. I ordered some decals from www.graphicshack.co.uk which look great and are very close to the original ones. I am planning to do the frame in a couple of coasts of lacquer this weekend, partly to ensure the decals do not peel and secondly to give the paintwork a few layers of protection. It is a bit thin in places due to vigorous flatting!
However, the swing arm is a bit of a challenge. I want to strip it back to the aluminium and nitromours does not seem to touch it. Does anyone know of a decent paint stripper that works? Nothing I have tried seems that effective these days?

Secondly, does anyone know where you can buy replacement swingarm decals, specifically the “Ground Linkage System” graphic? I suspect I will also need some Girvin Vector 2 decals if anyone knows of a source?

Many Thanks

Gary

 

[SavagePower]

BUMP for the hope someone helps you mate. and Gil_M for the decal but I think you know that now. Good luck.

 

[garyoneill]

Re: Proflex 856 and 855 Restoration

Thanks Ben

I have been meaning to post an update, this has turned from one restoration into two now. I ended up losing my rag with the original swingarm and after trying every home solution I can manage (including paint stripper, wire brushes, oven cleaner, heat gun, violence etc) I ended up throwing into the back of the shed and going onto eBay for a replacement. I ended up buying a complete 856 which was a bit tired looking but complete with maguras and a vector 2 fork. The plan was to use this as a donor bike... but once it landed It seemed a shame to split up a near complete bike.

This where I left the original swingarm (to be returned to one day...)



The new frame was a bit tired with the usual scrapes and scratches, however I thought it looked fairly solid for a rebuild. The only damage was to a bottle boss which was sorted with a few gentle hammer taps. The swingarm on this bike was scuffed but had not been painted or mistreated in any way.





I contacted Gil at retrocdecals.co.uk and he kindly sorted me out with some replacement decals for the 855, the vector fork and a few spares. So, it was time to focus on the 855, however it seemed a shame to have the front triangle of an 856 lurking about unused and I have now bought a cheap third frame off eBay which had a damaged front triangle but a good swingarm and seat stays. They are however the wrong colour so will need to be repainted.

So, shopping over and on with the work. I am going to lacquer the 856 frame and start on the 855 frame this week and have bought some RAL 3020 red paint which based on other forum posts seems the nearest match. I will keep the original paintwork but will sand off the loose and damaged bits and prime with etching primer. I will post some pics once its looking a bit healthier.

I have been having musing over how best to do the swingarm and given I have a few to play with I am going to see what works best, polishing the bare aluminium to match the forks or etch priming and painting with silver paint. So far I have stripped the first swingarm, sanded with a few grades of sandpaper up to 2500 grain and polished with autosol. I just need to work out how I get my hands clean now...

 

[tedhodson]

Re:

The polishing looks great, I admire your commitment.

 

[Ollie]

Looking good .

 

[Andy T]

Pulling up a seat....

That's a great effort with the swing-arm, I've got a 855 and 856 with natural swing-arms to restore, can't be bothered at the moment due to the polishing involved and I've got a polisher!
Make sure there is no polish residue on the swing-arm where you want to apply the decals....or they wont stay on for long.

I've restored/rebuilt a few proflex's, if you get stuck, drop me a line.
Last one I did viewtopic.php?f=6&t=299607&hilit=proflex+purists

Looking forward to updates.............

Andy

 

[garyoneill]

Swingarm Number 2

I have pulled my finger out over the last few weeks and made some progress on my pile of Proflex parts!

First off, after polishing the first of the two swingarms I decided to have a go at painting the second one. I ended up doing this twice. First time round I used Halfords enamel paint which normally is really durable, however I bought the chrome effect version which looked great but easily marked (it did say this on the label had I read it!). So stripped it back and re-primed with acid etch primer and finished it with a couple of coats of Simoniz silver paint. It is more matt than the original finish, even after a couple of layers of clear coat but I quite pleased with the finish. I used a hairdryer and a scalpel to rescue some of the original warning decals before I stripped the pain and I glued these on with some clear coat (I sprayed over them a few times with clear coat to seal them in)







I have accepted that I don't have room for two Proflex bikes so will only be building one into a full bike. I think on balance the polished swingarm will make it to the final bike once I have ordered and applied some more decals from Gil.

 

[SavagePower]

Great work Gary! I have done the same with those Vector forks and they look brill will get some pics up here when I have autosol'd them. Check you message in a minute I have something for sale you may like A LOT!

 

[34henry3w]

Re:

nice work man let me know if you are missing any odds and ends. I have a bunch of leftover 856 parts

 

[garyoneill]

Its starting to come together

Firstly, I managed to complete the forks a couple of weeks ago. Lots of autosol and polishing and you can see your face in the reflection, not sure how long the shine will last mind!





After some late night eBay action I secured some NOS Dia Compe brake levers and X-Ray Grip shift. Not the original spec but in the same ball park. I cut down some old Onza grips and located a pair of bar ends that are similar in shape to X-Lite L Bends, they are unbranded though so not sure what manufacturer or year they come from.