Classic & Vintage - Which Raleigh lightweight model is this?

I picked this up the other day locally and would like to refurbish the frame. It came with a set of original fully chromed forks, with sloping fork crown and Campagnolo fork ends. The chrome was badly pitted and flaking, so I've removed the chrome and primed the forks ready for painting. The frame number indicates it was built at Worksop in August 1982. There is the remains of a Reynolds 531 butted frame and forks decal near the top of the down tube, above the braze-ons for the gear shifters. The rear drop outs are Vitus. The previous owner says the bike was fitted with Campagnolo Gran Sport equipment, which was removed prior to me acquiring it. he did give me the SR stem and SR seat post that he said came with the bike when he got it. Some photos here - maybe someone can help me identify which model this is, as the decals are very faded, some are missing altogether.

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Raleigh%20531%20gran%20sport/raleigh2001.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Raleigh%20531%20gran%20sport/mkmraleigh013.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Raleigh%20531%20gran%20sport/raleigh2002.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Raleigh%20531%20gran%20sport/mkmraleigh016.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Raleigh%20531%20gran%20sport/mkmraleigh017.jpg

Any help in identifying the paint colour and code would also be much appreciated. I took the frame to an auto paint distributor that has a spectograph (?) colour identifying process, but even though the guy behind the counter was a vintage bike collector and as helpful as possible - the machine wouldn't identify the colour. To capture the pigmentation colours, it needs a good size flat panel to lay the "camera" onto, and as we both knew - bike tubes are round!

If the chrome forks had been in decent shape and the top tube/chainstays/seat tubes weren't badly scratched with rust showing, I'd leave the frame in its original condition. It's worse in the flesh than in the photos.

All help gratefully received. Thanks!

Looks pretty close to my 81 Competition, which has the same Vitus dropouts. I don't recognize the decals, though.

Can't help on the color.

David

Your paint guy SHOULD have a myriad of color CHIPS / samples from which to match the color to. I just did this myself in a quest for touch-up paint to match the Chartreuse on my Super Tourer at my local Sherwin Williams Automotive paint store. NAILED the color in minutes. ;)

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s295/Maxturbo/Super%20Tourer/St.jpg

I don't know what year / model you've got, but an 81' Comp (at least the USA version) looks nothing like your ride (color and markings).

http://www.kurtkaminer.com/TH_Raleigh_Cat_81_4n5.html

Here's a link for serial number info and the catalog archives if you want to better peruse ID'ing.
http://www.theheadbadge.com/

They went from the traditional black and gold paint scheme to a turquoise blue some time in 81. Mine has a WB100xxxx SN so it is an 81. Lugs changed as well.

I've seen a few others the same turquoise color but not in the OP's color.

David

Yup, looks like an early eighties Competition to me too...

237446 237447

237448 237449

237450 237451

Thanks for the replies chaps. I pretty sure it's a Raleigh Competition, but slightly different to randyjawa's bike as the forks are/were fully chromed, including the fork crown and the fork ends are Campag, not Vitus. Other than that they are almost identical.

Like this one, only not in blue - obviously. The UK spec'd bikes were different to the UK ones

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raleigh-Competition-Reynolds-531-Retro-Road-Bike-/200704905755?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item2ebaf1d21b

As for the colour - my local auto paint store has dozens of paint swatch books. They were my first post of call and the guy behind the counter (who knows me well) blanched when he saw the frame colour. I don't think he fancied spending hours trawling through all the swatches......hence the trip to the other paint specialists with the spectograph. They did think I might be lucky with an oddball 1980s Fiat or Toyota colours. I'm heading back to the first store and will offer to spend some time going through the swatches myself. Could take some time!

Will let you know if I find the right colour. I don't give up easily!!

You might consider a constrasting color, if the odds of an exact match are slim. (We're talking about the fork only?) I can't tell if your color is Coral or more Bronze, but you might do a deeper color of the same hue, say a brick red to go with Bronze, etc.

David S.

Spent over two hours going through book after book after book of paint swatches this afternoon - I must have looked at literally several thousand colours. Eventually found one that was pretty close, but as I know the guys in the store very well, they kindly experimented a little until we came up with the best match possible, using a pearl base. Also, on their advice I bought some white primer - as per original - and lacquer. Now all I have to do is remove the rust where necessary, flat the paintwork back and give it a try. I'll get back to you when I've sprayed the forks as they're already in primer.

Would you mind sharing how you managed to remove the chrome from the forks..
Sandblasting?
Sand & file?
Strong acid?
Electrolytically?

Any pics?

Cheers

Would you mind sharing how you managed to remove the chrome from the forks..
Sandblasting?
Sand & file?
Strong acid?
Electrolytically?

Any pics?

Cheers

Sadly no before pics - much of the chrome had been stripped off by the previous owner. To get the rest off I painstakingly scraped at them using a sharp blade, file, wire brush using a rotary drill until I removed about 98% of it. Some just wouldn't come off no matter what I tried. Then I filled the tiny pit marks/scratches with fine auto body filler and sprayed with several coats of primer, flatting between coats until I had a surface that was ready for a top coat. Painting & lacquering will happen over the next week or so, all being well. Fortunately I have plenty of time, otherwise I'd have given the job to a re-chroming specialist.

Finally identified the frame as a Raleigh Gran Sport, which was equipped in the UK with a Campagnolo Gran Sport groupset in the early 1980s. Here's another identical frame, with original decals.

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Raleigh%20531%20gran%20sport/GranSporttoptubedecal.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Raleigh%20531%20gran%20sport/GranSportmodified.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Raleigh%20531%20gran%20sport/GranSport531decal.jpg

Painting on my own frame is now complete, just need to add the decals now.

A couple of photos of the frame wearing its new paint. The Raleigh Heron was an "interesting" job of masking. The forks have been sprayed to match with the drop outs left in their original chrome. They were too far gone to consider worth trying to leave as original, so a compromise had to be made.

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Bike%20wall%20art/wallart005.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/millemiglia201/Bike%20wall%20art/wallart006.jpg