New project. I bought a Fuji Opus III this week that was sadly subject to some serious neglect and perhaps abuse. For one thing, the paint and decals were in lousy condition. Innumerable paint chips, a rattlecan sprayed section around the seat cluster, etc. For another, the parts were pretty well worn, some had been replaced with inferior ones, and the bottom bracket was so loose you could see the cranks rocking back and forth when pedaling. (I don't understand how anyone could ride a bike like that and think everything was okay but the previous owner was doing just that.) The good news was that structurally the frame and wheels seemed sound. Also, I could tell from where the paint had chipped that the whole frame was chromed, so I before buying I decided to strip the paint and let the frame go au naturel, just plain chrome. Similar plan for the heavily scratched Superbe Pro cranks: strip anodized surface, polish, and perhaps seal. Fuji and Suntour diehards, you may want to look away.

To reverse the oft-used platitude, these pictures don't do the bike justice; it looked much worse in person:








Based on what I read in a few BF threads, aircraft paint stripper seemed like the way to go but once I read the warning labels on the back, I freaked out a little and decided to go with a non-toxic, eco-friendly alternative: "3M Safest Stripper". I'm regretting that now because the stripping process has been more arduous than I'd prefer. 24 hours of "marinating", two hours of manual scouring and it still needs another round of the stripper:




Also, once I removed the paint I discovered a tiny ding in the top tube (not a big deal to me) and a 5-inch section on the seat tube where the chrome had been abraded in spots by a previous owner (pretty annoying as it ruins the nice shiny look). So, first, any ideas on how to fix the abraded spots or cover them up? At this point I'm thinking rectangular sticker, maybe one of those reflective ones, but I don't know. And second, any general comments?