I know you have all been waiting with bated breath for an update
- so here it is!
Mostly working on prepping and painting the frame. @
randyjawa has awesome instructions for prepping and painting, and I really couldn't follow any of them - couldn't find the rubber paint stripper (tried one that had NO effect at all), couldn't find brush on primer, etc.
I was considering blasting, but there was a blog post by someone about his experience refinishing a not C&V mountain bike (coincidentally he lives in the same town as me), and his experience trying to find a blaster was equal to mine - everyone said sure, but none seemed to know how to do bikes. In his case he ended up with a very rough finish which I didn't want.
So we went back to good old manual labour. Lots of sheets of 240 and 400 paper, varsol, steel wool etc. Finally got things really in pretty good shape to my eye (and hand - randy's advice that you can feel better than you can see really helped out).
The frame had been repainted well but sloppily at least 35 years ago, maybe more. It was done as there was apparently lots of surface rust, which I found as I stripped off layers of paint. Got things to a point where I considered just clear coating for that steam-punk look (seriously, is there anything more beautiful - on bikes - than the gleam of unpainted tubing?).
While it may appear there is more to strip, I actually feel I got to a very nice smooth surface, so I did two coats of primer with a 400 grit light (very light) sanding in between. I painted outside today and its fall so not a lot of dust or pollen, and it was unusually warm and only a light breeze so perfect for painting. I did have a couple of very minor runs in the primer but the 400 paper took care of them without issue.
I then sprayed a first coat of colour....I wasn't expecting it to go on as well as it did! I did a complete cover and am now going to let it harden for probably a week.
The photos makes it look like there is a bit of orange peel - that isn't obvious in reality. However, once this hardens I will do a full light sanding with 600 and do a second coat of colour.
As I was stripping the paint I found chrome (or what was left of it) at the stay ends as well as fork ends. This has been cleaned up and will be exposed once the frame is complete - it will not be show condition as there is some bad pitting, but my intent is not to restore to "brand new" but to get it looking like it did in the 60s after a decade and half of regular usage. The paint needs to look nice but not perfect; the hubs will not be getting rechromed, the bars will likely not get rechromed either though I might paint them silver like the original owner did when the chrome left them years ago (though my SR stem/VO northroad bars fit right in).
I will be reproducing the lug highlights (white), and head and seat tube panel (also white, with two white stripes lined in gold top and bottom) once the base coats are done. Badges will go back cleaned up but not "restored".
I am also happy to say that the frame is extraordinarily light for a utility bike....no gaspipe Peugeot or heavy duty Raleigh! @
iab is probably right that this is a more sporting frame (lug work is so beautiful) that was pressed into utility service.
For those of you just joining this saga, here's a picture of the bike as I received it.
