Originally Posted by
cinelliguy
This is what I do when I run into a bike like yours.
Photograph the original (you've done that well), take the parts off, clean the parts, hunt down missing, aged out or inappropriate parts, clean the frame and fork, check for alignment or hidden damage, paint correct as much as possible (that means, clean, polish, buff, seal with some protective coating of ones choice), reinstall the parts, recheck all bolts and screws for tightness and alignment, ride, adjust, ride adjust, all the while looking it over and seeing if it works for me.
If it doesn't work for you, get it painted when you can? Guess that about covers your answer out of me.
Guy
[MENTION=260017]cinelliguy[/MENTION] and I had this conversation 2 weeks ago. I've been debating how to handle my 1950 Hetchins, I had gone back and forth on what to do about the "patina' and in talking to him it became clear to me that I would be happiest if I just clean it up as best as I could to stop any additional deterioration, build it up, ride it, then decide if I need/want to restore the frame. I can always restore the frame, but I can't always bring it back to its current state.