Originally Posted by
purpurite
I'm wondering what the general consensus is with C&V collectors on the subject of whether or not to clean and restore or completely repaint to OE quality (or better) specifically with a frame and fork. Obviously if a frame already doesn't have the original paint job, all bets are off, but what are the feelings about repaints on vintage bikes?
With collectible cars, there are a lot fewer "patina" examples than cars that have been restored to OE or close condition. Motorcycles are the same way, in my experience. With collectible toys, you wouldn't think of touching a model and trying to restore it. Coins are the same way.
My personal feelings are that with bikes and repaints, it's one of those things that you will know when you see it, and everyone has different levels of tolerance for chips, scratches, fading and surface rust.
Take money and costs for repaints out of the equation. At what point to you shift from "keep it patina" to "needs to be refinished?"
Well, both my Zullo and Tesch were full repaints even though the paint was not too bad. The Zullo was purple and the Tesch was neon green and pink! You would never have seen me on that color of frame, I guarantee it. The Zullo purple was not bad but I wanted a yellow bike and the Zullo came at the right time. In the process of getting the chrome done, I settled on orange instead of yellow and have been happy with the decision ever since. The Zullo’s chrome is all new as it never was chromed but I wanted it to look like the Zullos of my young adulthood memory.
The bike shop that I went to growing up as kid sold Miyata, Zullo, Tommasini, and Picchio. My first bike that I bought with my hard earned summer job money was a Miyata Pro that was the only “higher end” bike I could afford. I paid $600 for it in 1984. The Zullo, Picchio, and Tommasini were only dreams back then. I still have my Miyata Pro. Got my Zullo. And a few days ago, got my Picchio off eBay. To make things easy, the buyer is located in my hometown, so this bike could very well have been one of those exact bikes that I remember lusting after. I do remember this color being sold in addition the the bluish-purple, and a wine-red one that I vividly recall.
The Picchio will get a full repaint and probably chrome matching that of my Zullo. No, it will certainly not be original but it’s not a rare or valuable bike, so what’s the issue? Now to decide what color! It will get an 11-speed Athena group similar to the Zullo.
Here’s the Zullo that I lusted after. That yellow was burns into my memory but funny how what seemed the bees knees back in the day, just didn’t do it for me later down the road.
Getting back the Zullo, I thought the basic unbordered white lettering was a bit bland, so Imhad my painter add a thin gold bolder to match the gold stripping transition between orange paint and chrome. At the last minute, I thought a drop shadow would look cool, so I had that added. Here’s the result:
I even got Tiziano’s blessing; he said it looked wonderful!