dddd

Yowza!

Yes, chromed bits can be hard to see and hard to photograph. Decals can be hard to see as well, unless they are full "panel" style that cover an entire section of chrome and with their own contrasting background.

I have to say, I never quite imagined that old neglected Bianchi ending up looking like this!

merziac

@jyl,

Beautiful, looks like it was worth the wait, I know how excited many get about a chrome Paramount which are somewhat many and chrome Cinelli's which are not so many.

You've got a chrome one of a kind, I would run with that.

jyl

Salamandrine 

Clear is easy. I recommend Mohawk M102-0420 Tone Finish Clear Gloss, in a spray can. https://www.mohawk-finishing.com/pro...finish-clears/ Flows out evenly, even with very thin coats. Sticks well to polished metal. I sprayed the chrome bits of my PX10 with it about 3 years ago, and no rust or yellowing.

To do chromovelato you'd really need to have access to a spray rig and a touch up gun. Airbrush is too small. Mix some color lacquer with clear until it's translucent, and spray. It's a variation of candy finishes.

Andy_K 

A bit of inspiration for you:



The challenge would be getting closer to celeste than that.

crank_addict

Color tint into clear lacquer sprayed over chrome plating. The beauty and depth has less longevity likely because a chrome plate is more difficult for adhesion. Plus, I would think in the OP case, may later decide to retain the full non-scuffed chrome.

But.... today's paints have greatly evolved. There are methods to give a similar effect by spray chrome and urethane color clear top coat. You would skip all this because the frame is already chrome plated.

I would give it a go with a reputable brand two part urethane clear, color tinted. Even forgo the scuff prep and rather trust an impeccable cleaned frame. Bonding agent could depend on hardened additive, might suggest to ask before spraying. Perhaps consider a slight bake. Some of today's two part urethane cure incredibly fast and hard. I've sprayed and handled in 20 minutes, some done in very high humidity (dreadful day). Scary, wicked chemicals that work.

Likely tricky getting that Celeste tint. I'm jealous - way neat, artsy, creative, lots of planning.

jyl

Reading about lacquer - woodworking forums seem to talk about it - I am getting the impression that I could possibly tint and thin some lacquer and apply with a brush. It seems to be easy to remove lacquer from metal using solvent, so if results weren't looking good I could reverse back to bare chrome and re-assess.
@crank_addict, I don't have paint spray equipment or facilities, so I'm kind of looking for a DIY brush option if we go the color route.

crank_addict

I would avoid brush. Rather spray using an HVLP g_n. Tubes are much different than flat surfaces and during spray, expect flashing to which may even tempt one to quickly hit again.... DON'T. Though done right and swiftly, the urethane flows out evenly and rapidly cures. Very nice to work with.

gugie 

It's quite apparent that 10 months is the standard to wait for chrome.

gugie 

Find a first class painter - we have them in Portland.

Show them the vintage celeste color - the one that's a bit more bluish than the modern one, and tell them that you want chromovelato to match the tint. Leave as much chrome showing as possible - maybe the lugs and head tube, long chrome socks. The painter should also be an artist, someone you can trust to keep the theme.

That's my vote.

I'm just super happy to see it get this far!

Salamandrine 

That's the nice thing about old fashioned lacquer. Wipe it off with a rag dipped in acetone and it'll be gone in like one minute. No stripping necessary. I will go so far as to say brushing lacquer is stupid, even for woodworking. I did it a couple times decades ago and I'll never do it again. It's meant to be sprayed. Brushing pretty much only works with oil enamel, and even then it will only flow out properly if thinned with turpentine.

Personally i'd just find a color close enough in duplicolor spray cans. It's acrylic lacquer, 60s tech, but still removable. Generally compatible with other lacquers.

If you want to go with a high tech bombproof modern urethane, sometimes paint shops will fill a spray can for you. Ask around.

On second thought, I agree with gugie. ^^^ It takes years to get good at finishing. You saved a bit of money on the chrome. Take it to a painter with experience and skills.

jyl

Funny! Wow that bike is an inspiration!

ollo_ollo

Here's my CromoVelato after 15-16 years use. I was pretty careful with it due to its fragile paint, and it hasn't seen much wet weather riding. Also, there were 4 years or so when not ridden much due to building our house. I did add a rattle can coat of clear over the blue for protection before building up the frame. My color is fairly dark and the blue can look like regular paint on cloudy days or indoors. But it really gleams under bright lights or sun. You could probably achieve a close match to the original blue color yet be more special in bright light or sun.

I used to have a Centurion Pro Tour that had standard paint over a fully chromed frame with just the lugs showing chrome. It was my Winter rain bike during 10 years of commuting, very high mileage when I got it, and it stood up to the wet very well over the years.

One negative that probably influenced me to sell that bike was how every chip or scratch (and there were many) was highlighted/exaggerated by the glint of chrome. You won't see that if you go with all chrome. Either way it will be beautiful. Don

Lascauxcaveman 

Yes. Brushing a tinted clear overcoat won't work at all. Tough enough to get that sort of thing right with an HVLP or an air brush. I'm going to be talking to my PC guy about doing a transparent red over a non-polished chrome frame I've picked up recently. Be interesting to see what he says

ollo_ollo

It's do-able, did my 85 Grand Record in a transparent red over bare metal(no chrome) and got a look similar to the flamboyant red on my Grand Jubile. In bright sun, if you look close, you can see the fillet brazing but your chrome avoids that. My PC guy went a bit heavy on the seat tube down near bottom bracket & can see a small sag there. Don

jyl

DHPflaumer

Any updates to this project?

It's absolutely beautiful but I'll admit that I'm a little curious about how you handle the increased tire volume and fenders with horizontal dropouts!

gugie 

This bike has long chainstays. You can just squeeze the tire around the tip of the dropout with the tire pushed up against the fender without letting all the air out.

I sometimes remove the chainstay bridge and braze a new one in to accomplish this. For the Bianchi, I don't think I did (it's been, ahem, awhile).

DHPflaumer

Ooooh neat! I think I might need to take the wheels off my Norther and go play around with some vintage stuff in the basement now...

Lascauxcaveman 

Thinking about and riding around on my own (as yet unfinished) gugified Bianchi and also my own (unfinished) chrome bike project made me think it's time ping @jyl and see what's up.

How ya been, man?

jyl

Well, my bike mojo is so weak right now that I'm embarrassed to say . . . I haven't been riding at all. I have been completely buried in work (new business, one-man show, ya know) and in local Portland politics (working on some campaigns).

I did recently build a bike, as a favor for a friend. I wasn't too into the bike, a mid-range Centurion, but he got it power coated and re decaled, so then I got more into it. Buffed out the alloy parts, installed Gevenalle Retroshift levers, new rims, etc. Been a while since I wrapped bars and ran cables, and did a so-so job, but he was happy. I am so out of practice generally, that simply building your basic road bike took me most of two days!