RiddleOfSteel

You're welcome! Many trials and tribulations with early use of Octalink back in the day (long before I got involved with bikes). I've run a number of Ultegra triples and Dura-Ace doubles (I've seen a 7700 triple crankset with the second ring acting as a triplizer for a small ring mounting), and they've been pretty plentiful and cheap. Not too hard to find ones in good shape. Still enough of a classic look and finish while being light and strong. And since no one cares about them, they're cheap!

crank_addict

I have no idea how Celeste blue sky got into this mix...

Triplecrank92

I finally got the frame clear coated to protect the paint and decals and sprayed Frame Saver down the tubes. It took several attempts with different brands of clear coat to find one that wouldn't cause the paint to react and crinkle. I followed Velocals directions and sprayed a "plastic paint promotor" over the decals to protect them from the clear coat. Worked perfect and Velocals' decals look great! I might have rotated the DT decals a little low since I lined the center of the decal with the center of the tube. In hindsight, I probably should have centered the red line of the decal on the tube's centerline. Oh well! Since there was no chrome on the frame, it limited the choice to the Super-Leggera or the Giro. The choice of the model name came down to a family vote. They felt "Giro" sounded more Italian.

The octalink BB didn't work out because the CL bike sold before I got to it. So I have been piecemealing from the parts bin with Shimano 600 parts, but had to buy a few missing items, such as a Nitto Noodle handle bard, and a sealed Italian-threaded BB. I really wanted to find an 8-speed DT indexed shifters, but have been unsuccessful so far. Therefore, I have some Shimano 600 brifters that will go on for the moment.

So, now the build-up has started and I'm pumped to see how this turns out. I've just installed the front fork and felt like showing it off......

Ferrouscious 

Something small I noticed: you painted the dropout adjuster screws. Otherwise pretty good!

KenNC

Looks really great! What brand of clear coat and plastic paint promoter did you you use?

Triplecrank92

Given the condition of the bike when I got it, the adjustment screws were in the same or worse condition. When I have attempted on other bikes to remove the screws, they typically break off flush with the dropouts. So, I usually don't mess with them and rarely, if ever, adjust the screws that remain in my other bikes. I'm just a heathen C&V'er! . Thanks for the comps!

Thanks for the kudos. I found an online company, My Perfect Color, that would take any paint code (in this case Pantone 332C) and put it in a spray can. Their spray paint, Hedrix by name, is an acrylic enamel. I debated learning how to use a small spray gun, but getting all the equipment, learning to adjust the gun, spending money on the cans of paint and fixing the goof-ups that would be inevitable, it just seemed easier to use spray cans. Besides, I figured that I couldn't make the frame look worse than how it started! Overall, the paint job came out fairly well. There was a little splatter with the frame having some small imperfections on the paint (as seen above the tube decal), but you have to get real close to inspect and see them. I would call it a good 5-footer paint job.

On the decals, I followed Velocals directions and got a can of Bulldog Adhesion Promoter. It was a little pricey at $17 but the decals were "pricier" and I didn't want to ruin those. It only took a couple of light coats of promoter to protect the decals.

A workable clear coat was harder to find. My Perfect Color didn't sell a clear coat which ended up costing me several dollars on different brands of clear coat from the big box stores. What worked was Dupli-color Acrylic Enamel Clear. I only used one can on the entire frame so I have a light coat. Two cans would have probably made a more durable covering.

Triplecrank92

Ok, I bungled it. As previously mentioned, I bought a new sealed BB. I took the cups from the old BB and screwed them in and backed them out to clean the threads and wiped/cleaned the bracket threading. The drive-side of the new BB threaded in just fine. I thought the non-drive side was going in smooth too until I saw that it was taking on an angle. I quickly backed it and saw this which explains my sub-title for this post....

Since I have nothing to lose, I may place the cup in a vise and very slowly take a file to the cross-threading to smooth out the bad threads. I'm thinking the mangled threads are at the beginning. So if I can get it screw in cleanly, there appears to be with enough threading left on the cup to tighten it to the bracket. I looked at the BB threading & it looks ok but I'm going to double check. Any other thoughts / ideas?

Triplecrank92

I was lucky enough to file the crossed threads down and install the BB. I've spent the last week cleaning the old parts from the garage that I planned on using and finally had enough of them to put it on the frame to get a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel...

Triplecrank92

I spent the morning cleaning & re-greasing the donor wheels. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to threw them on the frame to see how they looked.

Narhay

I enjoyed reading your restoration. Looks really nice. Thanks for sharing.

Triplecrank92

Over the last few weeks, I was able to finish the Giro with an odd-ball collection of parts. I swapped out the 600 brakes for some 105s that I had. I thought the bright work of the 105s complimented the other chromed pieces. I wrapped the bars with some black cloth tape and found some "Celeste-ish" twine at a craft store to wrap the end of the tape. I thought the black tape, saddle, wheels, cage, and pedals worked well with the frame. I gave it a 40 mile break in ride with the crew this morning and it did well with a couple of niggles to work out. The chain was jumping while climbing on a test ride yesterday, but shortening the chain by one link helped that issue. The shifting isn't perfected yet, but I hope that the ride this morning let everything settle and stretch so I can readjust and tune the bike. The rear wheel oddly shifted in the stays during the ride resulting in the tire rubbing the chainstay. I repositioned the wheel and really tightened down the QR which seemed to resolve the problem for the rest of the ride. But I thought it was odd that the QR wasn't tight enough even thought I adjusted it like all my other bikes before the ride. Do they wear out? But I'm also happy to report that the Giro stayed true to its Italian roots with the paint that I put on it. The wheel rubbed the soft paint off the inside of the chainstay! After a few choice expletives, I settle on "Oh Well". While the bike rode silently at the start, there was a clicking by the end. Given the grease that had escaped the rear hub on the short test ride, I concluded that the rear hub has lost enough grease after 40 miles that I was hearing the bearings knock. But I'll have to do a little more investigative work to truly isolate the problem. The Shimano Technical website shows that the FH-6402 hubs have a grease seal (#7) which I don't remember seeing during the rebuild. Is there a replacement seal or DIY substitute? On to the pics (forgive the grease on the head tube. Didn't see it until now).....

Triplecrank92

The Bianchi rides real nice having put 100 miles on it while it’s been in the rotation. Not the lightest or most agile of the fleet but a good stable, comfortable ride.

Here’s the issue that I’m having. In shifting to the small chainring, 90% of the time the chain will go completely beyond the small chainring & onto the BB. I’ve checked the high & low adjustments of the FD which looks good. The FD cage bare misses the chain when on either chainring.

Other facts with this parts bin rebuild:

1. the drive train is off a late 90s C’dale with compact chainring: 53 & 39
2. the FD is a Campy Veloce. I don’t know the model number. Everything else is Shimano
3. It’s 8 speed cassette in the back with Shimano 600 brifters in the front.
4. I replaced the original BB with a Shimano sealed unit which was as close to the the same axle length as the original as possible. It’s within a couple of mm.
5. New chain

My theories as to the cause have included:

1. the Campy FD is not compatible with the compact ring set, being that either:
   1. the spring tension in the FD is so quick that it throws chain beyond the smaller ring in that it may have been designed for a 43/42 sized small chainring
   2. or, the length of the FD cage is shorter than the original Shimano FD and does not help guide the chain to the smaller chainring. I’m going to have to dig the old Shimano FD out to compare the two.
2. The chain line is slightly off due to the new BB, but I would think this would mess with the rear shifting more than the front.

Any other thoughts or solutions to this dilemma?

thanks

jdawginsc 

Looks great! A labor of love for sure!

Is the seal on the rear NDS hub missing? Also, with the front derailleur...Campy doesn't play well with Shimano brifters, even the front derailleur. What cog are you on when it DOESN'T overshift. That might give you a clue.

Even with Ergos, I sometimes had a tough time getting the right height on the braze on with FDs...and more often than not I had to readjust the low screw back and forth.

Triplecrank92

jdawginsc....thanks for the reply. And, yes, I believe the grease seal is missing. I wasn’t aware when I reworked the hubs what parts were supposed to be there. That’s what lead me to posting the Parts Diagram. Sometime in the past, someone must have rebuilt the hub & didn’t put the seals back. A few post back up the thread, I was asking if anyone knew of a substitute or work-around to missing seals.

As as I recall as I sit here, I don’t believe that I noticed a difference in which cog the chain was sitting relative to the chain shifting off the chainring. I believe I tried that to determine if the chain angle had any influence on dropping the chain.

jdawginsc 

might be a co-op visit would help. I’m not sure which seals might be compatible, but those bearings will start getting crunchy quickly!