I have picked up an old Colnago International in blue color, most of the paint is still pretty good but have a lot of paint chips and the decal looks pretty bad. I think I can just try to touch up the paint and replace the decals. What is the best way to get the best matching color to touch up the paint and where is a good source to get them? What is your experiences on such matter, appreciate any info or suggestions. Thanks.

I have had the best luck buying a set of Testor's model paints and mixing them until I get the correct color.. Roger

I used fingernail polish recently and I was pretty happy. There are a ton of colors.

Up close, you can see it easily.




From a few steps away, it is harder.

Beech

Do you put a clear coat of nail polish over the touch up areas?

Thanks for the replies. Beech, that looks very good. Whilie looking at your pictures, another question comes to mind, is there something like a filler to fill up the bigger gaps before applying the touch up paint?

I didn't, but I did put it on a bit too thick there. The polish itself is a little sparkly and fairly hard. For the frame, I will show a bit more restraint on how much I apply. I guess I am a bit of a rookie with nail polish. A softer brush or better quality polish may help a bit too. For 89 cents, I was happy.

I don't understand your question. Are you worried about the polish being too thin compared to your frame paint? The polish that I got was fairly thick. Two coats did the job plus some, but be sure to wipe almost everything off of the brush. It holds a lot more than you think.

Maybe someone with more experience, a woman perhaps, can offer more clear advice than mine.

I did buy some rust preventative for some of the worse spots on the frame. I have a spot that is bubbling and thought that I might want to brush a thin layer over it to stop the rust from growing once I remove the paint. I hope to try out that tomorrow.

Note: This is the first time that I did this, but I had several women helping me pick out a color at the store. I guess they felt sorry for me, thought it was interesting, or both. Just carry your fork in, but don't hide it in your coat or make people think that you have a weapon.

I got some before and after pics, if you care to see.

Before:





and this bubbling was barely visible on the camera because of difficulty with focusing on it, but it had me worried so I lightly sanded it down. It turned out to not be bad, but I had never seen bubbling before and was more afraid than I needed to be.



After:






All this was done under the constant supervision of Bruce.

Take your frame or fork with you to a well stocked auto parts store. Most likely you can find an exact match. Do a search for paint repair posts. You can find great instruction on how to build up paint to fill scratches and chips. Decals can be had from board member JR.