Work has begun

Still not sure about the color but I'll probably go conservative with dark gray metallic, although Molteni orange is tempting as is Ferrari red.

Brass brush rotary is next since the crappy chemical stripper left so much. Maybe I should just clear it and run it as is.

Absolutely ! Now that you have miraculously effected that perfect "patina", you don't want to go screwing it up by sending it to CyclArt or somewhere like that.

When I finally finishing building my 531 (well most of the tubes..) frame it will either be Molteni orange or Ferrari red so my vote is that you can't go wrong with either of those choices!

And my vote is definitely not to clearcoat as-is...if you are going to do that I think you should strip it all the way down first.

Hi thenomad -

So what is lurking there, under that variegate marbled masterpiece of old paint and primer?

Looks like a high-end, pre-84 Trek sports-tourer to me... Sweetness!

(Just got my '84 610, 650b conversion on the road - wowzer! what a bike!)

SP
Bend, OR

Hi bobbycorno - You're right about it being a Trek frame, but I did not recognize the fork crown.

(+1 to the 610 being a "wowzer".)

It was already poorly painted over,or i would have just gotten rid of rust and run it with what was left of the original paint. I figured I'd might as well treat it to a "good" rattle can job to give it some of its pride back.

1978 Trek TX700

It had Shimano 600 on it which should put it at a 730 model I think. 531 with Campy dropouts. Small dent in top tube and a banged up cable guide. I'm working on how I want to take care of those.

52cm ST with 54 cm TT should be a little short on the ST but good on the TT with a longer stem. I got rid of the 56cm Trek 760 I had, won't make the same mistake with this one. It would only be better if it were a 54cm

Try brake fluid. It seems to do a great job of removing paint I wanna keep on my Yamaha ... and that is only from traces left weeping after a changeout I do every two years! Brush it on. Leave it for two days and shovel it off with a shaped plastic coke bottle. I dunno about yours, but AFAIK Trek at some time started using Imron, which may be more resistant to removers than some others.

Jasco or aircraft finish remover are your best bets. A can of Jasco is 7.95 at Home Depot, good enough for two bikes. Nasty stuff though.

Instead of rattlecan, why not PC? Then you can bondo the top tube. And you would be fine.

So how are you going to build it up?

I had to use a second coat of the chemical stripper on the imron paint. Let it sit on there for a while till you see the paint bubble up.
You can see the thread I posted about the restoration of a similar frame herehttps://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ht+restoration
I enjoyed the details like polishing the screw on headbadge and filling in trek logo with black paint.
Good luck and think about how someone might have painted it in 1978, I would vote for a brighter color.

For now I'll build it up with what parts I have around. May start with SS commuter w/rack, fenders. I'm debating in my head how I want to build it up.
I've got a cross bike, a steel "modernized" roadie for the weekends, and I want this to slot in nicely, not be the same as what I have. I'm more of a hotrodder than a restorer so taking it back to '78 original is on the back burner.

I've got a feeling this will have several iterations over time, but I look forward to the nice ride it'll have.

Which cable guide?

The center of top tube. The guide is ovalized with some slight affect to the top tube. Then there is a small dent near it as well. I'll try the wood block in a vice trick first and see what happens on the regular dent. Not sure yet how I'll approach the guide.

See if you can slide e.g. a welding rod through it to reform it. Choose a diameter that fits snugly through one of the undamaged guides. Grind down one end of the rod to a smaller diameter, tapering gradually up to the full diameter. Trim the rod to a size that will allow you to insert the tapered end into the damaged guide and gently tap with a hammer to force it back into shape.

Jamess- Great resto you did on yours. Love the look. I'll probably get my usual brand of stripper and hit it again. I'm hoping to minimize time with the rotary.

Be sure to rinse the frame off before you wire brush it. Paint stripper doesn't exactly feel good of your skin, and definitely doesn't like clothes.

I wish you told me that before I tried it naked! :O

Cant go wrong with orange or red! Gonna be sweet!!

andy