J.Wolfe

(with aircraft paint remover or other products like)

a) (what I hope) take off the remaining paint to reveal a completely polished fork
b) take away the paint AND polish finish, leaving a bare metal
c) anything else?

what will be the case for these fuji forks? It has chipped in a few spots revealing matching chrome finish underneath. I just don't want to remove the polished finish. I'm trying to achieve fully polished forks for anyone that can steer me in this direction.

thanks for the response.
-Justin

ScottRyder 

C) Anything else.

Justin, the stripper will remove the paint not the chrome. However, the chances are the chrome under the paint will not be as fully polished as the lower portion. I stripped my '73 Finest and found this to be the case. I do have a fully chromed fork, not a Fuji but Japanese that might fit.

Scott

MrEss

Impossible to tell, but the chrome probably extends only a couple inches beyond what you see.

Typically just the tips are chromed, because full-bath chroming is more expensive and difficult.

My Atala has a chrome crown and chrome tips, with about 4" of unchromed fork blade in between.

J.Wolfe

good points on both accounts,

scott, can i have a pm of the forks please with a price possibly.

but refer to my comment above where i said in spots that have chipped, i can see the same finish of chrome (from what i can tell), and this is far up the fork. i am not 100% sure if its as chrome as the bottom portion, but man does it look close...

auchencrow

Stripping the paint off this fork will...?

....Devalue the bike.

- Even if it is fully polished chrome underneath (which I VERY much doubt) such permanent modifications are not recommended. (Most folks would think you replaced the original with a cheap service fork.)

tastewar

When I stripped the fork of my middling Panasonic, which had chrome tips, the entire fork was chromed. Stripped and polished, it's not perfect -- the finish looks darker where there was paint -- but pretty good.

ScottRyder 

I'll pull out the fork this evening, check it's condition and measure the steerer tube. It came off of a 57-58cm bike.

Auchencrow is right, leave the fork original if possible. While the Royale is not at the top of the Fuji chain, we Fuji freaks like them as the factory intended.

Scott

khatfull

Personally I'd leave it alone and Scott is right...byt he time you get to the crown you may be VERY disappointed with the finish of the chrome. A Team Fuji I had powder coated was the same way...nice shiny tips...very dull on the rest of it.

You might try Meguiar's ScratchX 2.0 on the paint...you'd be surprised at what it can do.

Before:




After:

J.Wolfe

that fork crown is beautiful. really wish i had a "high end" fuji for those little details. i need to do a detail on my bike for the winter when i dont ride anymore

i know it would devalue the bike, but i intend on keeping this thing forever as i already have had my chances on selling it before i decided to ditch all the components originally on it, that technically could have already devalued it. but i would rather just have an extra chrome fork anyways.

wrk101

So far, every bike I thought I would keep forever has eventually moved on to another home. Its not so much about having the chance to sell it, its more about finding something even nicer, better, or whatever. How many bikes do you want to own (or have the room to keep)? What happens when you find a smokin hot deal on a Paramount, or a Trek, or even a higher end Fuji, or a (fill in the blank)? Over the last couple of years, I have found really attractive deals including a Colnago, a Waterford Paramount, a Quintana Roo (Merlin Titanium frame bike), and a couple of more. Needless to say, the keepers I had before that were moved on. Anymore keeper bike to me = keeping it for now, until something better shows up.

Want a chrome fork? No problem, just pick one up super cheap, put that fork away to be reinstalled later (either by you or the next owner).

kenhawkeye

Usually before a frame was painted, the parts that would be exposed bright chrome were bright-polished, then the whole frame was chromed, so anything which was intended to be under paint was never as bright as the lugs, stays etc. If I really wanted chrome forks, I would buy a replacement to use, put the originals away somewhere safe and dry for that day when I might sell it on.

RobbieTunes

I've had/have 4 chromed frames that looked like they may be chromed all over.
They were, but only one was fully polished on the fork.

Some had more polished areas than the OEM paint scheme intended, and I'm not sure why.

A Centurion Turbo had all 4 stays polished about 2/3 of the way up, but was intended for just the R stay.
The Cinelli Centurion Equipe had both chain stays and the fork polished, but was intended for just the R stay.
A Cinelli SC has polished areas only where it 's obviously meant to be seen.

One of the Equipe's was a repaint, and I left the fork chrome. The other, I didn't repaint, so I didn't strip.

If someone is going to get close enough to your bike to see the chrome, you want the good chrome showing, the painted areas painted.

Tange still makes a full chrome, lugged, polished fork. I think it's about $125