Respray

rjsterry

13 years with not so much as a dab of touch-up paint, and my old friend is really looking a bit tatty. Being white (I was soooo ahead of the curve ) it shows the dirt and scuffs even more, and with the endless winter we are having, the bare steel is starting to take on a worrying orange tinge. Nothing serious as yet, but it has prompted me to properly consider getting the frame resprayed in some way.

A quick google and a flick through the back of Cycling Weekly has thrown up only Vaz Finishes over in Hither Green, but does anybody know of any other finishers further west. I'm also wondering about the relative merits of enamel vs powder-coating, and how easy/difficult it is to recreate all the decals. Any thoughts?

Rich158

Try Argos Cycles, they're meant to be very good, although you will have to send the frame to them.

oscarbudgie

Good thread here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12679702

I was looking resprays up only this weekend as I'm thinking of blinging my 90s Raleigh Pro Race - I'll hold out for a while until the enthusiasm for doing it ebbs away and hence save myself some money, time and aggro.

There was also some good respray suff in the forums at
http://www.retrobike.co.uk
as well + leads for decals etc. Quite a handy site

rjsterry

Thanks for the pointers. BTW has anyone else noticed that Finish Line Teflon Grease does something weird to frame paint? It's turned the white paint an browny-yellow colour - just another symptom of a bike in need of a respray or something more sinister?

Clever Pun

I'm looking at getting my lugs lined or even fully coated... any ideas/recomendations?

rjsterry

Anyone got any experience of (or even heard of) these guys (a long shot I know)?

http://www.collinschemicalblacking.co.uk/services.htm

Not cycle specific, but they look like they would be capable, and are super-convenient, being about 3 minutes walk from home. Isn't Google wonderful?

essex-commuter

There is a place in Hackney that gets rave reviews for bike specific powder coating...been racking my brains for the name but haven't delivered anything yet.

Will get back to you when it comes to me!

essex-commuter

Kerchinnnggg!!!

http://www.armourtexltd.co.uk/

rjsterry

essex-commuter wrote:

Kerchinnnggg!!!

http://www.armourtexltd.co.uk/

Just checked them out: yes they do indeed seem to be the business. Thanks for that.

rjsterry

Clever Pun wrote:

I'm looking at getting my lugs lined or even fully coated... any ideas/recomendations?

I don't know of anyone, but you might try frameforum

http://www.frameforum.org/forum3/index.php

Judging by the stuf in the gallery, there must be someone on there who could help you.

Roastie

I'll be sending my sister's old frame off to Armourtex in the next week or so, so if you're keen on seeing the result first...

rjsterry

Roastie wrote:

I'll be sending my sister's old frame off to Armourtex in the next week or so, so if you're keen on seeing the result first...

Yes, I would be interested, thanks. There are a couple of things I need to work out first though:

1. Remove seized seatpost - hacksaw job - need to set a day aside.
2. Remove head badge in such a way that it can be refixed - I assume it's glued in some way as there are no obvious fixings, but I don't want to just jam a screwdriver under the edge, as this will trash it.
3. Need to get a BB tool + crank puller to remove the ...err...cranks and BB.
4. I presume I need to remove the headset cups from both the frame and fork. Is this an LBS job without specialist tools?

the_hundredth_idiot

You can get a tool for removing the headset at a reasonable price, say on eBay.

Replacing it tends to involved slightly more expensive tools.

Paddy O Dawes

Bloke on a nice-looking frame on my way home t'other night was saying good things about Armourtex...