Maclean barn find
- Thread starter Bobby Maclean
- Start date
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OP
OP
Bobby Maclean
Well-Known Member
- Location
- South west London
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OP
OP
Bobby Maclean
Well-Known Member
- Location
- South west London
Lovely
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Can't think that was correct, would be nearly £1400 in today's money. Maybe they increased it 'for insurance purposes'?
OP
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Bobby Maclean
Well-Known Member
- Location
- South west London
Probably correct.
A few years later they were 90 quid!
They did try very hard to regain their former sales by introducing two cracking racing models in early 1960s. These were both designed by Dick Swann and were called Ultra in either Road or Track versions.
The Road Ultra was Reynolds 531 Butted Tubing with Ekla cast lugs, Campagnolo ends and Campag head and BB fittings. It had an exclusive reinforced fork crown and head lugs and seat-stay bridge.
The Ultra Track was made of Kromo tubing, again with Ekla lugs and with the reinforced crown and head, plus special rear track ends. The track had an oversize Chater BB. These came as standard with chrome fork crown and front and rear ends. Expensive but beautifully made and finished. They remained very popular for the short time they were made. In fact they were so dear that people remarked "are they gold plated for that sort of money? " They cost in full road race kit over £90.00 then!
OP
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Bobby Maclean
Well-Known Member
- Location
- South west London
There are plenty of scratches and places where the paint has come off.
I feel I have three choices.
1. Treat any bare metal, lacquer and go for the original rat look.
2.total strip down and respray as close to original as poss.
Or
3.Find the same colour and retouch.
If I go the retouch root can you respray say the top bar, which is very faded in comparison, (it had been retouched as well, with a different shade nail varnish, which I have removed.) and not respray other areas?
I can find stuff on the web that either deals with total respray or scratches. Nothing I can see about just doing one bar.
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
You could respray the top tube but it might look a bit odd even if you did manage to get an exact match. You could give it a go and to fade it with cutting compound. Might be better to leave as is. Difficult call.
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
I'd go for option 1 with a touch(up) of option 3 on the smaller areas. Professional repaint and decals will set you back around £200, I would think (with the bands and contrasting headtube).
If you clean and polish up everything, lose the rack and re-tape the bars I think it'll look great. If the paint still bugs you in 6 months you can always send it for a re-paint then.
If you clean and polish up everything, lose the rack and re-tape the bars I think it'll look great. If the paint still bugs you in 6 months you can always send it for a re-paint then.
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
That makes good sense.
OP
OP
Bobby Maclean
Well-Known Member
- Location
- South west London
Thanks for your advice,that is a good plan. I have got a lot of the grime off and it does look a lot better.
I wondered whether it is frowned upon to respray old bikes.
I do have an option of using a spray shop a mate works in, they repair crash damaged cars, high end stuff, but they are not frame specialists. They use water based paint apparently,drying the coats in ovens?
I looked at Mercians web site and there are some beautiful examples, they talk about powder coating frames, is that the better way to go in the long run?
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wow -that looks great!
There are generally two schools of thought: the "it's only original once" and the catalogue restoration (whereby it's looks like it's just come from the factory). The catalogue
Personally, I like to see a bit of history in an old bike so unless it's already been re-painted, I tend towards trying to preserve what's there. But then I'm a bit soppy and tend to think of myself as the guardian of an old bike.
In many cases a frames with chipped and warn original paint will be worth more than something freshly repainted. And the cost of painting is difficult to re-coup if you decide to sell the bike on at a later date.
having said that, Mercian, Bob Jackson and other produce some stunners.
Powder coating is usually a bit cheaper and cruder than stove enamel paint (which baked to harden). I've had both done and the paint shows off the details of the frame a lot better.
There are generally two schools of thought: the "it's only original once" and the catalogue restoration (whereby it's looks like it's just come from the factory). The catalogue
Personally, I like to see a bit of history in an old bike so unless it's already been re-painted, I tend towards trying to preserve what's there. But then I'm a bit soppy and tend to think of myself as the guardian of an old bike.
In many cases a frames with chipped and warn original paint will be worth more than something freshly repainted. And the cost of painting is difficult to re-coup if you decide to sell the bike on at a later date.
having said that, Mercian, Bob Jackson and other produce some stunners.
Powder coating is usually a bit cheaper and cruder than stove enamel paint (which baked to harden). I've had both done and the paint shows off the details of the frame a lot better.
biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
@Bobby Maclean that looks great and like @nonowt i also don't mind a bit of patina and battle scars any day of the week compared to a squeaky fresh coat of paint
AndyRM
XOXO
- Location
- North Shields
Lovely looking thing. I too would keep it as is but protect the bits that need it.
