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Repainting Frames
It's natural to start the restoration of an old frame by refinishing it - I've done this more than once, but I wouldn't do it that way now.
Perhaps you have acquired a prestigious brand of frame, or possibly something eccentric which has taken your fancy, but before you go to a lot of trouble and expense you should find out whether you like riding a bike built on it.
I assume that the purpose of a restoration is to have a bike you will actually enjoy riding.
So I suggest it's worth assembling your 'new' frame and getting it rideable before painting it - just because it's that brand you've always wanted to own doesn't mean you will like it as a bike.
The photo below is an example. I have wanted to build a traditional roadster ever since I had the Marcel Planes BSA on loan, but it has proved more difficult than I expected. The object is to try to recapture some element of Edwardian touring, so if the end product is not satisfactory to ride, the whole thing's a failure.
The frame shown is actually a WW2 Sunbeam (made by BSA, as it happens) and an almost complete set of parts has just be come available. The original paintwork is in a bad state and was clearly a 'war grade' job in the first place, but I'm going to build it first, make sure it's reasonable to ride and then, if I like it enough, I'll think about repainting.
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clubman
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Good point. The frame won't be repainted though as the blue underneath the white overpainting appears to be in pretty good condition, so is probably stoved. It's a nice colour blue as well. So all it will cost me is the price of a tin of acetone to strip the topcoat-£10 or so. I have to strip the frameof parts to strip the topcoat anyway, so after that I will build it up and ride it for a bit before buying replacement transfers etc if I like the ride. I already have suitable period parts that came off another frame currently doing duty as a baby carrying bike.
jeff80
Got some Acetone from work, seems to be working okay so far as the blue paint underneath is resisting it. No sign of old decals at all though, and blue looks quite fresh so not sure what's going on there, although the colour is one Gillott offered for this model. Uncovered the frame number more and turns out is a 1954 Gillott Continental, so seems genuine and correct in that sense at least.