Colnago Super Pista restoration and build

So, after years of hunting I have finally found a 55.5cm Italian track bike, not my ideal Guerciotti, but a Colnago, which will do...
It's just a mess of a frame atm, horrible powdercoating and all.
Luckily I have a spare pair of forks that are very much like what would of been the original forks although the clearances are all out so I am getting the dropouts moved (and windows filled) to get them bang on.
That, the fact I am going to give rattle canning it a go, and my child like excitement means it gets it own thread...

Nice one chris, looks like it will be a decent reward for your long wait! Clearances look fairly even to me, unless you want the rear wheel much further back in the dropouts...?

Chris, good luck. Looks like a beaut :)

Nice forks ; )

fantastic, congratulations chris, look forward to seeing this

Cheers guys!
The gap between the crown and the front tyre is MASSIVE so winding that in, and obv there is no headset fitted in the pic so it looks tighter up front than it would be built...
Thinking sparkly Silver...

I am looking forward to this.

needs Arrospok

needs double Arrospok

ftfy #subtlety

So, after plenty of research, and everything pointing to it not, turns out paint stripper will remove powder coating with some effort...

How long did that take, out of interest?

Not too long or too much effort.... A couple of applications, 30 mins ish?

that sounds eminently doable, I might give it a go. nitromors?

Completely is... armourtex charge £30 to remove powder coating but I am far too tight to pay that. I used Rustins paint stripper because it was a quid cheaper, it barely hurts my hands, so it's prob not even that good...

are you sure that it's a nago?

Yep.

Good work, though I'm curious why you're bothering. Are you hoping to uncover some chrome? Or are you planning on doing the new paint job all by yourself?

how are you sure it's a colnago?

Looks to have a clover cut out on the BB

how are you sure it's a colnago?

99% due to...
The clover cut outs on the lugs.
The angle of the dropouts.
The clover cut out of the BB.
The shape of the seatstay/top tube junction.
The shape of the headtube lugs.

No chrome has been found under the powdercoating sadly, and yep, planning to rattle can it silver (but rattle canned well...).

It's taken about 3 days to get the powdercoating off... all to save £30, tight twat. It's almost been fun though.
Next up, clean the frame up, fill the dents, and get the drop outs on the forks moved up a bit to tighten that massive gap.

and get the drop outs on the forks moved up a bit to tighten that massive gap.

Tell me more about this, what exactly are you going to do here? Good job on stripping the frame :)

Cheers!
My friends a frame builder (an award winning one no less) so he's going to take the drop outs off then adjust the legs so they fit back in a cm higher than before and therefor closing the gap between the crown and tightening the front end too. Then he'll fill the windows on the forks to make them more like how an original pair would look...

I hope it is a Colnago, will be a great bike!, shame no original forks

ahhh damn, top tube got a dent? lookin forward for a nice painting, perhaps it's masking out this prettiness scratch.