1990s Pinarello Stelvio restoration

et voila

sans bolt

good story,
pm if it's your bag Squire

whatok, Jezton, loctez, bmxed
Normally I'd totally agree with you and restore it faithfully. However, Kinja actually said to me "...but change the blue, I had some serious problems with that team." So I'm going gold! OR very possibly the java green.

saarf
Thanks for the very generous offer and if I were shorter I'd bite your hand off - that stem is beautiful. However, I'll be using the long, raised 3ttt stem above to pretend that the frame fits me. I'd have no use for the Pinarello stem, except when selling the bike, so please hang onto it and give it to somebody who will use it.

no worries, enjoy your nice bike )

Green!

Sent a link of this thread to my brother in Karen - typical small-world-kenya, he'd already seen your request for paint suppliers on David Kinjah's facebook - his name's Simon, look out for him if you're racing.
If you're interested, he's just completed a new cycling webpage http://www.kenyacycling.org/ - unsurprisingly mr Kinjah's topping the mtb rankings

Great story, makes me reminiscing about my time in South Africa. Beautiful people.

Great work, puts things into perspective; and great story.

I'd have said keep it blue, but bearing in mind your explanation above, I'd go for the green: needs something bright and vivid.

Here is Nozy (a nickname, pronounced noh-ZEE), the talented auto painter I'd previously mentioned. I visited him again yesterday to impart some extra instructions on frame painting. Nozy tells me he used to also be a keen cyclist and was training with Kinja around 2005, but stopped because he needed to devote more time to "hustling", i.e. entrepreneurialism.

The seat tube looks bent, but in real life it is not.

Also I'm coming around to the idea of flip-paint, i.e. that you find on TVRs. In Kenya I've only heard it to be called "magic paint". I will probably use this paint if it's light enough for the black decals to still contrast well. As Nozy has some flip paint remaining from a previous job, it'll cost an extra £15 and will be more than worth it. It looks something like this, only more vivid green/purple:

Awesome project and a great read- can't wait to see how it turns out!

Its exciting for us trawling ebay in the countries where its easy to find and arrange shipping. Must be a significant task for you, but probably even more pleasure derived from the results. Cant recall if you said where you got your decals... they look original? (most replica decals are single colour, and dont have correct border ... I need some original black with gold border for a pearl white stelvio I've owned since new and would like to restore. Well done

Awesome project and a great read- can't wait to see how it turns out!

Cheers!

Its exciting for us trawling ebay in the countries where its easy to find and arrange shipping. Must be a significant task for you, but probably even more pleasure derived from the results. Cant recall if you said where you got your decals... they look original? (most replica decals are single colour, and dont have correct border ... I need some original black with gold border for a pearl white stelvio I've owned since new and would like to restore. Well done

I've cheated mostly, by eBaying parts to friends who were visiting Kenya. Wheels are a different matter though, as they don't fit in suitcases.

The decals are the cheapest I could get on eBay and involved shipping from USA. They are certainly non-original. I've not seen any gold-bordered ones, so perhaps you could get some printed? There are a few people on LFGSS who could do this for you.

.

Finally we have paint! I spent a full day at Nozy's workshop to get involved with the process, and make a few judgement calls on-the-fly over little details. In the photos, check out the working conditions with the unconventional wiring and piecemeal workshop structure.

Firstly I'll post a close-up of Nozy's MTB frame, which he airbrushed as such:

Now to the Pinarello! After a full sanding of the frame, we masked the chromed sections, i.e. dropout faces, drive-side chainstay plus BB, cable-stops, headset & forks. I did not remove the forks because I couldn't find anyone with the correct sized spanner. The BB and cable stops stayed put for similar reasons.

We mixed the grey primer and applied to the frame using a spray gun. The gun requires a kind of patience and calm, similar to welding/brazing, i.e. a steady and slow path across the frame in even passes at a moderate distance. We applied two or three layers of primer, drying and sanding between each. Notice my fierce concentration and my alarming difference in face/arm skin tone.

. . . .

Next came a black base coat, sprayed in several coats just like the primer. I think the frame looked great in the matte black, which brought out the details of the legwork.

. .

Now for some magic! In the west we call it flip paint, chameleon paint or "paint found on TVRs", but here it's only referred to as "magic paint". And because Kenyans generally eschew prepositions, Nozy was saying "Now we put the magic". And we did, in three coats.

. .

Applying decals and white paint detailing. The detailing was very difficult, as we couldn't source a small enough brush. Nozy improvised using a prong from a traditional Kenyan hand-broom.

.

Finally, three coats of clear-coat. Notice how much it shines! (Compare the BB photo t the one above.) The third photo shows how difficult the detailing was, and the last photo shows Nozy's graffiti-esque air brush signature, complementing the modern feel of the magic paint.

. . .

The frame is currently still at Nozy's workshop, as the clear-coat takes a few days to cure fully. I'll take a full shot of the finished frame in the next few days after I collect it.

Total job cost was about £50, plus another £15 or so for decals sourced from USA.

Depending on my free time, I should have this bike assembled in about two weeks. I'm deeply excited by this! I'm training a fair bit currently as to do the bike justice.

rep!

Having owned a Stelvio, I'm enjoying this thread a lot.

I must admit to being a little apprehensive about your paint plans but, from the pictures above, it looks amazing.

Outstanding!

Total job cost was about £50, plus another £15 or so for decals sourced from USA.

You've definitely got your money's worth for that!

Nice thread this. Fair play. Not sure I'd have let Nozy tag it though.

You've definitely got your money's worth for that!

Yes it was a nice price, considering that the magic paint costs £220/litre. Nozy had some left over from a previous job, conveniently. Still, average wage for people in Eastleigh, Nairobi is £2-5 per day so I think it's a fair deal for all involved.

Nice thread this. Fair play. Not sure I'd have let Nozy tag it though.

I proactively asked Nozy to tag it. I wasn't sure at first, as I initially wanted something similar to the original signature decal on the top tube. Nozy could have attempted this with a paintbrush if we had one, but I think the airbrush tag is quite nice. Also, Nozy used to train a lot with Kinja so there's a link to the heritage.

+1 for the Nozy tag - part of the story of the bike
(This is not a period correct restoration, it's a rejuvenation of a bike that deserves the best that's locally and practically available)

Looking splendid by the way

Amazing paint and brilliant job on the restoration!

A comparison;

Looks gorgeous!

Am really enjoying this, love the story. I have friends going out to Tanzania that would happily take some parts if its feasible to meet up?

Am really enjoying this, love the story. I have friends going out to Tanzania that would happily take some parts if its feasible to meet up?

If they're flying via Nairobi airport then I'd love some tyres! Please PM me if they are.