Fausto Coppi project - a tale of unsticking techniques

I can’t quite believe it, but a Coppi that I bought off here last November is now up and running. I didn’t have a lot of time to work on it given the demands of a baby and house renovations took priority over dicking around with bikes and when I did work on it, it presented a lot of problems. However, after a lot of swearing and heinous chemicals it is finally rolling. It’s one of the Columbus Genius frames with mostly Campag Chorus bits. I had one of these up til about 6 years ago, when I concertina’d it in a crash with a Ford Escort. I’ve been looking for a replacement ever since, and finally found a frame and forks separately which had both been resprayed dodgy colours, so I got them restored to the right palette, then of course a full bike came up at a good price.

However, what the seller didn’t say/didn’t know was that the 30cm seatpost and the stem were fused in the frame. With the seatpost, as well as the usual basic tactics I tried Plusgas, a slide hammer, ammonia and an 18” monkey wrench. I’d never tried the slide hammer approach and I don’t think it was at all effective despite some youtube videos endorsing it as an approach. It was probably the combination of the ammonia and the wrench that did the trick. Obviously I was not giving it all the beans with the wrench so as not to damage the tubing.

The stem was more of a bugger in some ways and easier in others. It was an quill to ahead adapter so it wasn’t possible, nor indeed really desirable, to exert any twisting force, so I just sawed off most of what protruded above the steerer tube and stuck the forks upside down in a jar of strong caustic soda solution. That was fun and the reaction looks like this:
https://vimeo.com/226446381

I covered the painted sections of the forks to avoid getting chemicals splashing directly on to the paint.

In terms of the actual build, I cant say I have changed a lot from how it was when I got it since my main efforts have been in getting stuck bits unstuck and then tuning everything up but I did replace the bars with some NOS Cinellis and put on a quill stem to restore a look more in keeping with the bike’s age. I’ll get a more respectable seatpost in due course. The rest of it is fine as is and the colour-matched USPS seat is a nice touch.

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I have one of these too , similar build to yours. Really nice frames to ride.

Indeed! I was most upset when I crashed my previous one. Certainly looking forward to riding it at last though I will have to try and find some time for weekend rides as it is not a bike I want to use for something as mediocre as the commute.

I have a similar Lugano 53 from mid nineties. Built it with a 11 speed Ultegra and used it 3 weeks ago to ride the Gran Fondo Fausto Coppi in Cuneo, Italy. Great bike, climbs like a goat. :-)

I had one of those saddles. I do not envy you.