1996 Orange P7 Nickel

[Dossa]

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My third segment of Orange comes way of big burner's Nickel P7...

The one as seen in this thread:

viewtopic.php?p=1381270

Great looking frame - I'd love a nickel P7 as my 2012 project...

^... and so my wish came true!

Hoping to turn it into a fast commuter and will base the spec around the M-739 groupset. There seems to a be few P7's floating around at the moment, both here and on eBay, and I was dying to get stuck into a new project so this fitted the bill perfectly. Plenty of nickel P7's on here as well so I've certainly got enough reference material at hand, too, but will still need to pick the brains of the Orange-ettes on here no doubt!

Frame number is A603 02318 which makes it a March '96 made frame, but all the info from Anthony in the original thread suggest a '97 model so I'll rest on the fence on refer to it as a 96/97 P7 from now on.

Frame was in very good condition overall, no dings, dents or scratches and is super shiny under the tatty lacquer. No forks, so will be on the look out for either: F7 forks, RC-30 or RC-35's - whichever comes my way first I suppose!

Frame as received-

....couldn't help myself and started polishing up the tatty seatpost within 2 minutes of receiving the frame

Matty :mrgreen:

 

[Dossa]

I knew I had a review of the P7 lurking somewhere and just dug it out:

MBUK December 1995

 

[Dossa]

Stripped the bike yesterday as well, here she is in the buff

Started work on removing the lacquer on the seatstays, too.

 

[Dossa]

No fancy chemicals were used, just....er,,... some run-of-the-mill kitchen foil (an old wives tip!)

Quick demo on the seat tube:

Start scrubbing for a few seconds:

Hopefully, you can see it shine up already:

Takes a lot longer, obviously, to completely remove the lacquer but I'll be doing the whole frame this way (no laughing!) Nitromars will probably do the job a hundred times quicker but it's very theraputic (..ahem..) doing it with old-fashioned elbow grease!

A quick question--

Is re-lacquering essential to keep the nickel plating shiny, or just a regular polish and wax? Will be used for road use only so it's not like it'll take a hammering...

Matty

 

[Archemist]

nice one

amongst my favourite of the 90's orange frames

kipping on the sofa here

And

 

[Mossy]

Hi

Looking forward to your P7 build - good luck.

Great tip using the kitchen foil. Just water?

Any chance of some hi res scans of the mbuk p7 review in the magazine section as I would love to have a read. I suspect that's how mine use to be.

Regards.

 

[Dossa]

Yep, kitchen foil (use the shiny side) and a dab of warm water on it...and a fair bit of elbow grease. It won't scratch or harm the nickel plating at all.

Re the review: I'm scanner-less I'm afraid, hence the iffy pics

Hopefully, someone else will be a able to scan it for you? Vol 8 No. 12 by the way...

Matty

 

[warpedboy2]

Had a 96 frame back in the day (and sold it, regretted it ever since). So I got a 95 bike at the end of september last year, and have been using it as my commuter (mostly offroad ) ever since. absolutly love it to pieces, and have been steadly buying parts for it for a complete rebuild at some point.

As for the lacquer, you'll need to get it done as the nickle rusts up well.

Enjoy your fettling

 

[Anthony]

Re: New build: 1996/97 Orange P7 Nickel

Frame number is A603 02318 which makes it a March '96 made frame, but all the info from Anthony in the original thread suggest a '97 model so I'll rest on the fence on refer to it as a 96/97 P7 from now on.

I notice that the bike in the test, which is what I take to be a 96 model, has a canti bridge but similar decals to yours. Can you see in the photos whether the minor stickers, like the tubeset one on the seat tube, are the same as yours?

 

[Dossa]

Re: New build: 1996/97 Orange P7 Nickel

Frame number is A603 02318 which makes it a March '96 made frame, but all the info from Anthony in the original thread suggest a '97 model so I'll rest on the fence on refer to it as a 96/97 P7 from now on.

I notice that the bike in the test, which is what I take to be a 96 model, has a canti bridge but similar decals to yours. Can you see in the photos whether the minor stickers, like the tubeset one on the seat tube, are the same as yours?

It's difficult to precisely make out, Anthony, but they both look to have the same 'Series 8 micro butted' seat tube decal (mines all but faded away...) The decals are of course different - BLOCK CAPS style in the mag and lower case style on mine (I prefer the block caps ones to be honest).

Looks to be a standard front mech clamp in the mag whereas mine requires an e-type mech. Also, as you say, no canti bridge on mine - meant for V's instead.

The head tube logos also seem to vary on the P7 - from an actual 'P7' type to an 'O' type.

Couple more questions:

Does requiring an E-type front mech restrict my options in choosing a mech? (in other words, are they as readily available?)

I'd prefer to run canti's given the choice - what are my options there? A canti bridge guide of some type?

Decal dilemma - keep the current style which is appropriate for a '96 model, or opt for the ones I slightly prefer - the 1995 ones?



EDIT: lacquer off now and polished with Autosol and waxed with Turtle Wax

...and some very nice decals off Gil (quelle surprise...!)
Decided to go for the 1995 "Block caps" ones in the end over the original ones simply as I prefer the look of them. '95 was the last year of great Orange decals in my 'umble opinion! Have the odd pang of guilt in not keeping the bike 'decal-correct' but when you think of P7's you think of these decals (...well I do!).

Oh, and continuing the citrus theme, I picked up my umpteenth Orange shirt today as well! Not particularly relevant to the build but here's a nice pic anyway... (if anyone has a 1995ish 'Planet' Orange jersey in a Large for sale, then let me know....)