1998 Kona Kilauea refresh

[KeepItSteel]

I've been looking to put together a mid'ish-range long term rider for a while now (haven't we all?), and so when a 98 Kilauea (631 Reynolds tubing) came up very close to where I live then I couldn't resist.
Promptly picked up it was in as good a condition as I could probably hope for, albeit covered in a real mish-mash of poorly fitted and maintained components - but this was ok as I knew i'd be throwing all my own parts at it in order to get it riding just how I like.

Here she is as collected, bars upsidedown no less, in terrible runinng order and some questionable bits hanging off her. Not enough original parts to make me consider a full catalogue rebuild..

 

[KeepItSteel]

The paintwork whilst dull and dirty was in surprisingly good shape. I knew a deep clean, cut and polish would bring her back to life but first I needed to address some annoying tyre rub and chain suck. Keen to do a good job I spent quite some time in the prep, and doing my best to colour match - this Munificent Mustard is a son of a gun to match though, its like 7 yellows in one!

First job was to remove any surface rust and treat with kurust. Then seal with primer and add a few coats of enamel, allowing ample time to dry inbetween. Fortunately the early hot spring sun helped with curing the paint, prior to careful cutting back to a uniform smooth finish, and sealing with several localised coats of lacquer, again cut back and polished. I am very pleased with the smooth final finish, its certainly smart enough and protected well enough to last at least another 21 years..

The last shot on this post shows the second or third coat of enamel drying. I think I applied 4 or 5 in the end, and the final finish is mirror smooth and blended in with the original paint after cutting it back and polishing. I haven't taken any close ups of the final finish but it may be visible in some of the following images.

 

[KeepItSteel]

The decals were treated to my steadiest hand and finest brush, the colour matching worked out well. Very pleased with how fresh the frame looks once the decals have been touched in and several coats of polish applied.

 

[KeepItSteel]

Next up was to source a few parts to go with the existing ones I had. I was lucky/fortunate enough to have picked up a very clean 97 Cinder Cone last year, which, unfortunately for her ended up providing many period/brand correct bits such as the wheels, seat post etc. I wanted to go with silver finishing kit all along as its my preference in general. I actually much prefer the final colour coding over the original '98 Kilauea black kit.

 

[KeepItSteel]

Next up I put her together enough to get flavour of the final build.. but I do have a curveball up my sleeve...
Isn't she pretty?

 

[KeepItSteel]

Now the part that'll no doubt irritate most of the purists out there.. the Nitto bullhorn bar.
I sourced this for several reasons, partly because this is to be my go to retro bike - and I think they add a big dollop more retro. They're also superbly comfortable, with more sweep and width than most (retro) flat bars provide. They are very stiff too! this is not to be sniffed at, as ive become so used to my modern bikes in recent years I cannot stand noodly handling any more. These bars just ride great.
Other finishing gear includes Smoke/Dart classic combo, M739 rear mech and shifters (best shifters ever made, am so happy to be using them again), and the nice blue X-Lite saddle.. seems to go well with the colour combo, right? What do you guys think about the black saddle in place of the blue? I also have a decent Flite that I could swap in.
The Sharkbites offer me an acceptable platform size, why are retro pedals so bloody small??

The P2s really finished her off. I love the grey front end as a nod to previous year Kona's.

 

[KeepItSteel]

So to wrap this up here are a few attempts at some fancy shots. I hope you like her, im really pleased with the outcome, and am chuffed with how well the finish turned out with a bunch of elbow grease and patience. As ever I've ended up taking what could have been a fairly simple refresh and ended up with a virtual full rebuild, but the end result is pretty much an as new retro rig - and one I loved to stare at in magazines back in '98 just as much as I like to stare at now in my garage

Future plans include fitting a 'Zocchi Z2 Superfly (as seen hanging on the wall in 2nd post) now that ive finally sourced a suitable steerer for it. Looking forward to hitting the trails this summer and a few retro rides with the SE crew.

Cheers!

 

[mk one]

love it

Really like those bars, i think the black saddle looks better or maybe some blue grips to match that saddle. And you did a good job on those decals too

Mark

 

[KeepItSteel]

Thanks for the saddle feedback. Im going to see if I can get used to the black one.

 

[Retro Spud]

The bars were a brave move but actually look okay

On another note - do you regularly go out for a ride up random hills with a full on bike stand ?