95 Kilauea - Rebuild and refresh - Finished! 18/10/09

[95explosif]

My first retro MTB project!

When I first found this site I had a severe hankering to recreate my 95 Explosif that I sold when I went to University. I couldn't find one so any early/mid nineties nice Kona steel frame would have to do...

Picked up this Kilauea from the site

So excited when it arrived only to find:

Great! After a lot of thinking (and good advice from here) I doused the post in caustic soda and after a few goes and most of a day the seatpost had dissolved enough to be able to remove it as slivers of alloy.

A thorough clean up of the seattube and the rest of the frame, sell some of the unwanted bits, and a trip to the powdercoaters I now have this:

I think the amount of Pearl in the paint is just about right. I have a nice set of decals thanks to Gil to apply.

In the time I was waiting for the frame to be coated I purchased a few bits and pieces to complement the build.

I salvaged a pair of Hope wheels from a friend's garage, unused and unloved and stripped and refurbed a pair of Judy SL's from Ebay once I'd managed to find a steerer of a decent length.

So, yesterday evening I tentatively hung a few bits from the frame.

Next steps: Get the BB in, get the headset in and start the build proper!

 

[bduc61]

lovely start

when a frame is "resurrected" from a poor condition, it is always a joy to watch it.
This is most of the purpose of this site : give a longer life to good quality craftmanship

 

[Skeelsie]

Nice work on the seatpost removal.

Like the pearl powder coat too, very smart.

 

[8lezard]

 

[sunchaser]

Looks like the start of a very good project

 

[Anthony]

That's good work, and it's going to be a great bike to ride. It is in fact a 1995 frame, but pretty much identical to the 1994 as far as I'm aware.

The last Kona to be made with a Tange tubeset. They had used Tange Prestige Concept ever since 1990, first on the Explosif from 1990-92 and then on the Kilauea from 1993 to 95.

 

[meyekel]

Nice one! That powdercoat looks great, you're right, just the right amount of pearl to it. I have a 95 Kilauea and know you've got me thinking about getting it rebuilt proper!

 

[philleeds]

Yep love it....and love the fact you persisted with getting the seat post out yourself....respect

 

[ovlov440]

Take care when you refit the seapost - the saddle is mounted the wrong way round (USE logo should be facing forward). Lovely looking machine though - I think plain white or black look classy and timeless (mine is plain black BTW )

Ade

 

[fingers]

Hmmm I like the look of this!