Alan Carbonio Restoration

[VelourFog]

Hi all, I've been lucky to have been given what I think is an Alan Carbonio but am unsure of the year if anyone is able to hazard a guess based on the pictures? I'm thinking about clear coating/varnishing the carbon parts of the frame to give a bit of UV protection and stop the stickers peeling but was wondering if this would devalue the bike?

 

[stefthehat]

Re:

I work in carbon/spray trade ,If bike ‘prepped’ correctly laquer will give a bit of ‘depth’ visually to the carbon and would give some protection to decals and tube itself though always a possibility of the solvents ‘lifting’ the transfers,despite what they might say most rattlecan laquers have no u.v protection and likewise most 2k spray gun laquers[clearcoats],uv filter clear coats to give protection and shine to metallic sprayjobs[think TGV polychromatic finish ]on cars are often incredibly expensive ,if over time the carbon has a slight yellow/green tinge that’s permanent and due to to effect of u.v on the resin

 

[VelourFog]

Thank you, that's rely helpful advice about most sprays not really giving any UV protectio . I've been able to source decal packs from Alan, so i think I'll try prepping the frame and giving it a spray with lacquer and if the decals peel I can always buy some new ones and stick them on top.

 

[stefthehat]

Re:

I’ve seen u.v protection on outside of some rattlecans from carbody suppliers which are usually a better quality than Halfords etc but it’s still only going to be cellulose spray and struggle to see it having genuine u.v protection ,old decals were often very thin and not vinyl like almost all from past 20 yrs ,rattlecans often worst for solvent as paint needs to be v v thin to be powered by the aerosol,2k is still thinned down but compresser gives the ‘oomph’ to get spray out ,you might get away whichever you use if you let the initial coats dry before doing the next and certainly let the first cpl be v light ,they will dry and leave a ‘skin’ over the decals ,only try and get a ‘wet’ finish with much later coats once the first few have dried ,heavy coats can lead to the ‘pickling up ‘of edge of decals ,I would think rattle can are over 50% solvent ,if you have one near you it’s worth going in to talk to a proper car body materials supplier [the kind that knock up paints for the trade]

 

[hamster]

I would suggest to spray a marine varnish for UV protection. They aren's cheap but you won't be doing the job twice.