Re:
Paul took a massive leap of faith trusting me to give his Benotto 3000 a bit of a spit and polish, he did not know me from Adam. I am delighted he now classes me as a friend, as do I him.
I saw this thread and winced a couple of times at the thought of this classic Italian bike being powder coated or rattle canned.
"Any ideas on best course of action for restoration? Should I strip the paint myself before respraying and will should I go powder coat or diy? Grateful for all and any tips. Ball park figure if I just hand it over to a restorer to do the lot?"
So I PM'd Paul to offer my help, he had a bit of a think and said yes. I arranged to pick the bike up from Paul I think it was on the way back from one of my many trips to Mario Vaz's House of fine paintwork and stinking toilet. We had a chat and got to know each other then Paul told me what he wanted the bike to become. It was then time to put the Benotto in a bike bag and in to the boot of my car, would he ever see it again. Poor Paul.
I have always made things, painted stuff, restored things and would like to think have a fair knowledge of bicycles. When I wanted to go motorcycle racing I built one myself and designed changes to a Japanese engine that even the Japanese got interested in and sent a spy to ask questions and offer to buy my bike from me, 30+ years later we have Moto 3
Anyway I have been restoring/renovating old bikes for myself for a few years now and thought this project may show others what I can do for them. I know I will never make a living out of doing this but I enjoy it and as long as it can feed my addiction of veteran, vintage and classic bikes I will be happy. With Paul's permission I will start a build thread to show you all the pictures I took during this build.
If any of you want a hand getting your old bike back on the road get in touch.