Dating a GT Outpost

[moffyr72]

Had a search but havent managed to find an answer to my query..

Having bought a cheap GT Outpost off ebay (Item number: 19062556815 Im trying to date it. At the moment I havent got as far as the bottom of the bb with paint stripper (although I did get the model name showing) and I think the frame number starts with H?H2??.. Like I said, have to strip back some paint first, but is it possible to identify a year by the decals?
I know it's a taiwanese steel framed base model, (the 'made in taiwan sticker gave that one away ) just trying to find the year as it has a mix of non original components fitted.

Decal Pics can be found: http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/i40 ... 20Outpost/

Ive checked thru the gallery on here but cant pinpoint it.

Cheers

 

[Charlieboy28]

at a guess its 93 or 94 from the little i know, they guys here will soon refine that answer though, if i had to put money on it i would go with 93

 

[Charlieboy28]

can i revise my answer, it came in purple in 1995

http://www.bikepedia.com/quickbike/Bike ... &Type=bike

I think they words all terra either side of GT stopped around 1995 too

 

[Bob]

If the crankset in the pics is the original i'd go with '95 (acera with the plastic bits to make it look like a 5 arm)

 

[moffyr72]

Hmm.. Been out and had a quick look..

Rear mech is an Altus C50 ...suspect original
Front mech is a cheap looking Shimano with no other marking plastic and metal construction.. maybe original
Rear Brake arms are Shimano TY22
Front are off a BSO of some description.. look like really cheap BSO jobbies (as opposed to GT Outlook BSO ones )
Front crank arms say FC-TY21
The unbroken shifter says SL-TY31
Bars are replacement by the look of it
Stem is cheap GT judging by the style of it.. no marking that i can see
Wheels are standard BSO halford specials, Vuelta (?)
1" Headset, 26.8mm Seat stem.

oh and the first bit of the serial is H3H2 got to remove the guide to see the rest

And it's raining.
:cry:

 

[Bob]

Hmmm... pretty safe to say 94/95

 

[moffyr72]

Found it.. http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/mai ... mId=103120 1994 Catalogue. Cobalt Blue

Tempted to look at not painting it but cold bluing it up from bare steel using a Liquid Gun Blue Kit ( http://www.solware.co.uk/shotgun-access ... ance.shtml ) then laquering over the top with a few coats of clear, finishing it off with some GT styled top tube decals saying 'War Finish' and a yellow embossed GT wing headtube badge..

Will stick to standard kit on the bike although I'll use artistic licence on some things..

:roll:

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

1994 Cobalt Blue...Block style decals with the two tone color inside the decal is 1994 model year.

 

[SeeingisBelievingGTMuseum]

Hmm.. Been out and had a quick look..

Rear mech is an Altus C50 ...suspect original
Front mech is a cheap looking Shimano with no other marking plastic and metal construction.. maybe original
Rear Brake arms are Shimano TY22
Front are off a BSO of some description.. look like really cheap BSO jobbies (as opposed to GT Outlook BSO ones )
Front crank arms say FC-TY21
The unbroken shifter says SL-TY31
Bars are replacement by the look of it
Stem is cheap GT judging by the style of it.. no marking that i can see
Wheels are standard BSO halford specials, Vuelta (?)
1" Headset, 26.8mm Seat stem.

Wheels aren't original and I doubt Halfords was selling these back in 1994 as either Carrati or Hot wheels was the distributor then and I believe they were working with more independents than chains back then. The rest of the spec appears to be original as it was a Tourney 31/Altus C50 mix. Only one model lower the Outpost Trail.

oh and the first bit of the serial is H3H2 got to remove the guide to see the rest

And it's raining.
:cry:

 

[jax13]

have you ever used cold blueing kits before??

i'd be very tempted to reconsider because from my experience of trying to do full guns, you can never get a good, consistent finish.

It would look as cool as hell if you could do it but the cold blue kits are only ever really any good for touching up or small repair sections. A mate of mine also tried a pair of barrels from an old 'el chimbo' double hammer .410 and while the finish looked good inside, as soon as it was in natural light it looked terrible.

over the years i've attempted a couple of vintage air rifles & a couple of over lever webley pistols as well as some shotgun barrels to try & get the farm knockabout guns looking a shave tidier but the results were always the same.

if you are going to try it, go for a blueing paste as opposed to a liquid as they do work a bit better from what i've discovered & make sure you cure the frame in plenty of oil for a few days before you clear coat it.

my other concern would be cost. cold blue stuff aint cheap and to do a full frame you would need a fair bit of it, you could probably powdercoat the frame for similar money if you shopped around.

lastly, i'm not sure how big his blueing tank is, but try ringing colin at manchester air guns because his blueing work is second to none. i've seen a few guns & barrels he has done over the years and his work is always stunning, really deep, dark finish & a lot more hard wearing than a lot of factory finishes. if he can fit a frame in his tank (potentially dipping it toptube first then bb shell & downube then seat stays then chain stays) it would be well worth the cash!

good luck with it!