...........update time.
.....well what a day, been to see mark and tim at Argos in bristol, today, and good news, the frame as far as they can see, is going to be ok, i was right in thinking there should have been drain holes in the front forks, and the forks will have to be drilled and treated internally, the front brake bosses are indeed bent, but also thankfully can be saved, the corrosion to the frame, they feel is surface, and in there book not too bad.
it has been a pleasure to talk to mark, hes responce was brilliant, "ah dave lloyd ive got a 653 road frame", was his first remark, and he was very keen!!! this couldnt have been a better responce for me to hear,it made me feel like, a lot of care would be taken, when working on the frame.
as per my first thoughts, he suggested tracking and checking the frame in the jig, to ensure all is well before going too far, which i felt was certainly the right way to go. after talking for about half an hour about the frame, we then got onto the history of dave lloyd, wow, was he good in his day, i have learnt a lot today, and am getting far too over excited for a bloke of my age.........lol.
mark then asked my thoughts for painting the frame, and my first option was to do it myself, ........mmmmmmmmmmm, its very hard to think this when on the wall beside me was a wall of frames all perfectly finished, and awaiting collection by there owners, he then proceeded to tell me, of the the options i could have, and even supply me with genuine reynolds 753 stickers if the frame was refinished by them. god this guy new how to press my buttons..............lol, and also showed me, around the place and all the options, including sum classic road stuff, indy fabs, fat chance, kona, and even an entire fleet of custom painted police bikes, all of which they have done.
because i have still got sum work to finish on my cannondale, and kona, and the fact that i can be furnished with sum original reynolds 753 decals, i decided to let them refinish the frame back to its original glory.
the wait will be normally quite long , but as they could see , how passionate i had become over it, and a tad schoolboy excited..........lol, they did say that once i had made my mind up over the paint scheme, they would do there best to get it finished for my birthday in november.
the question for me now is how do i have it painted?