Olmo Competition '87-'89 frame & forks restoration questions

[ConorD]

Hi all,
Long post alert!
I've got a lovely Olmo Competition from the late eighties. Columbus SL tubing with beautiful lugs, and it came with a Shimano Ultegra 600 groupset. It's seen a lot of use and it's time to get it looking good again, and protect it so it'll see another 3 decades

The chrome has done well to protect the steel, but frame and forks have begun to rust. Ideally, I'd like to strip away the paint and rust, rechrome it (fully this time rather than from behind the downtube back) and respray. I've already got replacement decals.
To make sure that it's done right and i don't waste time & money, I've a few questions before I embark on the strip down and restoration. I appreciate any info that anyone has:
1) The frame is definitely Olmo as it has pantographing and Olmo lugwork. I bought the bike secondhand in 1990 so I'm not sure about the forks. The forks are chromed, have nice lugwork and had Columbus decals, but are not pantographed. In common with my frame, they have no mudguard eyelets. Most of the Olmo forks that I've seen have either the Olympic Star or signature Olmo pantographed into them. I've seen a couple of Olmo bikes with Chrome forks and no pantographing, but I don't know if those forks were genuine either. Does anyone know if Olmo made bikes with non-pantographed forks in the late 1980's? Also, I like the pantographed look, so if anyone has Olmo chromed pantographed forks from that period, I'd be interested in buying them (if the headset size matches).
2) The top tube has had a small dent in the side for years. Is there any way of removing the dent prior to strip down and rechroming? If not, it's small enough that I think I could fill it in unobtrusively.
3) What's the best way to strip off paint & rust and then fill in any resulting pock marks prior to rechroming? The existing good chrome doesn't all need to go, just the paint & rust. I don't know if a chemical dip, some kind of blasting, or manual sanding is best for removal, or if any of these are a definite no-no for these frames. Then I'd need a filler that can take a chrome layer on top. Alternatively, if anyone here on RetroBikes does this work or knows of any companies that do this work well, please let me know.
4) I'm missing a small metal cable guide under the bottom bracket that was probably brazed onto the frame there. It's a simple small cube shape with a hole through it (less than 5mm/side). If anyone knows of anywhere that sells these, or replaces these, please reply too.
5) Lastly - for anyone who has done this - is restoring this a bit nuts? Will it just end up costing a lot more than the bike is worth and not end up as good as the original anway?! Should I just keep going on it as is until the frame breaks (I hope not :cry: )?
Thanks and Best Regards,
ConorD

 

[allenh]

Hi Conor.

No you're not nuts thinking about restoring it, doing it yourself can be very enjoyable and educational but you might want to re think what you want to do exactly.

Make sure you're sitting down when you get a quote for the chroming, only the bits that are showing and not covered with paint tend to be chromed because its bloody expensive. And any metal to be chromed needs to be just that metal, so no rust, no old chrome or other contaminants and any dents need to be out or filled with metal. So unless you can braze or are happy to spend a lot you might want to rethink that. Also bike tube is very thin in the middle so whoever chromes it needs to know what they are doing when it comes to the polishing as they can ruin your frame with over zealous machine polishing.

The cable guide will need to be brazed on and ideally by a frame maker for the same reason as above (thin tubing)

For the last frame I thought about having re chromed fully I was quoted £500 for the frame and forks (£300 frame/£200 Forks) I don't know how indicative of the market that is but in my case it did convince me that paint was all that was needed

 

[ConorD]

Thanks very much for your reply allenh.
I was expecting those kind of prices alright, so you can see why I'd like to make sure that Olmo did make non-pantographed forks before I spend good money to get these rechromed!
I wasn't going to braze in the dent or all of the little pock marks. I think that using "Lab metal" or equivalent should work well (see http://www.alvinproducts.com/FAQs/agent ... /FAQ-ID/58 ) . Using something like this paste would allow me to tackle the frame myself, and bit by bit rather than all in one go.
Also, I understand that old chrome can be chromed over - is that contrary to some information that you have? Maybe that requires a process that most chromer plating shops can't implement. It would be a pity if I did have to remove it as it has done an admirable job of keeping rust at bay under the paint. The bike has a lot of chrome under paint, so it's for protection rather than for show.
Is my understanding of both of these all wrong?!

If I can find someone who can strip the frame and apply silver solder correctly to the pits, that would be great.
If I can't...then maybe I should learn & start providing that service myself!
Thanks again,
ConorD

 

[allenh]

I do get your worry becasue you want it right and it's a lot of money if not. I was a bit shocked at the price having not had anything chromed for a good few years but if that's the going rate then that's the going rate,

I'd wondered myself about the various metal fillers and epoxies but assumed they would have to be electrically conductive for any electroplating to work with them but the manufacturer should be able to tell you that.

Old chrome yes I can't see why you cant plate over it if the old plating is good as it will obviously be conductive but I would expect it would need to be polished so there were no edges or lips from corrosion and lifting that would show through on the finished article.

Mine had old chrome on it and was pretty corroded and marked but they plater didn't seem worried about any of it.

Anyway good luck with it and I'd love to hear and see how you get on with it.