Orange P7 Nickel Finish Options....

[abr303]

After some advice if possible please.... ok I’m pretty surprised that I’ve been able to pull back the finish on my P7 as well as it has turned out despite thinking the frame was beyond doing due to heavy amounts of rust and corrosion especially around some of the welds and bottom bracket areas in particular....
My quandary is now is what to do about protecting the finish as I don’t want it rusting again as I’ll be using the bike as much as I can hopefully
I was initially going to have it powder coated and still thinking about doing this but in a chrome like finish as this is potentially lined up with a specialist powder coating firm to do but I know it won’t look as good compared to the ‘naked’ finish....
The other option is to just clear coat it or can I not worry about future corrosion issues and rust by simply using waxes to protect the metal surfaces....
So my question really is what have other P7 owners done and their reasons for or not for doing what they have.....?

 

[ishaw]

That looks really tidy. You could get it clear powder coated.

 

[rwm1962]

I've had mine over a year - just polished, no clear coat etc & it still looks good. May not have been the case if it had been ridden a lot. Powder coaters can do a clear coat or a silver finish. Orange had a stirling silver finish in the range a year or so go back & I know Powder Shack could do a similar finish. If it was mine I think I'd leave it & if it wasn't staying rust free with normal tlc I'd go for as nickel look powder coat as I can with a clear coat on top. I think that would be a more durable finish than just clearcoat. Or silver with clearcoat - a finish used on P7's before & after the nickel one

 

[grey-beard]

After some advice if possible please.... ok I’m pretty surprised that I’ve been able to pull back the finish on my P7 as well as it has turned out despite thinking the frame was beyond doing due to heavy amounts of rust and corrosion especially around some of the welds and bottom bracket areas in particular....
My quandary is now is what to do about protecting the finish as I don’t want it rusting again as I’ll be using the bike as much as I can hopefully
I was initially going to have it powder coated and still thinking about doing this but in a chrome like finish as this is potentially lined up with a specialist powder coating firm to do but I know it won’t look as good compared to the ‘naked’ finish....
The other option is to just clear coat it or can I not worry about future corrosion issues and rust by simply using waxes to protect the metal surfaces....
So my question really is what have other P7 owners done and their reasons for or not for doing what they have.....?

It looks great.
Can I ask which process you used to polish it up?
I was going to use car wax on mine after a new set of decals, I'm just having a few issues getting rid of some marks at the moment.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Might be the shiniest looking of all the very shiny P7s on here!

Would also be curious to hear what route you took...

Seems like there are a few people on here at the moment polishing up some formally shiny frames.

Lot of techniques and variations on a theme floating around and I'm enjoying reading about them all.

 

[abr303]

Thanks guys, to be honest it was in a bit of a state and pretty unloved when I received it and was simply going to just send it away for powder coating ....
The process was slow but has worked very well in the end....
I’m use to dealing and polishing aluminium so it’s been a learning curve. Paint stripper ( the cheap stuff from screw fix works really well) is great for taking off any lacquer. Once any old decals are removed GT85 and the fine stainless steel scourers you can buy for kitchen cleaning etc are the ticket apply plenty of GT85 and use the scourer to remove the surface rust etc. Don’t need to scrub hard or you risk removing the nickle finish but you’ll be surprised how effective this method is. I also used a dremel for awkward areas again using GT85 and a fine wire wheel I find Autosol is a good polish as it’s a more ‘gritty’ paste and more abrasive I find for polishing up on still/chromoly etc and works well for me compared to other polishes I use normally for aluminium. You will still have little areas of pitting etc that you’ll not get rid of but the over all finish is a huge improvement. I may still get mine powder coated but have not decided yet

 

[Tootyred]

I would suggest the age old " oily rag" it work on all my classic bikes etc. Just a thin film. Or even better acf50 on a rag. That normally lasts 6 months a coat.....or until you wash it. But i never wash bikes......just keep wiping them over.

 

[stocko]

I done this one a couple of months ago

 

[Joe*Pro]

My nickle P7 has never been ridden in the wet, always been kept in the dry, appears to have a thin clear coat of something on it by previous owner, YET STILL it has started to have spots of corrosion around areas where the clear coat has flaked off a little.

The issue then is how do you tidy up just those bits rather than have to strip and redo the whole frame every couple of years ?

 

[hamster]

The clearcoat is standard.
A little spot cleaning to remove the corrosion, then WD40 or a silicone spray to repel water.