Re:
Little update on the Magical Mystery Kili then..
I dropped Saracen an email with the serial number from the frame in an effort to pinpoint exactly what this started life as. There's a slim chance I might get something useful - Kona have given me an obscure seatpost size in the past. Both companies went a bit, well, sh*te - though Kona remained great for years while Saracen were a laughing stock from pretty much the year after this was made onwards! Fingers crossed on that one..
Tonight I had an hour or so spare and my 2000/3000 grit sandpaper arrived, so I spent some time polishing. It's certainly quite a satisfying process when it starts to shine, but I've never gone overboard with it. I'm always reading about people spending hours on end, but I tend to think if something's worth a whole day it's worth a powder coat session or paying someone else to polish!
Anyway to each his own, if I was draping this with XTR I might do different. I'm not a massive fan of polished aluminium, it's one of those divisive things like purple anodising. It's just the option that's presenting itself cheaply really. Still, I'm getting a kick out of how it brings out the weld details cleanly - I'm an engineer and we get off on this stuff!
Here is the result, hopefully with better photos too:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143876150 ... 6219941152
It's dull in places since I can't properly clean all the remnants of Brasso/Autosol off this late in the evening. I may noodle around polishing a bit more tomorrow, but it's more or less where I want it.
My question to Retrobike now is this: Do I leave it bare or rub it down with alcohol and lacquer it?