Thursday, January 15, 2015

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Italian Cool!!


1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle After
I recently started work on a 1980's Pinarello, a very cool Italian bicycle.  I don't get to work on Pinarello's very often, I think this would be 14th or 15th and most of those have been modern ones so this is a treat for me.

I frankly have no idea how to date the Pinarello so if anyone has an idea let me know.

The Pinarello is ultra cool is so many ways, the Campagnolo components, the Concor saddle, the paint scheme, the very cool lugs!  The Pinarello is a combination very rough condition and very good condition.  The chrome is in very rough condition, the entire frame has been chromed, the stays and under the paint.  The exposed chrome on the stays and fork is the very rough part.  This is a common problem for chrome done in the 1980's, the chrome was very thin for weight savings consideration, the chrome from the 1970's holds up so much better.

Since the chrome is so bad the best way to handle the chrome is to remove the rust, clean and polish what chrome can be and then treat it so it at least doesn't rust.  New chrome and paint would be awesome but it would be way way to expensive to have the frame chromed.  The best way to go is persevere whats there and just still be extremely cool.  Even in preserved condition the frame is still a 9 out of 10 on the cool scale!

The components are also very cool, Campagnolo Record all around, I think they are Simplex shift levers??, Campagnolo Record wheel hubs and Mavic rims and cool Pinarello Cinelli stem.  The Pinarello will receive a total restoration if considering more of a preservation on the frame and fork chrome.  New cables & cable housings, new tires and tubes and new handlebar tape will be installed.  Along with the new pieces the frame decals will be removed, the paint polished and new decals installed.  Lastly the rear derailleur is an awful Shimano Atlus replacement, a Campagnolo rear derailleur will be installed from the approximate era.

I look very forward to the results of the Pinarello, I think it will really be a nice restoration and the cool factor will be off the charts!

Some of the photos are pretty bad to start with, the overall before photo of the bicycle is unusable.  I figured out somewhere along the way of the Pinarrello what has been wrong with my camera and the photos improve.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Handlebars

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Handlebars & Brake Levers

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Stem

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Cool Cinelli Stem
Pinarello Stamped Logo

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Campagnolo Headset

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Headtube

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Head Badge

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Fork Crown
1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Campagnolo
Brake Caliper

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Fork Decal - Poor Photo

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Poor Fork Chrome

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Campagnolo
Record - Wheel Hub

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Mavic Rim

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Shift Levers

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Saddle & Seat Post

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Seat Lug

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Columbus Decal

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Poor Pinarello Decal

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Campagnolo Crank

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Front Derailleur

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Rear Campagnolo
Brake Caliper

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before
Rear Derailleur Will be Replaced

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Before - Rear Campagnolo
Wheel Hub

With the frame stripped of the components you  can see two things, one, the paint besides being dull and dirty is in fantastic shape and two, the chrome is pretty bad.  I started with the chrome, I removed all the rust with brass wool and a combination of a chrome polish goo or mush I came up with.  The chrome that is there polished very nice, the rust removed pretty good and you can see all of the chrome pitting.  With the chrome polished and rust removed i treat the chrome to prevent rusting.

Now came the very frustrating part and the ton of work and elbow grease.  I removed the old damaged decals with a heat gun and cleaner.  With the decals removed the white paint had a pattern, very bright white where the decals where and very dull stained white where the decals where not.  I worked by hand polishing and cutting the paint, I had to work by hand because all the colors are very thing paint layers and I did not want to cut through the white paint layer.  Eventually I got the white to an even polished finish.

The rest of the frame polished very nicely  I am very happy with the results. 

With the frame polished it was time to install the decals,  The decals are a little old and where maybe one of the hardest I have ever installed.  The decals where very stretchy and flexible, they stretched with hardly and pressure at all.   One of the down tube decals is not perfect at all, there are a some bad spots in it because it stretched so much.  After the first bad one however the rest of the decals turned out very nice, the frame looks fantastic with the new decals, I love it!!

The details in this frame are amazing, the little logos cut in the lugs and in the bottom bracket, the seat lug with the chrome areas, the rear brake bridge is just amazing, that makes for the high cool factor.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before
Head Tube

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Top Tube

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Top Tube

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Head Tube Lug
Very Cool

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Down Tube

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Down Tube
Old Decal

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Lug

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before
Seat Lug

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before
Front Derailleur Hanger

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before
Bottom Bracket

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Bottom Bracket

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Chain Stay Chrome
Rust

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Chain Stay Chrome
Rust

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before - Chain Stay Chrome
Rust

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before
Drop Outs

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before
Old Decal

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Before
Old Decal 
Imprint

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Head Tube Lug

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Down Tube
Decal Area

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Down Tube
Decal Area

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Seat Lug

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Tube - Old Decal

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Front Derailleur Hanger

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Bottom Bracket

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Bottom Bracket

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Lug

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Brake Bridge

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Chain Stay Chrome

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Drop Outs

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Stay Chrome

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Chrome

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Chrome

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Chrome

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Decal Area

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - NOS Deals

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Decals Installed
Beautiful!!

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished - Down Tube
Decal - I stalled - Love It!

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Tube Decals

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Frame Polished
Seat Tube Decals - Installed

The fork chrome is rough also, very rough on the back of the fork blades just above the drop outs.  I removed all the rust, did the polishing and treat it to help prevent rust.  Considering overall the fork came out pretty darn nice, its just a cool fork!  I am happy with the results in the end.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Before - Fork Crown

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Before
Fork Crown

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Before
Fork Decal

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Before
Drop Outs

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Polished - Fork Crown

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Polished - Fork Crown

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Fork Polished
Rust Damage

The headset and bottom bracket are of course Campagnolo and the quality is wonderful.  I cleaned and polished the headset and installed them.  The headset and bottom bracket turned out very nice and spin great!  The bottom bracket has a very nice fitting sleeve because of the cut outs in the frame bottom bracket.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Headset & Bottom Bracket
Pollished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Headset Cups
Pressed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Headset Cups
Pressed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Headset Bearings - Packed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bottom Bracket - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bottom Bracket - Complete

The handlebars and stem are very nice, both are Cinelli.  The stem has a wonderful Pinarello logo stamped in it.  I cleaned and polished the stem and handlebars.  I polished the stem to leave the slight textured finish it has.  Both turned out great and look fantastic installed.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Handlebars - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Stem & Handlebars - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Stem - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Stem - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Stem & Handlebars - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Handlebars - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Stem & Handlebars - Installed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Stem & Handlebars - Installed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Stem & Handlebars - Installed

The Crank is a beautiful Campagnolo.  Campagnolo cranks have a slight textured finish to them, I do not want to loose this texture so I cleaned the crank and then hand polished it.  I prefer to power polish things as it is faster but it is worth keeping the texture.  The crank is beautiful installed against the paint.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Crank - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Crank - Exploded

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Crank - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Crank - Complete

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campanolo Crank
Installed
The saddle is a cool Concor from the 1980's but what is really cool is the Campagnolo seat post with the Pinarello logo stamped in it.  The seat post was in a little bit of a rough shape but after a good deal of cleaning and polishing looks fantastic.  Installed i think this might be my favorite part of the whole bike.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Seat Post - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Seat Post - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Seat Post - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Seat Post - Installed

The brake calipers are very Nice Campagnolo.  The brakes are dirty, dull and have a rough dirty texture to them.  I started by cleaning the calipers and they cleaned very nicely.  I am happy they cleaned well because Campagnolo caliper arms have a finish all of there own and if they did not come back with cleaning it would need to be polished away.  With the caliper arms cleaned I did not need to completely disassemble them, I could just flush and lubricate the brakes and then polish the hardware on the power polisher.  Installed the calipers installed sure make the Pinarello!!

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Calipers - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Calipers - Befoer

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Calipers - Exploded

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Calipers - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Calipers - Compelte

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Caliper
Installed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Caliper
Installed
 The front derailleur is a very nice Campagnolo, it is in okay starting shape, after polishing it looks great.  Hanging from the chrome frame hanger the caliper looks fantastic, I love the results!

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Derailleur - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Derailleur - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Derailleur - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Derailleur - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Derailleur - Installed

The rear derailleur that was on the Pinarello must have been put on it after some damage, it is a really crappy Shimano Acera from a Mountain bike.  A replacement Campagnolo derailleur was found from approximately the correct time period.  I cleaned and hand polished the rear derailleur to preserve the finish it has.  The derailleur turned out very nice except for the grease stains in the greay jockey wheels but that is okay and looks great installed.  So much better then the Shimano derailleur.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Shimano Derailleur & Replacement
Campagnolo Derailleur

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Campagnolo Derailleur - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Exploded

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Complete

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Derailleur - Installed

I think the shift levers are Simplex if I remember correctly, I think they are considered the best friction shift levers ever made if they are the correct ones.  I cleaned and polished the shift levers all by hand to preserve the finish.  I am actually a little tired of the Campagnolo alloy finish because hand work is a lot of work.  Installed the levers look great, wish I remembered to take the photo.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Shift Levers - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Shift Levers - polished

Brake levers are Campagnolo with replacement Dura Ace lever hoods.  The hoods are in really good shape for there age, with some cleaning with my secret formula they look fantastic and a coat of baby powder will help keep them clean.  The Dura Ace brake hoods where definitely worth saving even if they are not the correct match because they are just cool!

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Brake Levers - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Brake Levers Cleaned & polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Brake Levers - Installed

Below is a photo of the main body components complete, Beautiful!!  Or should I say bello, bello!!

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle So Far

The pedals are nice Campagnolo, there is some damage to the toe clips so they will not be installed now.  The pedals cleaned, polished and oil very nice, a very nice look.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Pedals - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Pedals - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Pedals - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Pedals - Complete
Wheels are next, the wheels are very nice Campagnolo hubs with Mavic black/gray rims.  I cleaned the hubs and they polished beautifully!  I then cleaned and polished all the wheel hub components and packed the bearings, the hubs turned out perfect and spin silky smooth.

I soaked the wheel hubs in a military grade penetrating oil that I forget the name of, if anyone wants to know the name just email me.  The spokes then worked very well in truing.  I have also recently came up with a great way to make spokes look new, I did that and the spokes look great.  Lastly I polished the rims by hand and installed the new Continental Ultra Sport tires, what a look installed, very mean looking!!

The freewheel took an odd ball freewheel remover tool that I have, its a Park Tool, I buy any freewheel to I come across that I don't already have because you never know what you will run into.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Wheel - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Freewheel - Removed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Old Grease

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Wheel Hub - Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Wheel - Bearings Packed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Wheel Axle Components
Cleaned & Polished

1980's Pinarello Restoration - New Continental
Ultra Sport Tires

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Rear Wheel Complete

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Wheel
Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Wheel Rim - Before

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Wheel - Old Grease

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Polsihed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Wheel Hub - Bearings Packed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Front Wheel Complete

Wheels complete, what a look!  The Pinarello looks like its going 35 MPH standing still on the stand!!

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Wheels Complete
What a Look!!
Last thing I did yesterday before closing shop for the day was install the new cables 7 housings and the handlebar tape.  I choose the Ice Gray cable housings, I seem to choose this color housing all the time now because it just goes good with everything!  The Ice Gray again looks perfect on a another bike!

The handlebar tape is a synthetic leather looking tape, it looks perfect for the era of the Pinarello and I have always like the white brake lever hoods with the black handlebar tape.

I also cleaned and installed the saddle at this time and it looks great.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - New Bits & Pieces

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Handlebar Tape - Installed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Handlebar Tape - Installed

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Saddle Installed

Below is another photo of the Pinarello so far.  Tomorrow I go over the freewheel and install the chain and then final photos.  I love the photo below!


1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Almost Complete
Today I finished the Pinarello, I only needed to go over the freewheel and install the chain.  With them installed I stand tuned the Pinarello and it feels very well tuned on the stand, I so wish I could test ride the Pinarello but with our snow cover and wet salty roads I will not take it out in it.

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Freewheel & Chain - Complete

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete

I wish the final photos could be outside and I apologize for the crappy light but I got to take what I can get in winter.  The Pinarello is beautiful!!  It looks like its going 35 MPH sitting still!  The black walls and black handlebar tape really give it a mean look.  This is going to be a really nice and very cool rider for someone!  It reminds of the old AMX car that I can't think of the model name that they painted red, white and blue, which was made in the area I grew up in Kenosha, WI.

The components really restored nice and the new decals make all of the difference, I love it!!

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Handlebars

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Head Badge

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Campagnolo
Front Brake

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Front Campagnolo
Record Wheel Hub

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Mavic Front Rim

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Awesome Cinelli Stem

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Campagnolo Headset

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Shift Levers

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Front Half

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Concor Saddle

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Campagnolo Seat Post

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
New Pinarello Decal

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Drive Train

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Campagnolo Crank

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Campagnolo
Front Derailleur

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Campagnolo Rear
Brake Caliper

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete
Campagnolo Rear Derailleur

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Chain Stay Chrome

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Campagnolo Record
Rear Wheel Hub

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Mavic Rear Wheel
Rim

1980's Pinarello Restoration - Bicycle Complete - Rear


5 comments:

  1. Beautiful result on this restoration. I'm just getting started on a 1989 Pinarello Montello with the spumoni paint. I have a couple of questions for you. Did your frame have a clear coat over the decals. What products did you use to polish the paint and remove the imprints from the old decals?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello

      The frame did not have a clear coat over the decals. Mainly a lot of elbow grease to remove the decals. Just got to go carefully and use soap water peeling a bit at a time.

      Thank you for the interest.

      Delete
  2. John, incredible job. I love it. You catured the original essence of the bike. Can i ask, do you have any more detail about how you got the chrome so clean and shiny (chemicals and tools), much appreciated,

    Richard (London, UK)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think those might be Gipiemme Crono Sprint levers. Also, if you have one lying around, the correct rear deraileur for that set is a super record. You can see that frame (Treviso) in the 1984 Pinarello catalog. There was a dura ace version, which is what Alexi Grewal rode to olympic gold that year, and a production version that was all pinarello pantographed campy super record. It's a super sweet bike.

    ReplyDelete