# A vintage Bianchi back on the road...



## alaris (Nov 8, 2008)

It has taken an obscene amount of work but here she is. I found the frame for sale locally and did all the work myself. The previous owner stripped the original Celeste and repainted it with some ugly paint. So, I ordered a vial touch up Celeste from Bianchi USA and had it matched at a local auto paint store. They did a very good job matching the paint and....

After stripping, epoxy primer, sanding primer, sealer and then the custom matched paint I finally was able to achieve the end result. Yes, it is not 'original', but it does have a full Campagnolo groupset. I thought I'd show you all my work. I am _very_ proud of it...





























On the followign pic, you can see the "Bianchi" on the seatstays. That took me some doing, but I thought it looked pretty nice...










Another pic with some extra work. You can see the work on the lugs and also on the seatpost. I filled the flutes on the setpost with green/white/red from the Italian flag. I thought it looks pretty cool...



















I realize my bike is far from original. However, I learned a great deal from working on it. I did all the paint work myself and I am quite pleased with the results. The paint is single stage acrylic urethane and it required a very slick surface which took some time to achieve. The components are all brand new Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed. I have had the bike on the road a few times and it is very nice indeed - it is very quick and it climbs very nicely. The previous owner had no idea what he had and I got it for a song. I took it to my LBS the other day and got quite a few nods for it.


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## bane (Aug 30, 2006)

Way cool. Looks like it was a fun project.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Wow.....outstanding...that looks fantastic.........even if the group isn't original, it is silver........ great job


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## alaris (Nov 8, 2008)

bane said:


> Way cool. Looks like it was a fun project.


Indeed it was. I learned a great deal and with the proper tools it can be a lot of fun to paint a frameset. I am looking for other vintage steel to fix up... 

thanks!


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

alaris said:


> Indeed it was. I learned a great deal and with the proper tools it can be a lot of fun to paint a frameset. I am looking for other vintage steel to fix up...
> 
> thanks!



what sprayer did you use?


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## alaris (Nov 8, 2008)

Dave Hickey said:


> Wow.....outstanding...that looks fantastic.........even if the group isn't original, it is silver........ great job


Indeed. I struggled with the colour. At the time I bought the gruppo, there was a flat black Veloce. However, I thougth the silver was more appropriate.

The stem took a lot of work. i wanted to keep this "in the family" and when I found the right Bianchi stem I had to have it.

The seatpost is the only part I kept from the original bike. That and the seatpost adjustment screw. It took quite a bit of polishing on a high speed polisher to get it to shine, but it was worth it.


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## alaris (Nov 8, 2008)

Dave Hickey said:


> what sprayer did you use?


The paint gun is a DeVilbiss HVLP gun with an adjustable pressure regulator and matching nozzle. I had to use two types of nozzles: one for the sanding primer and another one (smaller) for the epoxy primer and single stage urethane.


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## Richard (Feb 17, 2006)

Beautiful. A co-worker of mine has an original Campione d'Italia in Celeste. I keep ragging on him to "restore" it, especially since Cyclomondo has all the necessary replacement decals.

I particularly like the all "shiny silver" alloy grouppo. Now, to nit pick. Get a nice Cinelli (or 3T or ITM or Nitto) silver quill stem.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

Richard said:


> Beautiful. A co-worker of mine has an original Campione d'Italia in Celeste. I keep ragging on him to "restore" it, especially since Cyclomondo has all the necessary replacement decals.
> 
> I particularly like the all "shiny silver" alloy grouppo. Now, to nit pick. Get a nice Cinelli (or 3T or ITM or Nitto) silver quill stem.


Another vote for that. Such a beautiful paint job!--but the bars and stem gots to go.


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## kiwisimon (Oct 30, 2002)

Great restoration. Bet it rides really well too. How much frame prep did you need to do before the first primer coats. How many layers of top coat and clear did you apply? Again well done, love the painted flutes.


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## alaris (Nov 8, 2008)

kiwisimon said:


> Great restoration. Bet it rides really well too. How much frame prep did you need to do before the first primer coats. How many layers of top coat and clear did you apply? Again well done, love the painted flutes.


Frame prep took some time to do. After the frame was media blasted it was epoxy primed, followed by several coats of sanding primer. It takes a lot of time to get all the tubing really smooth but it was fun. All the inside tubes were coated with FrameSaver - I highly recommend that for anyone with a steel tubed frameset.

You ask about layers of paint. I did not use base/clear. Instead I opted for a single stage acrylic urethane. There are several coats each applied after the paint achieved its flash point and then let to dry in the sun for several days. Single stage is very nice to work with and when applied properly it has a very, very nice shine. 

Finally: I do appreciate all the replies. And yes, I agree with you all: the stem and the handlebars have to go. I bought these just for kicks but yes, they do look bad and I think either a nice Cinelli or 3T woudl be more appropriate. I might work on that this winter...


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

Wow- that`s a killer job, Alaris. I take it that was your first bike restoration? If it was, you`re really batting a thousand. Have you done auto painting before, or did you just study up on it and go for it?


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## alaris (Nov 8, 2008)

rodar y rodar said:


> Wow- that`s a killer job, Alaris. I take it that was your first bike restoration? If it was, you`re really batting a thousand. Have you done auto painting before, or did you just study up on it and go for it?


Thank you.

Indeed, this is my first build. Now I am hooked. I am constantly looking around to see if I can find another older steel bike to fix up - this one was so much fun. And yes, I've painted a couple of cars before. It helps to have the proper tools for the job.


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## David Loving (Jun 13, 2008)

excellent work! well done


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## nickillus (May 3, 2006)

This is one of the nicest restorations I've seen on this board. Beautiful bike.


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## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Very nicely done! :thumbsup:


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## smac951 (Aug 22, 2009)

Beautiful! What a fine job indeed!!


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## stelvio1925 (Oct 29, 2008)

Congrats on the restoration! I agree the paint looks gorgeous. The alloy components just look right with that bike. Keep looking for the quill stem that will finish off the restoration. Now don't forget to get out there & enjoy the riding :thumbsup:


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## Touch0Gray (May 29, 2003)

That really IS nice.......I agree on the issue of the stem too....My 2002 Bianchi came with a threadless stem but had 2 adapters to get to it....DOH......took them off and used Nitto.....(as well as Nitto bars) and it looks far different.


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