[CR]Now: Paint accents on parts Was:Crank arm dust caps.

(Example: Framebuilding:Tubing)

Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 13:17:24 -0700
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
References: <002d01c37e03$dce1c0d0$49f0f50c@C1921978A>
Subject: [CR]Now: Paint accents on parts Was:Crank arm dust caps.

Tom Sanders wrote:
>
> When I hear folks say that they serve no real purpose, I smugly think to myself that they do as far as I am concerned. I just plain like the looks of them! Folks who know me know what a sucker I am for a pretty face and how much I love a bit of funk and flash on a bike.
> Then suddenly...like a bolt out of the blue arrives the wisdom of Donald F. Dunstan...Paint the crank arm bolts yellow? WOW! What a great idea! Now we are talking. The same yellow that my Masi is trimmed out with! Man, I gotta get those damn caps off there and find a paint brush. Here I go again...

Back in the early 1970s and before on a pro mechanic assembled Italian bike the ends of the screws on the top tube cable clips were cut off flush with the nut and then dabbed with yellow enamel paint to stop rust (end of screw no longer had any chrome plating). The same was done on the brake caliper center bolt end after it was cut flush with the nut to stop it from rusting.

People that obsessed over their Italian bikes would also paint the depression in the brake caliper cable anchor bolt head, seat clamp bolts on the seat post and the depression in the crank bolt head. Also nice was the inner edge of the oval cutouts in the Record chainrings, the inner edge of the oval cutouts in the large flange hubs and the flutes on the crank arms and spider and seat post. And even the allen wrench holes in the rear derailleur bolts and the stem bolts.

If you were really nutz you would fill all the engraved lettering on the components with contrasting paint too (crank bolts look great with the letters and depression filled with yellow paint).

The nice part was that if you tired of that look then a little application of lacquer thinner would remove all the paint accents pronto.

Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, CA

.