John Betmanis wrote:
> TONY BOHORQUEZ wrote:
>
>> The original could take a light " touch -up" paint , by
>> professional
>> heands, just to clean up some of the nasty scratches that rigth
>> now
>> are giving easy access to rust .
>
> I have a question for those on the list who know about such things.
> Does
> such touching up of paint chips and scratches diminish the value of
> rare
> old bike with original paint? For some reason I thought it would
> because of
> the many pictures I've seen of these bikes with obvious scratches
> that make
> them look almost junky, when they could look so much better. I know
> the
> original owners would have touched up these chips and I don't think it
> devalues these machines sixty years hence.
My theory. If the frame just has just a couple of chips I'll touch them up. If there are lots and lots I just leave them alone (no rust problem in Southern California). Qualifies as an "Old Soldier" in my world.
For chip repair I take a No. 11 Xacto blade and scrape the chip down to shiny metal and then fill it in with a drop of Testors model paint mixed to match on the end of a toothpick. I don't make any effort to make the chip repair invisible, just not so noticeable.
Chuck Schmidt
South Pasadena, Southern California
United States of America
http://www.velo-retro.com (reprints, t-shirts & timelines)