I quickly lost steam on doing a proper restoration of the Gloria Garibaldina Extra I just acquired, and am now thinking of trading it for something I can ride... sooner. Either that or having horizontal drops brazed in and restoring it to be a single speed porteur. I know some would cringe at that, but no more than I cringe at the cost to restore this frame properly. Speaking of restoring it properly after a couple weeks of fairly solid research, I've concluded this is what will have to be done -
- Replace top tube because a dent was repaired with brass a long time ago. I've been told it wouldn't be wise to plate having that patch of brass in the middle of the top tube. It may show some contrast.
- Nickel plate the whole frame. Chrome the fork, lugs and dropouts. Brush the nickel, polish the chrome,
- Paint the "darts", or "searpoints" from the lugs.
- Apply decals. (I have original "LA Garibaldina Extra" decals and repo Gloria decals for the down tube and seat tube. And I have the original head badge.)
The frame will be traded with Gloria cranks and headset. I may have some other period correct parts to go with it as well. Sheffield pedals, FB hubs, Italia saddle etc...
The frame, headset and Cranks can be seen here - http://www.flickr.com/