Refurbishing and ALU/carbon frame

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themyers
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:20 pm

by themyers

Hi everyone

I was wondering if you may be able to help?!?

I have a Colnago Arte frame, (I think it is 2007) bare aluminium look with carbon stays. It was apparent the other day that the alu had a rather bad case of corrosion, I.e. white and flaky in places. I rubbed this back to see if it had damaged the frame and it looks ok, at worse a very light pin prick mark under the bb.

However, now the frame looks like it has a disease. I considered a pro respray but a) I can't afford it and b) you guys seem to know what you are doing!

Now the carbon should be ok, I have searched the forum and there are some good guides on getting the decals off and getting a nice clean look.

However, the frame is another issue. I was thinking matt black may look cool (but have heard it shows wear easier???) But either way there are some practical issues. Therefore...

Is it worth the hassle?
How hard will it be?
Am I going to end up dropping more in paint and stuff that getting a Argos or similar job?
And if all the above are positive - how is the best way to go about it?

Thanks in advance!

TM

davidalone
Posts: 622
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 4:27 pm

by davidalone

repainting a carbon/alu hybrid may be tricky. you can't use traditional paint strippers because that may damage the carbon. that makes paint removal on the alu frame alot harder. you might have to sand off the paint by hand. If you are serious about this I'd recommend painting the alu parts and just masking off the bare carbon.

as for painting the alu frame, there are tons of articles out there on painting alu/steel frames. google is your friend.

I can't really answer if it 'will be worth' the hassle or how hard it will be because that depends largely on your definition of worth and your mechanical aptitude and access to paint/chemicals.

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themyers
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:20 pm

by themyers

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Agree, I was going to sand the carbon to get the decals off etc and then mask it and strip the ALU.

My aptitude is probably sufficient though my access to gear is confined to local stores.

I will Google some more but would be interested to know if anyone has undertaken a similar project on ww.

Cheers☺

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