Leggerissimo Project Update

I spent some time this weekend carefully removing paint from the Cinelli Leggerissimo frame.  I had a very small hope of being able to save the original paint, but knew that would be unlikely.  Nevertheless, I was very careful in removing the silver blue paint.  I began by removing the decals that were on the frame and these came off very easily with lacquer thinner.  Unfortunately, the silver paint on the frame had a clear top coat.  This was pretty stubborn and required the use of paint stripper.  Once the clear was removed, the silver blue base came off very easily.  Unfortunately, the original paint had been sanded, especially in areas where decals had been present, including the seat tube, down tube, and chain stays.  So, it became apparent in a very short time that the original paint could not be saved.  However, I was happy to find a genuine Leggerissimo under the silver-blue re-spray!  Also, I was happy to find a frame without damage or significant rust.  There was absolutely no bondo under the paint and only a little light corrosion where the original paint had worn away around the bottom bracket.  I was also happy to find a couple of areas of original paint, both yellow and red, that shined up nicely.  I will use these areas to match paint for the re-spray.  Also, I was able to measure the red area on the seat tube to match during the refinishing process.  It begins 12 cm below the top of the top tube, and is 25 cm in height.

So, next is will be off to the paint store to match the paint.  Once paint is matched, I will media blast the frame down to bare metal.