brewerkz 

Lets try this again, looking for help on the correct paint colors for this 1970 Professional, E prefix serial number. It should be white, red orange with small stripes on the seat stay flats. Also how long are the red and orange bands? Of course, I will need to get the correct wheel set.

https://www.pedalroom.com/bike/1970-...essional-45633

nlerner

So this is a 1970 MkI resprayed to look like a later model? That’s pretty weird. Have you seen Peter Kohler’s extensive history of the model?

https://on-the-drops.blogspot.com/2017/11/

Lots of pics of the paint scheme.

brewerkz 

Yes, i have seen his post - very nice bike , I am trying to get paint codes for restoration

repechage

Not like automobiles.
You are going to need to get an example to color match to, or find a painter who has done one and kept notes.
the seat tube bands were semi proportional, so you need a big bike to reference.

altomaton

Good luck with the project! The original paint scheme is one of my favorites.

Pcampeau

If I recall correctly, I believe member 3alarmer has repainted a white Raleigh Pro from 1970 with some pretty impressive results. Might be someone to try and reach out to

bertinjim 

brewerkz -

There is a MK 1 Pro on Ebay here:


There are detail shots as well including the pin stripes on the stay caps.

brewerkz 

yep, that's the challenge, it weird that the bike was painted another color scheme.

James1964 

Perhaps your frame was made in late 1970, but not painted until 1971 when the paint scheme changed to what it is currently? Have you looked at the steerer tube to see if there is any white paint? There's a Raleigh Restoration group on Facebook that seems to have some very knowledgeable contributors.

Chuck M 

A bit off topic, but I had read somewhere that the serials starting with E indicated an Enid Oklahoma assembled Raleigh. Is that correct or just a "don't believe everything you read on the Internet" thing?

3alarmer 

...thank you for thinking it impressive. I just did a Google image search, picked a couple I liked off the Peter Kohler article, and used something bright and with some fine metallic flake in it. A lot of what I see of the old ones looks a little faded to me. It wouldn't surprise me if they were using something with a fugitive pigment for the orange.

3alarmer 

As received

As received

...for reference, this is what mine looked like when I got it. As you can see, the paint was pretty good. I would not have repainted it, but for the fact that it had a very tiny crack in one of the head tube lugs, that I finally decided to get repaired by a frame guy, and while it was there, I got him to add bottle bosses. So at that point, it made sense to repaint it. It also gave me a chance to clear coat it with epoxy paint, which is considerably more durable. So I was not going for originality anyway. Original is hard on stuff like this, when you're often using vinyl graphics instead of slide decals.

But I think the orange and red seat bands probably started out a lot brighter and more saturated on the originals. Just my opinion.

verktyg 

What I read was the the seat post colors were made for a German team. The top red and bottom orange were metallic colors. The stripes on the seat stay caps were colored to match.

The down tube RALEIGH decals on the OP's bike are wrong and date to 1973.

verktyg

brewerkz 

I disassembled it, there is white on the steerer tube and inside the bottom bracket.

brewerkz 

completely agree on the paint, just trying to get close to the colors. Interestingly photos of the Ruberg bikes seem to have more metallic colors then the few 1970 examples.

verktyg 

Here's eBay photos an all original 1969 Raleigh Pro. The colors match some of the other "original" 1969 Pros posted above. I lost the auction by a few buck back in 2017....







I've seen pictures where the orange on the seat tube was metallic and in some cases the red too which I thought was odd having a mix of solid and metallic... On this frame both the red and orange were solid colors.

The colors in the 1969 Raleigh catalogue look like both the red and orange are metallic.




These were pretty much special built bikes in 1969. The colors were for a German team.

I doubt that there were more than 500 of them sold world wide. Campy components were hard to come by back then and in the US bike were still considered to be "KIDS TOYS"! $210-$220 was a LOT of money for a bike back then!

In 1970 Raleigh changed the seat stays to Brampton "shot-in" style and only offered the bike in "brindle sh*t brown"

EDITORIAL:

I've seen numerous posts over the years from folks fretting over trying to match the original paint on their frame when they have it resprayed. That can quickly became a fools errand trying to match paint on a 30+ year old bike!

These are bikes not concourse classic cars... There were never any specification police especially back during the classic era (pre 1980's).

I've been told by numerous Bianchi cognoscenti that BITD the folks at the factory mixed the Celeste color every morning. One reason why there are so many color variations. Most paint made with solid pigment colors are stable but some paints are tinted with dyes that can/do change over time. Also the clear coat on many 30+ year old paint jobs tends to yellow.

Don't get me started on flamboyant or candy apple colors which are dyed transparent lacquers....

So, my advice, is find some colors that are close and go with them. There is NO correct answer! Some members and bike painters have paint codes that are close to original but BITD many bike manufactures used whatever was CHEAPEST!

End Of Editorial....

Good luck with your project and keep us updated.

BTW, before you paint the frame, check the alignment (Raleighs were notorious for alignment issues out of the factory), make sure to reface the head tube, fork crown race and BB shell. Also, hone out the steerer and especially the seat tube. Round it out and ream and/or hone as needed to give the 27.2mm seat post a smooth fit.




verktyg

brewerkz 

thank you, those are the best photos I have seen for the colors

daka

I have a 1969 Pro Mk 1. I wouldn't describe the colored panels as solid. They have some reflective material in the pigment. Paint is original but the gold striping is not.

verktyg 

daka the red and orange panels on your seat tube are what is called "metallic". The size of the metal particles in the paint can change the appearance. Colors with a high amount of very fine metal powder gives a pearlescent appearance whereas coarse particles result in what's called a "metal flake" finish.

As I mentioned above, I've seen photos of 1969 Raleigh Pros with solid red upper stripe and metallic orange lower stripe as well as both colors in solid paint also both in metallic paint. It probably had to do with what ever colors the painters had mixed up that day???

verktyg

brewerkz 

thank you, appreciate the insight - I was looking at some Ruberg frames, they generally had metallic in the red and orange, neat detail on the steerer tube

brewerkz 

thanks for sharing nice !