BikingViking793 

I have a 1972 Giro D'Italia that I'm cleaning up. I think the bike was a little tall for the original owner and I was told there was some sort of foam pad on the top tube which left lots of adhesive residue. The residue is coming off with a little work and Goo Gone, but I'm noticing a difference between the cleaned section and the rest of the paint. On the left side of this image is the area I clean up, and going to the right is an area that didn't have the residue. It appears to have a coat of something that makes the paint slightly darker depending on lighting. Is this part of the paint? Some of it has come off with Goo Gone, but it takes a lot of effort. I'm not sure if I should keep cleaning or just stop with the residue that I removed.

merziac

Looks like top coat, maybe discolored clear and its chrome underneath, very slippery slope here.

Maybe no turning back but I think this may be a no win.

Botty's paint was often marginal at best so.....

BikingViking793 

That's sort of what I was thinking it might be but wasn't sure if Bottecchia used a clear coat. It looked much worse with the residue so I guess it's at least improved. I have the checkered decals that will go right before that clamp so the color change may be a bit hidden when I add those. I'll wait for any other thoughts before I make any more moves though. I'm not going for a perfect look, just an old worn Italian race bike look.

BikingViking793 

Anyone out there with a Bottecchia that has seen this before? Still trying to decide what I want to do. From what I’ve read goo gone shouldn’t remove a topcoat, but maybe it aged.