VanCityNovice

I spent 4 hours on public transit to get my hands on this 1980s Limongi after doing my research here and elsewhere. I was quite intrigued with the bike after learning more about Pepe, and I was impressed with the internal cable routing. It seems like it was quite novel at the time. Once I got back home, I found myself a bit confused about what to do with it. The paint, components, and frame have definitely seen better days, but I think I could give it a new life with some time and money. I think the main thing giving me pause is the rust on the frame. I would prefer to do a full strip and repaint, but paint jobs are wickedly expensive around my neck of the woods.

What would you recommend I do, and how much might I get for it?

due ruote 

Too bad about that top tube. I wonder if it had grommets originally that sealed the housing ports.
If it were me, step one would be get it mechanically sound and ride it some. If it’s your size and sublime, then plan a course of action.
I would be tempted to treat the frame with oxalic acid, close up the internal routing, add top tube guides and powder coat it.
But I should add that I don’t know the marquee well enough to know if that’s blasphemy. Just going for a practical approach.

zukahn1

I would agree with cleaning it up treating the rust some and get it mechanical sound and riding it some to see if you like it then deciding what to do.

Wileyone 

I

I have one very similar. Full Columbus SLX made in Quebec in the mid 90's. These are very rare and second to none as far as quality goes. Definitely worth a full restore.

Mackers

If it were mine, I'd want to know exactly how bad that rust is before I did anything else.

Parts should all be fine after a good cleaning.

zukahn1

On this one I would be inclined to tear it down completely treat the rust clean up and touch up the original paint and clear coat the frame even though it would be more work than just powder coating it. I really like the original nicely down two to tone paint and would want to keep it if possible. While a lot of work I do think this one should cleanup nicely and is worth putting some extra effort i into restoring.

SurferRosa

The post above from Wileyone is interesting, because that looks like the same fork. I would have just assumed that's a replacement fork.

If you're going to flip, either full refurb or part-out. Either way, I'd address the surface rust. No way I'd do a full repaint, unless it's a keeper.

The comment about 4 hours on public trans hits home. Been there.

georges1

Very nice bike, worth to be restored. You should strip the frame and have it restored , if it is a bike that you like

Paul Waque 

Hello
I agree that trying to preserve the paint is worthwhile. Without pantographs the origin of the frame might become dubious after a repaint. While you have it apart try and detect of there are spiral ridges at the base of the seat tube, some of these frames are SLX tubing. The chrome forks look original and in good shape. Enjoy.

VanCityNovice

I'm planning to go pick up some oxalic acid tomorrow. Is it a good idea to apply it on the inside of the tubes as well? I can imagine it would be hard to get it out.

VanCityNovice

Did you purchase it in this condition, or did you do any restoration? It's a gorgeous machine!

VanCityNovice

All the comments on this post inspired me to tear the thing down and see what I've got. I just need to head to my LBS and pull the headset, crankset and BB out to assess the damage. My feeling is that the most valuable parts if I part it out will be the Tricolor wheelset. Everything else looks quite rough.

Hopefully the next time I spend so long on the bus, the bike will be in better shape, haha.

VanCityNovice

I took a few hours to create a reproduction of the logo so that I have the option to do a full repaint/powder coat. I'm going to look into where I can get them printed out and keep you posted.

Wileyone 

I bought it as a frame set. The previous owner had powder coated it (I absolutely hate PC). I stripped it and repainted it myself.

VanCityNovice

Oh wow, that's awesome. Do you have any information about how to do a repaint, and did you document your process? I've been wanting to go that route but the investment in equipment seems like it would be pretty high.

TugaDude

There are a number of helpful threads on the Classic & Vintage part of the forums regarding repainting.

Also, the oxalic acid isn't applied to the exterior only, the entire frame and fork should be "bathed" in an oxalic acid solution. Again, there is some helpful info on C&V. Many folks purchase kiddie pools in which to soak their frames.

alcjphil

This one came to me as a flat bar conversion. I only had to install a set of drop bars and buy a pair of brake levers. It has all Mavic components. Just a bit cleaning up and it looks pretty good

VanCityNovice

I just got back from the shop. I honestly think things look pretty good on the inside. I have a feeling the bike got an internal coating of Frame Saver when it was assembled. I'm going to pick up some OA crystals and let it soak in the tub for about a day to try and deal with all of this external rust. I'm not too sure how well it'll work, but we shall see.

The Shimano 600 BB I pulled out of the frame looks pretty much flawless. Excited to clean that up.

Also, I don't think it's SLX unfortunately. Looks like regular SL.

SurferRosa

Good job on your work so far and plan for the OA bath.

Now that I've seen those close up pics, I'm going to amend this to say that I would touch-up all or most of the white painted areas with aerosol enamel. It will protect the bare spots, be easy to match, and should be a big improvement in the overall finish.

Wileyone 

It's a big project but this is a special builder and well worth a full restore.

TugaDude

If the OP does pursue a complete restore I'd suggest having a frame builder braze on some reinforcements around the holes in the top tube. Looking closely at those areas it is clear that there is significant pitting in the steel. If you are going to strip it down to bare metal anyway, it is worth doing in my mind. But after that there still should be a gasket of some sort there to prevent ongoing moisture issues.

RB1-luvr

I bought a Marinoni in worse condition than this and touched it up enough to stop the rust after the seller had the worst repaired. I'm riding it as is, quite patina'd. Someday I'll do a full restoration on it. You could do the same with this. Strip it down, sand rust, put rust converter on the bad areas, touch up with Testors paint, clear coat, ride it.

VanCityNovice

I think the final product will land somewhere between what you've suggested and a full restore as Wileyone suggested. Once it comes out of the bath, I'll put it under some sunlight/hit it with a heat gun to evaporate any water in the tubes, then apply Fluid Film in the tubes to protect them. Then I'll go for some aerosol enamel (thanks for the great idea SurferRosa) over the exposed metal once I sand and clean those areas. Wax will come after, then I can decide about new parts or restoring the ones that came with the bike.

VanCityNovice

I've had the frame soaking for about 17 hours, and I'm not seeing much change so far. Is there anything that I missed in my process?

Before I placed the frame in, I gave it a good scrub with dish soap and water. There's about 30 gallons of water in the tub, which started off warm. I mixed in 200g of oxalic acid crystals to start, but have been gradually increasing the concentration and I'm at about 600g added (I measured that each tablespoon was 17g, so I should have enough for 30 gallons in there at this point).

I bought the crystals off of Amazon, so maybe they aren't the real deal? I'm planning to grab some Evapo-Rust from a hardware store to add to the tub to finish the job, but I would love some recommendations on anything I've done wrong.
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zukahn1

You should stop now take it out of the bath tub ASAP and rinse the tub several times with dish soap. Heavier concentrates of acid will damage your tub and plumping if not already. I guess we weren't clear sorry but when doing a acid soak on stuff it needs to be done in a plastic container that is semi expendable thus the kiddi pool suggestions acid can even if mild wreck the the finish on a tub. I would suggest taking some mild steel wool to the rough rusted places with some WD-40 to see were your at this point.