Sprucing up my old Dawes Super-Galaxy

[Brucey]

somewhat OT but does anyone know of a good paint match or paint source for the Peugeot blue colour used on Boris''s bike?

cheers

[Ribblehead]

somewhat OT but does anyone know of a good paint match or paint source for the Peugeot blue colour used on Boris''s bike?

cheers

Years ago Halfords let me take out a couple of touch-up sticks at a time for matching against my bike which was locked up outside. Not sure they'd let anyone do that anymore.

Another option is to go to a model shop and buy a few tins of humbrol enamel. Mix them at home until you get an exact match.

Now, back on topic. Six speed freewheels are still relatively easy to get hold of (they are fitted to a lot of childrens bikes) so I decided to keep it authentic and carry on using my 6 speed SIS downtube levers with 6 speed freewheels. I have a triple at the front, so 18 gears is easily enough. In fact, considering that I ride fixed the rest of the time it will be a luxury and possibly slightly bewildering at times to choose from 18 gears.

[Brucey]

I am gradually coming to the view that unless I can get an 'exact' match (i.e. paint made for the purpose) I shall have to try the new 'colour match' service that some places offer where they examine your paint with a spectroscope and match it that way. Thing is, I can see this working for a 'flat colour' but not necessarily a pearlescent /metallic finish like the peugeot.

I have already gone through several car paint swatch books and drawn a blank for the Peugeot . This involved looking at about 25000 swatches. None of them matched. It wasn't an entirely wasted effort though; I found that my Fuji uses a paint colour that is also found on some mid-1970's Maseratis....

cheers

[johnggold]

I was given an old bicycle that had sat rusting for years. The frame had been badly sprayed, so I had it shotblasted, which revealed the Dawes symbol on top of the reear stays. A bit more research has the frame being 80's and a Super Galaxy.

I have slightly altering the frame, removing the stubs for downtube gear change, brazing a twin guide under the downtube. This will allow me to fit handlebar gear changes. It is very easy to do, and a lot cleaner than converting the stubs.

I'm about to respray the frame. I had to wait a while, because the frame was so damp throughout. Having no remaining original paint, I would like guidance on colours for that period, and also guidance on where to get the correct decals, rather than go for generic Dawes decals.

[Brucey]

You can find online catalogues scanned in for a few years in the 1980s and these will show some of the colours then available. For transfers I'd suggest H Lloyd's or look on E-bay. You may find the 'correct' transfers and paint etc but don't get your hopes up too high; IIRC the 1980s saw some unremarkable colours and some lamentable stick-on vinyl transfers from Dawes. it would be very easy to do a lot better than that.

If I were restoring a Super Galaxy I might be tempted to give it a 1970's paint job. They did some quite fetching two-tone schemes back then. They even had a nice metal head badge too.

I had a (~1976) Dawes Mirage with this paint scheme



but metallic royal blue where this one has the red colour. It looked fantastic; all the decals were lacquered in and it was a pretty tidy job, the kind of thing that a few finishers will do these days (at a price).

cheers