Thanks for all the suggestions-
I'm going with what Joe Bell suggested: White base coat, #544 Very Bright Red Imron toner cut with a little bit of clear for transparency, white decals, Clear coats.
I think the white decals solve the contrast problem. Various red bikes with chrome lugs look pretty good so the stainless should look nice. Pictures in 6 months I guess.
Joe
____________________________________________________________________________ ________________ I shipped my beloved 50K miles plus Jim Redcay off to Tom Kellogg for refurbishment and repaint today. I never liked the original paint color too much (think a champagne/orange metallic) so a change is in order. I'm looking for suggestions from the list. The bike has very refined Henry James lugs in stainless steel. The paint can be any Imron color. Jim's decals are a pretty thin script and need to contrast sharply. To my knowledge they come in red, black or white. Hopefully Tom has them all made up. My current thinking is a medium red with black decals (like my first Redcay) or black with red decals.
The frame will get a racing dent fixed, brake cable tubes (it already has them for the der.s), a seat tube WB mount and a pump peg. I originally speced this bike with a little longer wheelbase than most of Jim's bikes and with Columbus PS chainstays. It is quite a stiff ride and I almost thought of selling it (comfort hound that I have become) but decided that would be shortsighted.