Hi all,
I'm getting ready to sell my 1983 Trek 720. Its seat tube decal was wrinkled the first time I took it into the shop; I put up with the wrinkles for years.
Through the years the bike's original grey metal flake Imron paint job has had a number of dings and scratches; my standard response to these has been to sand them and put on automotive scratch touch-up paint from the little bottles. This has, in general, not matched very well. However, since this paint is just regular enamel, one could remove these spots easily with solvent (which won't touch the Imron) and touch up with something that matches better.
I found a source for the Trek seat post decals (clear panels) via the vintage Trek site, and bought a set. I haven't gotten the Reynolds 531 decals yet (the one on the seat tube is also wrinkled), though there appears to be someone on eBay who's selling NOS decals.
I also found a piece of black metal-flake vinyl sign material that's a bit darker than the original dark grey background, and is also a bit more noticeably metal-flakey.
Now I'm wondering whether I should apply these decals before trying to sell the bike.
On the "plus" side of this choice, I'd be able to offer the bike as "ready to tour", since otherwise it's been very well maintained. Someone wanting to improve the paint job could remove the touch-up enamel and touch it up with better matching paint.
On the "minus" side of the choice, it might scare away people who would otherwise want to do a full repaint. I don't know how easy it would be to mask the seat post decals before bead blasting and painting.
I'd like to do the photos soon; I suppose I could use the not-too-sticky (removable) Scotch Magic Transparent Tape to hold the decals in position for the photos and say that I could either put the decals on or not, depending on the buyer's wishes.
Any suggestions? I don't know how important perfect paint jobs are to people who buy old steel touring bikes. The bike already has a few components on it that aren't original (rear hub, rear derailleur, and gooseneck), so I don't know whether a collector would be interested in the bike.
What would you do?
Thanks,
--
Ned Konz
Camano Island, WA, USA
http://bike-nomad.com