Colnago master piu project

1988 Colnago Master Piu

All customisation work and build by YEAR1 to owner’s specification. 

2 tone Lacquered frame sprayed by YEAR1

H Plus Son Archetype rims with 
NOS Campagnolo Record hubs built by YEAR1 (36x3 sapim race)

Full Campagnolo Record 9 Titanium groupset, including ergo lever overhaul by YEAR1

Frame at YEAR1 cycles

Original condition Frame prior to blasting at YEAR1.

frame in Original paint finish

Seized drive side cup 

Heavily rusted bb

Note gear cables run on underside

Trying to remove rusted bb's can take a very long time

This master took all day and night before it came out

Masters can suffer from quite bad decay due to various factors

This frame had such an issue

Decay is virtually everywhere 

Some masters are complete nickle plated frames

This one is part nickel and bare steel

Although painted the decay builds up until it bursts through the paint

Campagnolo drop outs and seized adjusters

Breaking the adjusters can and is a nightmare if it happens

removing adjusters can take hours

taking hours is better than having to machine out the broken adjusters

Nickel on chain stays and seat stays 

This is the main and worst rust area of masters

Bare steel painted frame or nickel usually fail at this point

If you own a master this one area must be checked regularly 

For some the restoration of thier master ends here

This black decay usually means heavy pitting and rusting through from inside the top tube

After blasting with soft media and polishing the frame is nearly ready for lacquer

Finish will be deep gloss with light matt final coats

This allows a kind of 2 tone lacquer effect

In sunlight the finish works best

Rear of frame 

Frame now ready for the lacquering process

Once the initial stage prior to spraying is achieved then the gloss lacquer is applied

Decals are applied on gloss prior to final coats of lacquer

The steel, nickel and bluing and frame builders marks were showcased on this build

To get to the finished stage can take a number of weeks or month

Piu prior to having 9 pointy levers fitted

Carbon levers were fitted originally but the decision was decided to use early 9 record ti levers.