Molteni Merckx Restoration Thursday October 27/2011

I started by taking apart the first of the two bikes, a Benotto Mod. 850. It was stripped of the majority of its components that I required for my build. I managed to salvage a Campagnolo front and rear derailleur (looked like 80's vintage), as well as a set of Nuovo Record friction Shift Levers.  There were also Cinelli Giro d’Italia handlebars and stem, Ambrosio Elite 19 rims mounted to Miche Competition hubs with Vittoria Zaffiro tires and a six speed Regina Oro Freewheel, a seat binder bolt, and rear drop out adjuster screws.

The frame I am restoring had some interesting components on it, like Modolo Flash brake callipers and levers and a Stronglight Crankset. Those however wouldn’t work with my restoration, and along with the Benotto frame would be sold or traded off to help fund my project.

As I removed the parts I put them straight into a bin with degreaser to get some of the road grime off, and let them soak while I spent part of the afternoon spraying the frame with paint stripper and scraping off as much paint as possible. The “ugly” coat was sprayed right over top of the original coat, so it was becoming quite the task of removing the multiple layers of paint and primer.

After supper I spent another 2 hours spraying the frame for a second time with a much more aggressive paint stripper and scraping off more paint.  even after the two attempts, there was still a great deal of paint around the lug works and bottom bracket.  The only bright point of the night was finding the Columbus tubing engraving on the frame tubes and fork head.

Like the frame, the entire fork was painted over, but the chrome under the paint is in fantastic condition. I havent decided yet if I am going to save the chrome, paint half the fork or paint the whole thing.  

That night I started searching the internet for Nuovo Record parts.  I ended up striking a trade for a Campagnolo Nuovo Record Strada Crankset, Pedals, Brake Levers, and Brake Calipers from a vintage parts dealer in Toronto for a set of new Khamsin wheels.  I also bought a Nuovo Record Bottom Bracket off of eBay.