Cooper Update II

It's coming along pretty fast. The decals arrived from England the other day. I still need hand grips, cables, etc and a way of routing the bar-end shifter cable under, around or through the brake lever. I think I have figured out a way to route it cleanly through the brake lever - a couple of hours with a drill, a round bastard cut file, a Dremel grinder and a medium weight ball pein hammer ought to get the job done.  

This color looks pretty good in photos, in the flesh it is just, "oh". I like green, I just want a better green. I was going to pick a contrasting color to feature the ornate Nervex lugs and Chris Kvale's painting skills, maybe dark red or yellow, but the Ron Cooper decals that were available are white, so I think a white head tube and a white seat tube panel to visually balance it a little. 

I have changed my mind about paint half a dozen times. Ron Cooper built over 7000 custom bicycle frames and to my knowledge he never painted one with more than one color. If you tell Kvale you want the paint to look like it was new originally, he will ask if you want the orange peel finish, the drips and runs, and crooked decals. People seldom really do. Some might think me a heathen. Why should I corrupt this one with two colors with perfect cut edges? Because we can I guess. 

These rebuilds used to be how I managed our Minnesota winter- agonizing over little details for hours, for days, for weeks! If I don't slow down this one it may be rideable before we leave for Texas in January.

Sloooow downnn - Gunnar