Hi folks - complete newbie here, so forgive me if this has been asked a gajillion times. Was riding my bike down a country road the other day and a super nice lady flagged me down and asked if I wanted an old bike out of her garage. Not being a collector or anything, just a recreational rider of "modern" bikes, I nicely rejected. The next dayI kind of thought what am I crazy? Of course I'll take a look and hear her story. It's now in my garage with a great tale of how it was aquired by her when just 10 yrs old. I've read on the forums that Opal Red can fade to a kind of gold but for some reason this looks green to me - even the seat. Also, not quite sure if I should do anything with it other than enjoy looking at it and enjoy the occasional ride
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Congratulations! That's the worst faded Opel red I've seen And, it makes yours actually, the Best!
I mean, IDK how it got so bad, like, getting sun baked nearly a full 360, Kid must have been Flipping it on different sides for years and years.
I've often thought about taking mine and treating it with something to fade everything else so it's only one color. I don't think I'd live long enough if waiting for the sun to do it
Anyways, on many, the transparent/translucent red, faded, candy top coat is still thick enough that, you could polish it all and potentially bring back the gloss shine. On collectibles, like yours, financially, it's better left alone verses stripping and repainting. Paint chips and all give it character, besides, you're not going to get a harder finish than the old factory paint has.
If you can buff it to shine again it would, most likely, get pretty glossy and become more pleasing just as it is.